To show how the power of unity can light the world and to showcase African cultures from all over the world, said Afro World Club leaders, 32 people performed energetic dances from North America, Europe and Africa at Culture Night.
Jackie Morris, president of the Afro World Club and a junior from Virginia majoring in social work, said, “The idea was to celebrate the many descendants of Africa. We separated the performance into different regions. We started with the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, North America and then back to Africa. We were showcasing different regions of the world where Africans have been.”
According to Morris there were people performing from all over the world representing Africans everywhere. “People were wearing different flags during the performance, some to represent where they came from.”
The motto of the Afro World Club is, “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” Toni Shipp, vice president of the Afro World Club and a sophomore from California majoring in communications said the motto is what the club wanted to portray in the performance.
Shipp said, “We all come from Africa that is a very exciting, energetic place. Even though we have no direct connection, we still have that culture in our regions. A culture that is very exciting.
She added, “We have contributed so much to music and dance. Even though Africans are so far apart from each other we are still family. There are a lot of similarities to our dances, but no matter where you [go] around the world there is so much energy. That exemplifies our roots so well.”
Shipp said, “The cool thing about Africans is no matter where we went around the world we kind of did the same things. We had dance and food that are quite similar but also unique to our regions.”
“We have members in our club from Latin America. I’m from North America. Others with Caribbean roots. Yet we all share the same bond. We just wanted to showcase that around the world.”
Adriannah Metta, a senior studying anthropology from Papua New Guinea, performed for Afro World Club. She said, “One thing I really enjoyed was the goal the presidency had in mind. That was representing Africans in the various African diaspora throughout the world. You noticed that we danced a little bit of everything that was basically the evolution of African dancing from the motherland to hip-hop to infused Latin and Brazil.”
Metta added, “Representing Afro World was an honor because it’s a debut club. A lot of people mistake it for Africa but the main representation was to educate people of the various African diaspora. Sometimes people think I’m African, so I thought I could be a part of it.”
Morris said the club’s performance was positively received. “It went so well. Plenty of people have come up to us and said how much they enjoyed it, and they wanted to join us next year. To see the reception that the club has received and to see what it’s done for the members has been great.”
Writer: Will Krueger