Afro World Club and Papua New Guinea Club host opening social dance
The Heber J. Grant Building upstairs chapel was packed with students celebrating the culture and music of the African diaspora through song and dance on the evening of Friday, Feb. 3. The opening social was designed, according to BYU–Hawaii’s Afro World Club members to allow students to make friends.
The adjoining chapels of the HGB were united as the partition that divided them was opened, allowing for a more space. Multi-colored strobe lights strewn around the dark, open space, transforming a room usually used for church services into a dance floor pulsing with color.
Initially, students began to trickle in, passing through an entrance decorated with red, white, yellow and green streamers, a combination of the colors of the Pan-African and Papua New Guinea flag. As the dance wore on into its second hour, more and more students streamed in, neon green and pink glow sticks wrapped around their wrists and foreheads as they walked to the dance floor.
Culture
Kenneth Dadson, a freshman student from Ghana majoring in computer science, serves as the secretary in the Afro World Club. His duties revolve around planning and preparing events for the club and looking at what can be improved for future events.
“The main purpose of this event is to unite the people of Papua New Guinea, Afro World– technically everybody,” he added. “You just come, you learn our culture, our music, our dances and have fun with that.”
“Afro World is not only concentrating on Africans, but also on people from the Caribbean, Jamaicans and Black Americans. So therefore, we are involving Afro songs, Caribbean songs and Black American songs,” said Dadson.
This was done, according to Dadson, to represent people of the African diaspora from all around the world. For the purpose of breaking stereotypes depicting individuals of African descent as being all the same and make BYUH students aware of the diversity.
Referring to the Afro World Club teaming up with the Papua New Guinea Club to host the dance, Dadson said people of the African diaspora shared many things in common with Papua New Guineans, including the types of music indigenous to their cultures.
Dadson said when he first came to BYUH last fall, he believed he was the only Ghanaian who attended the school, which he said made it hard for him to relate to anyone. His roommate was from Papua New Guinea, and he introduced Dadson to his friends and family who were also from there. Dadson commented how because of his kind roommate, he felt more at home despite being in a very different place, and felt at home amongst his roommate’s friends. “Technically, I’m from Papua New Ghana,” he said with a laugh.
Annie Haws, a sophomore from Utah majoring in intercultural peacebuilding, is the vice president of activities for the Afro World Club, and also does all the club’s social media work.
“We’re definitely two different cultures,” Haws said, referring to the collaboration between Afro World and the Papua New Guinea Club. She added how the dance would have music not just from the African diaspora, but also music from Papua New Guinea, which would widen the range of people who would attend. “A lot of the time I feel like it gets a little cliquey here, so I think it’s nice to have a whole other club with us because it’s bringing so many people together to be able to find new friends,” explained Haws.
Alfonso Appleton, a junior from Liberia majoring in social work, is part of the Afro World Club’s activities committee. He said for him “being a part of it is to help be a part of representation.” He said while BYUH hosted students from all over the world, there were not many Africans or students of African descent. Appleton said he is grateful Afro World exists to celebrate the diverse cultures of the African diaspora, even if there is not much of a presence of the diaspora at the school.
Appleton also said it was difficult to be a person from the African diaspora because he did not have many friends who looked like him or could relate to the experience of being black. “I think if you’re born and raised in Africa you just have a different experience and not being able to have that here makes it one of the hardest things,” said Appleton.
He said some of the stereotypes about the African diaspora which existed were the idea that they were not very smart and beliefs that they could not be as successful in life.
Music and Dance
Students gathered in circles both large and small, moving their bodies to the rhythm of the music. As songs echoed through the darkened chapel, students took turns showing off their dance moves to the circles of friends. A photo booth at the back of the chapel was set up for guests to take pictures at. Ringed by balloons arranged in patterns of red, yellow and black, which evolved into red, black and yellow, the colors on display showed the colors of both Pan-Africanism and Papua New Guinea.
An hour and a half into the dance, the students were directed to form two separate lines facing one another, in what was called a “soul line.” Out of the speakers, the song, “Got to Give it Up,” by famed African-American singer Marvin Gaye started playing, and the attendees waved their hands as student after student ran through the soul line to the cheers of the others. Dancing and singing along to lyrics continued through the night.
Emily McFadden, a senior student from Colorado majoring in psychology, said she attended the dance at the suggestion of her friend. She said she came to make new friends and learn more about different cultures.
“I find it really fun. But also understanding other peoples’ perspectives is really important. Even for people who can’t dance, like myself,” she said jokingly, “I feel like you can always enjoy dance and music no matter your skill or background.”
Dadson said music and dance have an ability to bring people together, and said the secret is culture. “Culture is the way of the life of the people. If you live with it, let the music and dance flow through you. It doesn’t matter where you come from, how you started off, how you ended up,” Dadson explained.
For individuals who do not know much about the African diaspora and the diverse perspectives it possesses, Dadson said a good start to learn was to listen to what he called an “Afro song” to begin educating oneself. Afro music, more popularly known as Afro beat, is a musical style which fuses African music with Black American music to hybridize the cultures and sounds of people in the diaspora.
According to MasterClass, Afrobeat began in Ghana when musicians combined West African sounds with American jazz and calypso music from the Caribbean. Fela Kuti, a famed Nigerian musician, was one of the pioneers of Afrobeat, combining West African beats with sounds of American jazz, soul and funk. Kuti’s and many other artists’ songs were sung in both English and Yoruba, an indigenous West African language and used to campaign for human rights.
“Just listen to an Afrobeat,” Dadson emphasized with a wide smile, “and that will cover you.” The best way for someone to experience an Afrobeat song, he said, was to be in the moment and listen to the rhythm. “The music unites us for who we are, where we come from and then links us as one people.”
Education
For Haws, Afro World means finding family within the BYUH campus, something she said she did not really feel when she first arrived to attend the university. “I think it also means really finding who you are as a person and being okay with that and knowing there’s people who love you. And I think that can be said for a lot of clubs, but I think that Afro World is really good at making everyone feel included,” said Haws.
Haws said the best way to move away from stereotypes about people from the African diaspora was to become continually educated. She said although it seemed to sound like a big task to accomplish, the internet allows anyone to educate themselves with the click of a button. “There are so many people on this campus who are more than happy to talk to you about it,” explained Haws.
She emphasized how a desire to learn was key, saying people who do not want to learn and stay in their fixed mindset about the way the world is will not be able to change their perspectives.
According to McFadden, “I feel like when we're not educated about other people, we can actually hurt them or even hurt ourselves too. When we understand each other it’s easier for us to love each other.”
Appleton said he is able to showcase the beauty of his culture wherever he goes, and hopes it will help himself and others overcome age-old stereotypes and stigmatization.
He said the most beautiful part about his culture was being able to be authentic. “When I say ‘authentic,’ it’s to be very open and loving and caring,” said Appleton. He said he sees the loving and caring aspect of his culture alive in the student body of BYUH where everyone seems to care deeply about one another.
The love and care for one another is one of the greatest parts of West African culture, according to Appleton. “Because it’s all about family and togetherness and the good of the group…That can translate to living in Laie. It’s more of a collectivist society than an individualist society. There’s a strong sense of community within Laie, and I experience that each and every day,” explained Appleton.