![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernjournal\/files\/2018\/05\/DSC8734-576x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sam Dunaway | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Traditional African clothing, expressive dance movements and authentic cuisine characterized the African Students and Friends Association\u2019s African Cultural Night on May 2. The evening aimed to educate guests on African culture while celebrating the diversity of the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAfrican tradition is expressed through many different art forms, such as music, dance, art, sculpture and beadwork,\u201d explained dance professor Darryl Thomas. Thomas is co-artistic director of Rainbow Dance Theatre who performed the traditional Mendiani dance at the event. This group was one of many that represented various African cultures through dance. <\/span><\/p>\n Senior business major Amanda Kiflay performed in several dances throughout the evening. Kiflay is an international student from Sweden whose ethnicity is Eritrean.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs an Eritrean, I can say that dance and music is a big part of our culture, especially during different types of celebrations such as weddings, graduations, church and holidays. It\u2019s a way of celebrating and expressing your emotions,\u201d explained Kiflay.<\/span><\/p>\n Clothing was another way African culture was expressed at this event. ASFA club member junior Marnasha Fowlkes explained that clothing is specific to the various African regions, and a person could tell where in Africa the garment came from based on its patterns, fabric and style.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat we wear, whether we like it or not, is a reflection and representation of who we are,\u201d Fowlkes commented. \u201cMany African cultures and their people are proud of who they are and where they come from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kiflay added, \u201cIt\u2019s a way of expressing the collective shared meanings of that culture. Having something that is different from other cultures helps it to stay alive and passed down to the next generation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Traditional garments were worn during dances, instrument performances and for the African culture fashion show.<\/span><\/p>\n While entertaining and high-energy, the African Cultural Night provided an opportunity to educate the community about African culture and its tremendous diversity.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe African continent is one of the most diverse continents in the world and I believe it\u2019s important to share some of the countless numbers of cultures with the students of Western in order to remove some of the stereotypes,\u201d Kiflay expressed. She believes that education is necessary to fight for the rights of marginalized communities and make Western a more inclusive space.<\/span><\/p>\n Thomas explained that the drum he played during the Mendiani dance is called the \u201cdjembe,\u201d meaning \u201clet\u2019s come together (in peace).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTonight, at Africa Night, the WOU community \u2018came together in peace and harmony\u2019 to celebrate the music, dance, food and art of Africa. In the current political climate, what could be more poignant, what could be more beautiful,\u201d said Thomas.<\/span><\/p>\n Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n Photo by: Paul F. Davis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sam Dunaway | News Editor Traditional African clothing, expressive dance movements and authentic cuisine characterized the African Students and Friends Association\u2019s African Cultural Night on May 2. The evening aimed to educate guests on African culture while celebrating the diversity of the continent. \u201cAfrican tradition is expressed through many different art forms, such as music, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1030,"featured_media":7721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}