Student group to host annual African Night

The Association of African Students will host its 31st annual African Night tomorrow to celebrate African culture. The event will feature traditional food, dances, clothing and music from a variety of African nations.

This event’s theme is “Afrika Rising.” The event will take up three floors in Smith Memorial Student Union and each floor will host a different presentation. One floor will feature African drumming performed by a troupe of professional musicians, who will be accompanied by professional and student dancers.

On other floors, guests will be able to enjoy food from Morocco, Somalia, Ethiopia and West African countries and a fashion show of traditional garb of countries ranging from Eritrea to Ivory Coast.

Event leader and AAS Vice President Sephinesh Guild said that the event is the product of five months of hard work and contributions from dozens of volunteers. AAS hopes that the event will educate PSU and the Portland community about African culture.

“It’s all about bringing people to together,” Guild said, adding that she and other AAS members also hope to recruit new group members.

To Guild, the event is also a chance to eliminate stereotypes about Africa.

“Not every image of Africa in the media is accurate,” she said. “The youth of Africa are a big part of the movements taking place there. They are leaders in the political media.” 

The event will also feature a short speech from a local motivational speaker, Lou Radja. His focus will be on leadership within the African youth community. Radja is also the co-founder and executive director of EduCongo, a nonprofit that helps fund the schooling of underprivileged children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to its website.

In previous years, the event has drawn over 700 people, making it the largest event that AAS hosts, according to Guild.

In addition, the event has been publicized on a local radio station in efforts to draw attendants from the community.

AAS planned the event to be family-oriented. As such, the event is free for PSU students and children under 12. Public tickets are available for $5 in the PSU Box Office.

The event will run from 5 to 10 p.m. tomorrow in SMSU. ?