Andrews’ students went into this past week excited to continue learning about and experiencing more Black culture through the various Black History Month events and presentations that have been occurring around campus. On Tuesday, February 7, the Black Student Christian Forum (BSCF), in partnership with the African Student Association (ASA), collaborated to put together an instructional African short course. Offering co-curricular credit to undergraduate students, several students who were part of either organization and of African nationality or descent put together a presentation of their respective African cultures. Andrews students packed into a Buller Hall classroom, where they embraced different variations of African art, fashion, food, music, dance, and geography.
Starting off the presentation was Thandi Dewa (senior, biology and Spanish), who presented on her Zambian and Zimbabwean heritage. Thandi displayed several different pieces of fashion in her PowerPoint presentation and identified adaptations of Zambian culture in pop culture today. For example, the headpiece used by Angela Bassett’s character, the Wakandan Queen Ramonda in the film “Black Panther,” borrows from the typical headpiece of a married Zambian woman or one of high status. Although rich with culture as well, Zimbabwe suffered from immensely fast-paced inflation. Hyperinflation got so severe that Zimbabweans “became billionaires and trillionaires overnight” with the ever-decreasing value of the Zimbabwean note. Zimbabwe had dollar notes that were valued up to 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars, yet that only equals 40 US cents. The nation has since switched over to primarily using the US Dollar to combat inflation and regulate market prices—which, coupled with its heavy usage of English, has caused growing “Americanization '' in the nation.
Michelle Larbi (senior, international business) a Ghanaian student, spoke on kente fabric and fashion. Kente is a heavy, woven fabric. Each kente is meant to be unique to each person, family, or context. Kente cloths have been woven into contemporary clothing and modern fashion. Michelle stated that some argue that this use of the kente cloth diminishes its value—however, she believes that the modern uses of kente cloth just put the pride of her culture more on display.
Tsitsi Pazvakawamba (junior, nursing) was able to share with the listeners her country’s unique culture and climate. Namibia is the least densely populated country in the world for its size, largely due to its vast deserts. An average temperature of 104° Fahrenheit in Namibia is a stark contrast with even Berrien Springs’s warmest days. When it comes to its food, meat is a wide-ranging staple, especially with an abundance of seafood accessible amongst their Atlantic Ocean coastline. As an effect of globalization and Americanization, English is commonly used in business environments and conversations, while Afrikaans is used in casual contexts.
Semhar Hailu (sophomore, computer science) spoke on Eritrean history and culture. Eritrea’s history spans all the way back to Biblical times. Eritrea has changed hands between Italy, Ethiopia, and other colonizing nations, but now celebrates its thirtieth anniversary of its independence this year. Because of colonization, Ethiopia and Eritrea share some cultural similarities. The Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict ended recently in peace, and several musicians and celebrities have originated from, or are descendants of, Eritrea and Ethiopia, such as The Weeknd and Amine. Ethiopia on its own is known for inventing early iterations of coffee, as well as largely utilizing a calendar that runs eight years short of the modern North American calendar. Ethiopia largely holds the religious belief that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden for seven years before sin entered the world in the eighth year. Because of this conversion, an Ethiopian New Year starts on September 11th.
Lastly, student Ntakirutimana Francine (junior, biology) spoke on Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tanzania has made recent news for having its first female president. Despite this, a lot of internal tribal conflict still occurs in Tanzania, which can make it unsafe for Tanzanians to divulge too much personal information regardless of where they may be.
Through the several presentations, the interest and inspiration of many students were sparked. To end off the event, students were treated to Kenyan tea, creating excitement for all the other Black History Month events to follow.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.