By: Tia Ayele
Given that there is more human genetic diversity in Africa than anywhere else in the world, it is hard to imagine that the plurality of Africa’s rich history, traditions, and cultural practices could be summed up in a three-hour show. Despite the huge challenge associated with putting on such a show, UGA’s African Student Union (ASU) has been undertaking this endeavor with full force every year since the organization’s inception. African Night is ASU’s primary initiative in promoting their mission of educating the public, UGA and the surrounding Athens community on African culture. The student-run organization devotes almost the entire academic year to prepare for this entertainment-filled yet culturally educational show. Just as it has been before, African Night 2012 was as well-coordinated and widely publicized as ever, with an impressive promotional video and publications on its behalf. The show, which was themed “A Cultural Embrace”, intended to debunk the stereotypes and myths perpetuated about Africans and showcase the wealth of cultures that are present in Africa. However, African Night 2012 fell short of its intended purpose, as it failed to shed light on anything besides Nigerian culture, which reflects the Nigerian majority in ASU’s member body.
Similar to preceding years, African Night 2012 was divided into a fashion show, numerous dance numbers and a play, which was the core of the show. The play was set in an imaginary place in Africa called “Itasaaka” where the protagonist, an American-raised girl named Ayanna, is forced to move back in with her family after living in America for some time. The play surrounds Ayanna and her problems with assimilating into life in Itasaaka, her run-ins with the local bully Akua, and her tumultuous relationship with her best friend Idris, whom she marries at the end of the play. The central theme of the play dealt with the issues of cultural assimilation and the conflict between Western and African ideals. Although these motifs are universal to all Africans (and relatable to all foreigners for that matter), there were few non-Nigerian themes implemented in the production of African night, which made it extremely detached for those who were not Nigerian in the audience. I, as an Ethiopian-American, can attest to the fact that the show was a poor representation of African culture. I and many others could not at all relate to the jokes, the dialogue or even the dance performances presented at the event. The night seemed to merely be a celebration of Nigerian culture, which left much of the audience feeling culturally excluded instead of culturally embraced.
The main problem with African Night 2012 is that it assumed Nigerian culture as the overarching culture of Africa. Although it is true that there are a few similarities between the Nigerian culture showcased at African Night and African culture as a whole, the differences by far outweigh the similarities. Nigerian culture is just a fragment of African culture. Therefore, a person belonging to other countries of Africa would find little in common with Nigerian culture. Even within the subset of West Africa (where Nigeria belongs), there still exists a wide array of cultures that cannot be simply represented by Nigerian culture. For instance, a person from Sierra Leone, a country less than 3,000 kilometers from Nigeria, may not understand the same jokes, eat the same food or talk in the same way as a Nigerian. Hence, showcasing Nigerian culture is not only unrepresentative of African culture, but it does not adequately portray West African culture either. Showcasing Nigerian culture as African culture would be the equivalent of representing the culture of the Tibetan Monks and the Japanese with a Bollywood film. Although it all can be labeled “Asian” culture, it is completely misleading. A showcase of Nigerian culture is similarly unrepresentative of African culture as a whole.
Another concerning issue of African Night relates to the large demographic of non-Africans in the audience who are misinformed about what African culture truly is. Non-African students, particularly students who participate in Blue-card events, attend African Night expecting to experience the wealth of diversity that is African culture. This is a huge disservice to them. For these students, African culture is now what they saw at African Night 2012. Because of this, ASU should have even more incentive to be as culturally inclusive as possible, because it has a responsibility to educate those in the audience who are encountering African culture for the first time.
It is imperative that ASU deliver what they claim to represent—a cultural embrace of Africa. A simple slideshow of cultures from various regions of Africa would have been more sufficient in showcasing Africa’s cultural diversity. Indeed, any attempt in demonstrating the cultural diversity in Africa via a simple Google search would have been more inclusive than what was presented at African Night 2012. ASU must be sensitive to even the most marginalized countries in Africa and must make every attempt to include all of African culture during their event. Although this seems like a large task to ask of a student-run organization, it really is far from impossible. The “African” Student Union needs to strongly consider how to best portray the important and fascinating culture of the area of the world to which they lay claim.
