ASA's Africa Night brings together performance, culture and community

On Friday, UNC’s African Student Association hosted Africa Night, three hours of culture, fashion and performances in the Student Union. These performances — including a stage production by ASA's theater troupe, Kabari — were all centered around a chosen theme. This year's theme was “The Wedding Party.”

The annual event was first established by One Africa and OASIS, two organizations for UNC’s African student body which merged in 2024 as ASA.  

The sold out showcase started with introductions from ASA co-President Ruth Uzochukwu, and Vice President Hannan Canada. Uzochukwu and Canada helped coordinate the event's fundraiser with Henry Lister, the outreach coordinator for the Refugee Support Center in Carrboro.

Uzochukwu, a sophomore Nigerian American student, said ASA wanted to partner with Lister and the RSC to help fundraise for the center after a national ban on refugees. 

“[Lister] shared a lot of stories with us,” she said. “And he helped us prepare for how we could really demonstrate the purpose of their organization and how we could really help them. So that was amazing.”

ASA and the RSC’s introductions were followed by spoken word poetry performed by Twumasi Duah-Mensah and Toluwanimi Dapo-Adeyemo, two members of the Ebony Readers/Onyx Theatre collective at UNC.

Another noteworthy part of Africa Night was the fashion. ASA co-President Chichere Ogbuebile and senior environmental health sciences major Mercy Adekola were the hosts for Africa Night. They had fun interactions with the audience between segments while looking regal in glittery attire. 

A group of models walked in a fashion show coordinated by Lotanna Ilo, Krystal Uzomba and Nyla Ayeni. The models donned traditional attire from different cultures across Africa, like the imishanana worn by Rwandan women and Isiagu fabric from the Igbo tribe of Nigeria.

Ayeni said it took a lot of effort from everyone involved to coordinate their outfits, especially since some had their outfits made specifically for the showcase.

“Sometimes it's hard to put fits together and still maintain the cultural aspect of the African cultural clothing showcase,” she said. “And so I think we definitely have some countries, as well as American ties into it.”

The event also featured the Mr. and Mrs. ASA pageant, consisting of six contestants representing their culture. Jayson Mbugua, who represented Kenya, won the crown for Mr. ASA and Lurit Lasu for South Sudan won Mrs. ASA.

During the performance section, Kabari enacted a wedding between star-crossed lovers. Chioma Okpara played the bride, and Joe Warioba acted as the groom. From the day the lovers in the play met until the wedding night, their love persisted despite the drama between their families and crazed exes.

Camil Djomo Tchapda, a Cameroonian American sophomore who acted as the bride’s ex-boyfriend, said his favorite part about performing is the community experience of it. 

"Even though you are your own character, there's a cohesiveness to your character in the context of the play and the night as a whole,” he said. 

The love story was accompanied by dance routines from ASA’s dance team Zankiliwa, who lit up the stage to Afrobeats music. The East African Student Organization and the Eritrean Ethiopian Student Association also performed traditional dances like the Eskista.

Ekene Ezenwa, one of ASA’s first-year liaisons. shared her admiration of Africa Night, as she was part of the staging crew.

“I just feel like everybody is so talented in their own ways,” she said. “Just being behind the scenes has allowed me to watch the show in a way that I normally wouldn't if I was just sitting in the crowd.” 

The play ended with a joyous celebration of the couple’s union and uproarious applause from the crowd, closing out the event. 

"We're here to accept every student with open arms whether or not your African identify is a big part of your identity,” Uzochukwu said. “We want to be there with you. We want to build a community with you. We want to see you at our events, and at the end of the day, we love you, as an organization."

EDITOR'S NOTE- Twumasi Duah-Mensah is a Special Projects writer for The Daily Tar Heel.

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