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The African Diaspora Club ended a five-day African celebration with an evening of ethnic performances at African Explosion IV: A Night of Enchantment; A Royal Affair on Saturday night.
Nearly 500 people filled the Chesapeake Rooms in the University Union to witness the program, which featured singing, traditional dance, fashion shows and poetry broken into segments that represent ancient and modern Africa.
Between the ancient and modern acts was a segment devoted exclusively to raising money for Dr. Denis Mukewge's Panzi Hospital of Bukavu. The facility is the only hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo equipped to treat thousands of victims of systematic, violent rape.
The goal of the event, in addition to raising money for the hospital, was to project a positive view of Africa and celebrate its rich cultural history and traditions, according to Gboyinde Onijala, president of the ADC. Many people have a skewed impression of the continent due to its depiction in today's media, she said.
"We wanted to take the audience on a journey from ancient to modern-day Africa," Onijala said. "People seem to think we're in primitive stages, like they can't believe some of us live in mansions back home and have cars and there are skyscrapers. We wanted to challenge those stereotypes and bring cultural awareness to Towson University and friends and family."
The night began in the University Union Potomac Lounge with a dinner from 4:30-6 p.m., featuring traditional African dishes. Following the dinner, students were led upstairs to the Chesapeake Rooms. Attendees waited to get inside as event staff handed out purple wristbands to limit the audience to 500 people, due to fire regulations.
The show began at 7 p.m., with two student emcees bantering onstage to introduce each act. The first half of the show offered several dance routines, a spoken word performance, a musical number by the Afro Kings and a fashion show for designer Nubian Desire's clothing.
After a brief intermission, the Panzi Hospital fund-raiser portion of the evening began. A student hidden behind a black curtain to the side of the stage narrated the accounts of several women who had been abused, raped and tortured by soldiers in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"It is not a woman's problem, or an African problem, or a Congolese problem," the student read, after finally coming out from behind the curtain to address the audience. "It is a situation that requires thousands of people to face the magnitude of the injustice that has been committed."
After the student's reading, audience members watched a mini-documentary about sexual violence in the DRC and were encouraged to donate money to the Panzi Hospital.
According to Onijala, the event raised more than $1,000.
The emcees came back onstage to introduce the modern Africa segment, lightening the mood with trivia and introducing the next act, a dance routine by Les Femmes D' Afri'k. Several more music selections, dance routines and a couple of fashion segments ensued, including songs from APEXX and Tolumide, a presentation of designer Stylz's designs, and another dance routine from Fusion, among others.
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