Last night I went to the Ubuntu show on campus, organized by the African Student Union. I went to learn about different African cultures. It was a celebration of African identity and unity of Africans living in the United States. I had experienced a few instances of African culture before, but I had never seen it portrayed through their own eyes of what they wanted to share about their home countries. It reminded me of when we discussed in class of how African Americans want to return home to Africa and embrace the culture of their nations. In fact, the host even brought up that Ghana has called for 2019 to be a year of return, so Africans, even those not specifically from Ghana can return home.
I thought that it was very interesting to see both Africans and African Americans come together and just celebrate life. However, it was also an educational experience for many of the caucasians in the audience. There were skits that discussed African writers and activists, as well as poems that brought to light the effect of colonialism on African lives. There was even a poem about love, which demonstrated that we all face the same human struggles and that we are not all that different deep down. I thought that each segment was special in its own way and was educational for me. It was special to see Black celebrated in a time when all we hear about is how Black is bad.
I would like to agree when saying that the UBUNTU performances held a lot more meaning than any other show that I’ve been to. For me, this performance greatly added to my knowledge about Africa as well as gave me a clearer, more entertaining way to learn more. For the longest time I had been told that, “Africa has no history”. This statement is obviously untrue but it was hard for me to not believe this while growing up because that’s what I was being told by others. It wasn’t until I came to the College of Wooster when I was able to take classes that would go into depth about the history of a country that technically started it all, Africa. I am beyond thankful for all the hard work that the ASU put into UBUNTU, and I am also beyond thankful for those who allow it to happen and to those who came to learn about the REAL history of Africa, not the westernized version that we are taught in high school.
Similar to how the cultural aspects of the Harlem Renaissance was for Black people after WWI, culture is used as a medium of educating others about African culture through an Afrocentric lens. In many instances, the African culture and way of living is depicted from a negative Eurocentric standpoint for capital gains. African countries have always had rich and beautiful cultures, but the issue was letting others see it. The beautiful streets of Accra and Lagos in Ghana and Nigeria respectively were never shown, but hungry children always are. The genocide of Rwanda is splashed everywhere but no one knows how things are now. In the United States, some White people not only try to rewrite the histories and control the portrayal of Black people inland, but they do this to all people in the diaspora. I’m happy for your new discoveries, and Ubuntu mainly highlighted 2 out of 54 countries from the African continent, so theres so much more to see.
The Ubuntu show was a very exciting one which portrayed African culture in depth. I was fortunate enough to take part in the show and portray my culture. Being an African on this campus has been a very different experience for me, I have had to adapt to a different culture. I get asked so many questions about my culture and I have realized there are too many misinterpretations about my culture. I do not blame people for that because I believe that the media has portrayed a certain image about Africa and has caused many people in America to have the images they portray. Shows like Ubuntu is a platform for us debunk some of these false claims and also educate the campus community on some of our cultural practices. I realized that the audience learned so much and the show helped increase the interest in Africa in general. At least the conception that Africa is a single country I believe has been trumped by Ubuntu. The show displayed culture from all four corners of the continent and showed how diverse and different they were. The highlight of the show for me was when the Caucasian men were playing African drums and singing African songs, which helped me understand yes indeed our culture is spreading through the world.
After reading this, I fully agree. Before going to Ubuntu, my knowledge of their culture was very limited. What I knew came from what I was taught in school and what I would see on social media. This show really opened my eyes to the diversity of their culture. Watching the show gave me a view of the country from the perspective of those who come from their. The different segments were all beautiful and enlightening. The poem about love was very interesting in how in was performed. In a sense it shows a connection between everybody. It shows their battles with love and I agree that it’s something we all face as humans. I also agree that it sheds a positive light on black when all we see is black is bad. The entire performance gave off a positive vibe and energy.