Students enjoy food at the “Taste of Africa” event as part of ASA’s Africa Week (Brandon Juarez-Ramos | Contributing Photographer)

Over 120 students gathered in McMillian Cafe to sample 18 African cultural foods from local St. Louis vendors, Oct. 25. This was double the expected number of attendees. 

“We had a really diverse turnout, which showed us that people across WashU’s campus were engaged with Africa week and were able to learn so much about African culture,” said junior Isatou Sey, African Student Association (ASA) Secretary. 

As part of ASA’s annual Africa Week, they hosted “Taste of Africa,” an event where students discovered the vibrant flavors of Africa. This event marked the end of Africa Week, a period dedicated to celebrating the diversity of African culture. The theme for this year’s Africa Week was Inkululeko, meaning freedom, empowerment, and the future of Africa.

“Africa Week, as a whole, is just a chance to spend every day celebrating our cultures and the differences between us, and educating the greater WashU community about what it means to be African. It also means debunking the myth that Africans are a monolith,” Sey said. 

ASA is a student club where students who identify as African or who want to learn more about the continent and the African diaspora can come together. Africa Week is just one of many events that ASA organizes throughout the year. 

From Oct. 21 to Oct. 25, ASA held events each day of the week — including a day to wear cultural attire, a guest-speaker event, a marketplace, and roundtable discussions. 

Culture Day marked the first event of Africa Week on Oct. 21. Students dressed up in traditional cultural attire throughout the day. Some examples of traditional clothing worn that day were a Senegalese Bazin dress, an Ethiopian Habesha Kemis, and a Somali dress.  

Sophomore Aisha Diop — ASA’s Co-Community Service Chair — wore a Senegalese Bazin dress, a popular formal attire in Senegal that is traditionally worn at special occasions. 

“It honestly felt really good, because you feel different and look different than everyone else. Everyone is just wearing sweats or a T-shirt, and I’m wearing something that is very integrated and prestigious in our culture, so that is really empowering,” Diop said. 

Senior Amsatou Mbacke — ASA’s External Publicity Chair — believes that wearing traditional African clothing helped promote the start of Africa Week. 

“It just felt really cool to show up to class in my African attire and have professors ask me, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ and explaining to them what Culture Day is and what the purpose of it is,” Mbacke said. 

Guest Speaker Tomi Adeyemi — a Nigerian-American author best known for the “Children of Blood and Bone” book series — spoke at the second event on Oct. 22. Adeyemi shared her personal story of being first-generation, and the importance of Nigerian excellence, which was impactful for many ASA attendees. 

“Adeyemi’s experience resonates with a lot of our members who are first-generation and second-generation immigrants who … had to grapple with dual identities of growing up in America, but also going home and being African, and being able to find a balance between that,” Sey said. 

As an aspiring mental-health professional, sophomore Titilope Omole — ASA’s Co-Community Service Chair — valued hearing about how Adeyemi defined success and her emphasis on the importance of therapy. 

“It was really nice to see that someone that I look up to and can see myself in, struggling with similar things that I struggled with, but also overcoming those struggles and being a better person because of those struggles,” Omole said. 

On Oct. 23, ASA invited local Black business owners to sell their products in the Danforth University Center (DUC) to the WashU community. Students, staff, and faculty were able to learn more about African culture through products like Moroccan traditional clothing, head scarves, and homemade tea.    

This year marked the third time Rena White — owner of the local jewelry business Honey and Bananas — participated in WashU’s marketplace event. White continues to support WashU’s ASA after being president of the ASA at her alma mater, Missouri State University. She sells handmade jewelry, including earrings and necklaces. 

“I think it’s amazing to be able to interact with the students and be able to share the experiences. It’s a very diverse market, so it’s not just African students who are here,” White said. 

Carynn Smith — WashU’s Associate Director for Programming and Campus Vibrancy — attended the marketplace and bought hair oil, shea butter, earrings, and charms for her family. She appreciated that ASA hosted this event to show students different cultures and what St. Louis has to offer. 

“I think it’s really important to have these types of events, not only for representation but really to just support some of our local businesses and the city of St. Louis. I love to see all of the diversity of products, as well as the quality and affordable prices,” Smith said. 

ASA continued Africa Week on Oct. 24 by hosting a roundtable discussion. There, students had the opportunity to engage in an open dialogue about Africa and answer challenging questions. 

“We talked about how we can empower advocacy for Africa, and within that, we also talked about collectivism. Not only are there a lot of problems going on around the world and in Africa, but there’s also a lot of collectivism going on, so it was nice to be able to talk about that,” said sophomore Mahid Abdulkarim, ASA’s Co-Education Chair. 

Senior Beza Dagne — ASA’s Co-Education Chair — appreciated the ability of this event to bring awareness to the African political climate. 

“I think having conversations that surround Africa in itself is important in our globalized world. I think there’s so much conversation about advocacy, but I think one aspect that’s always often neglected is Africa itself, and there’s not a lot of conversations, so that is what our roundtables intend to do,” Dagne said. 

Africa Week ended with students learning about African foods while participating in an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Students were able to try a variety of food, including jollof rice, doro wat, and berbere wings. 

Senior Essete Workineh — ASA’s President — felt proud of how the Taste of Africa event has changed since her first year. 

“I’m just really happy of the success of it and more people that didn’t know about ASA learning about what it is. So I’m excited to see where it takes off in the future,” Workineh said. “This year, we definitely wanted to promote it more, to be more inclusive and attract more people from the WashU community.”