Illustrating African culture

More than 150 students and faculty gathered Friday evening at the International Center to celebrate African Unity Night. The free event, sponsored by the African Languages Program, included skits, poetry reading and African pop music by local group AfroHoosier International. \nSamuel Obeng, African languages coordinator and associate professor of linguistics, pioneered the program -- the first of its kind promoting African studies -- in hopes of generating interest in the department. While the International Center sponsors many cultural gatherings throughout the year, Friday's event was the first to feature African culture. \nThe program opened with a brief introduction by Obeng. Skits performed in the East African language Swahili and Twi, a tongue native to the Ivory Coast, followed. The first skit concentrated primarily on the need to concentrate on education -- evading the tendency to relax and guarding against idleness. The latter was excerpted from Obeng's book, "Rumor Mongering," and warned against the evils of excessive litigation. \nAdditional performances were delivered in Hausa and Xhosa, west and south African languages, respectively. The Hausa skit centered on the notion of self-reliance and the need to work hard, while the Xhosa poem praised politics and power.\nAfroHoosier International interspersed performances with the sounds of contemporary African pop. Mike Gasser, associate professor of linguistics and computer science, said the group has expanded substantially since its inception two years ago.\nInitially composed of three IU faculty members, the group has since grown to nine. AfroHoosier International performs regularly throughout Bloomington in restaurants, weddings and community gatherings.\nSophomore David Mattick attended the program as an extension of his Swahili course. He said he views the program as helpful to his understanding of African culture, enabling one to "assess differences in African and American civilizations."\nObeng said he was "pleasantly surprised" at Friday's turnout, which included Director of African Studies Professor John Hanson and visiting faculty from Africa and Korea. Currently about 110 IU students are enrolled in an African Studies course. Friday's program served as a hopeful precursor to increased African cultural events in the future, as well as a tool with which to attract interested students, Obeng said.\n"We are grateful to the African Student Association and the African-American Association for contributing to the success of this event," Obeng said.