Dancing, colorful fashion and food took center stage on Saturday, Feb. 10, at UNC's Campus Commons Performance Hall during the seventh annual Taste of Africa. The yearly event, put on by UNC's African Students United (ASU) is a celebration that showcases different African countries and raises awareness of their cultures.

“I hope people understand that there are other places in the world,” said Carolyn Emereuwa, vice-president of ASU. “Understanding other people’s cultures should be a bare minimum. I feel like as people and a community, we should be able to learn about what other people associate with.” 

The countries that were represented this year were Nigeria, Ghana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Togo and Benin. Students made posters that sat on the stairs outside of the Performance Hall for attendees to view that showcased facts and the flag of each African country. Each country represented also had group dance performances and bright clothing to highlight the different cultures. 

“Dancing is a very big and common thing to do [in African culture],” Emereuwa said. “There’s different dances per country that are popular, so you just learn from them to bring it to life.”  

Choreographers for the dances were UNC students, most being first-year students. Practice for these dances started last October. The dances they chose were based on the number of people willing to participate. 

In addition to the dances, ASU invited two vendors that were selling African jewelry and art. There were bracelets, necklaces, rings and homemade nose cuffs to choose from. “With my culture, I wanted to show everybody what it looks like through jewelry,” said Destiny Brown, owner of Sultan Elixir, one of the vendors at the event. 

There were also other performances by three solo singers who are friends with UNC students. One of the performers was E.M.E, who goes to Colorado State University in Fort Collins and recently signed with a record label. 

“It’s a good chance for people in the community to come together and be a part of something bigger,” E.M.E said. “As Africans, we don’t get to see each other every day so to bring everyone together to create a show is an experience.” 

At the end of the event, there was a fashion show that showcased cultural pieces from the African countries where participants held up flags from their chosen country. Afterward, people were able to try food from Nigeria, Ghana and East Africa. Students and parents of ASU along with UNC’s Catering cooked the food for the event. 

The UNC ASU started so Black students can have a safe, comfortable environment to be around people who resemble them and have similar experiences. For those who missed this event, ASU holds other events throughout the year. More information is available on their Instagram (@unco_asu).