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Ethnography into ASU

My first encounter with the ASU was when I was invited to their African Annual

Thanksgiving. The experience was amazing. In the function they gave a dance performance,

played African Jeopardy, and we ate some African foods. Some of the dishes included: fried

plantains, Jollof rice, cooked goat, Cassava leaves(cooked spinach), stew, baked Tilapia and

meat pies (ground beef and onions). Since I had a wonderful and delicious experience there, I

wanted to know more about the African Student Union. So over the course of three weeks I have

observed the members of the African Student Union (ASU). The ASU is a club on the Miami

University campus that is very active. The African Student Union welcomes everyone as a

member. It is not only for African students. The ASU is open to all ethnic groups, because they

want to share their culture with everyone.The ASU is open to all ethnic groups, because they

want to share their culture with everyone. For example, a member named Shanice is not African,

but loves the African Culture.According to Shanice she “joined the ASU because she wanted to

gain more African friends. Plus she wanted to be surrounded by African culture”.Her interest

began in high school and the ASU was a great place to continue that interest in college. The

ASU’s mission is to share their culture with everyone on the Miami University campus. Every

Friday about 8-12 members meet at Kreiger Hall to sit and talk about issues concerning Africa

and the United States.There is also a theme for the meeting about the question of the day and

their hectic lifestyles.

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On March 7, I went to my first African Student Union meeting on the Miami University

campus. When I arrived there was a small group was there.The club is supposed to begin at 6:30

but it usually starts at 6:45 or when everyone arrives.We started to watch the series called: “The

Book of Negroes”. The movie begins on the coast of an African Country, with Europeans

enslaving the Africans to bring to America. In the room while we watched Part One, the

members talked during the show. They made numerous comments about how the slaves were

treated and many members blurted out their opinions. For example, the members in the group are

not afraid to speak their opinions. No one judges you in the group, in contrast to Miami’s

standard. According to an interview with some past and present Miami University students,

Miami University is known as the J Crew U school. This means everyone dresses the same. The

majority of the students wear high end labels such as: Coach, Vineyards, J Crew, LL. Bean or

Sperrys. Most children come from wealthy backgrounds and drive expensive cars. The people

are snobs, preppy and guys only talk to girls who are a size 2. The guys mostly focus on girls

who are in a sorority or look they are in a sorority. One of the members of the ASU said “

Miami University is not to welcoming no other cultures”. Miami students say they are, and many

of the preppy student would say they are accepting. But in reality they are not, they would laugh

at other cultures. For example a former student informed me of the “Ghetto Fest” ( ​The Miami

Student ​) ​an event that happened on the Miami University campus around 2010. Ghetto Fest was

an annual block party on Miami University North Campus, before Oxford had town hall meeting

to cancel this event. President Hodge knew about the event and only said he does not support

their actions. Basically he did nothing, like usual. Miami University is a great school but overall

many of the students are not culturally accepting”. This is the Miami University standard, in
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contrast to the African Student Union where the environment is open and nondiscriminating.

The African Student Union is a safe spot for everyone of different nationalities to congregate and

express themselves.

After viewing part one of the “Book of Negroes”, the president Lorraine Kudayah held a

group discussion. The “Book of Negros” is an award-winning novel written by Lawrence Hill.​ In

2015 “The Book of Negros” is a mini series that can be seen on TV station BET( Black

Entertainment Television) ​discussion was great. Some of the topics included: Does slavery still

exist? What are the effects of slavery? Did some Africans help sell their own people to slave

traders? The group discussion was powerful and hilarious, especially with a few members

blurting out crazy answers. Especially with the question of “Why did the Europeans think it was

okay to take to do slavery” ?

The members were furious. On member screaming “why did these people think it is okay

to take these people and put them into bondage”. One of the discussion question that made

everyone angry was: If the Africans who sold their families into slavery, were they slaves

themselves? This question brought great division into the group. Some of the member said he

was a slave, because they were probably threatened by the European settlers.While the other half

said no, they considered them as betrayers and should be punished. During the discussion the

members boldly expressed their feelings about how they felt about slavery. Overall, the group

discussion was positive and refreshing.

Following my first visit to the ASU meeting, the next meeting was held at the gym.

Besides meeting in Kreiger Hall, the group sometimes meets in the gym to practice African
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dance routines. The group dancers are called the “ASU dance team”. The ASU dance team are

invited by many local college campuses to come and dance at their functions, as well as Miami

University. For example during the “Bridges Scholarship Program”, a program held at Miami

University for incoming high school seniors, they were invited to dance. At the gym I watched

the members practice their routines and they were fabulous. Dance practice is usually two hours

long and it is hard work. Since most of the members are from different parts of Africa, they

choose a variety of dance. There is a preconception that Africa is one big country, but that is not

true. Each African country represents a different culture following different practices. When they

learn new dance moves they are learning about different cultures. In the group, the members are

from: Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and some of the members are

from the Caribbean. They incorporate both African and Caribbean influences into their dance

routines. In fact African people share the same music interests as Caribbeans such as Calypso

and Reggae and they love to party. Africans and Caribbeans throw the best parties. In the dance

routine they teach each other different dance moves, and they have a great time (Figure 1 &2).

During the dance routines they only played African and Calypso music. When certain songs

were played everyone was excited and sang along to the lyrics. While they danced I realized the
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girls had a close bond, they would use lots of sarcasm toward each other. Some of the comments

would be considered mean, if you were an outsider, but to them it is just daily conservation. For

example, they would say “ you need church or I’ am going to pray for you”. An outsider will not

understand these comments, but within the group this is joke. Through dancing the girls have a

tight connection within each other. They use dancing as a way of communication with each

other. When certain songs are played some of the members know the dance moves better than

other members. For the new members, the old members teach them the dance moves. Dancing is

a form of communication used to relay a message. During the teaching process, the new

members and the old member are bonding.When a new dance move is choreographed

communication begins. The is really no name for each dance because it is a variation of dance

moves. It is a group effort.

As I talked to the President Lorraine Kudyah she says they use dancing as a way of

communicating to the public about their culture. The ASU wants everyone to know about the

African culture and how diverse they are. Multiple people believe that African Dancing is about

people beating the drum and everyone is dancing in circle but that is not true. The ASU dance

members draw from both traditional and modern dance moves to communicate their message.

The message is to share their culture with everyone on the Miami University campus.They

would try to practice some of their dance moves, but because the music was festive and lively,

dance practice turned into a dance party. When this happens the leader of the ASU would

quickly turn off the music and redirect the group’s attention to the task at hand. The ASU is

currently practicing for their biggest event on campus. It is called the African Gala and it is on

April 25, 2015.​ From the fliers and overhearing past attendees, it a big event you do not want to
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miss. Many Africans from other colleges come to see the African Gala. When I asked the group

about the music to their dance routines, they did not want to give me the song names. It is

supposed to be a surprise for the African Gala, but in return they have me artists’ names. They

played songs by: Davido, Too Fan, Skales, P-square, Orobo, Shekini, Skelewu and many others.

I can’t wait to attend the African Gala.

Other than meeting at Kreiger Hall and the gym, some of the members like to meet on the

Third floor of Armstrong at the ASU club desk. These members are Freshmen and Sophomores,

because everyone else in the group lives off campus. They usually meet about two days a week

to do homework, but when it was midterm week, they were there every-night. When they study

they always play music and eat food. When I first attended the study session, I quickly learned

that I have to buy food for the group. Africans strive on community, they will help you and

consider you family even if you are not a blood relative. While we were munching on snacks,

asked a fews members what are the favorite African Treats. I interviewed Rebecca (Becca)

Wash, who is from Liberia,and Arnold M. Kamazima, who is native from Tanzania, about their

food choices. Immediately they screamed Jollof rice, plantains, and Pilaf rice. Jollof rice is

considered an West African dish. Pilaf is an East African dish. West and East Africa are

culturally different, but there are some similarities in their food choices.

During our study session they played African music ( P-square, Sarkodie, the Top Dawg

Entertainment, May D), Caribbean music ( Beenie Man, Lady Saw, Mr. Vegar, Supercat,

Shabba, Konshens, Sean Paul) Hip-Hop( Jhene Aiko, The Weekend, Logic, Meek Mill, Big

Sean) and pop music. They only play the remixes of pop music like Taylor Swift, Owl City and

Sara Barellies, because they like the beat. African music has an upbeat style, the tempo is fast
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and the music is lively. They would play one song and magically it blends into another song.

You would be dancing to Taylor Swift new song “ Style” with a blend of M.I.A’s song “Paper

Planes” and a techno beat; this is a great combination and this blend will have an upbeat.

Before Spring Break the ASU hosted the ASU week to promote their club. Every day the

group members would sit in Armstrong with a poster board promoting the club. While showing

awareness, they were also raising money for an organization called World vision. World Vision

is a Christian relief organization “dedicated to working with ​children, families and communities

to overcome poverty and injustice” (World Vision). To raise money they sold wristbands for $1

on Tuesday and Thursday. But on Monday, Wednesday and Friday they sold cupcakes and

brownies. On their table, they have a lively poster and lots of pamphlets promoting the African

Gala. From one of the member named Becca, she told me that the African Gala was their biggest

event and it will be awesome. The fliers I collected were from previous African Galas are the

groups way of expressing their event.

In the ASU their writing can be seen in fliers, pamphlets, and on the Hub. The Hub is a

Miami University website where students can view various student led clubs. On the Hub, the

ASU has their mission statement on the front page and and many links. These links help viewers

understand more about the ASU and what activities they do. On the webpage they have current

news from Africa. For example ’West Africa’ could lose an entire generation. This article

discusses the issue of Ebola in West African countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

According to the Center of Disease and Control, Ebola is a “rare and deadly disease caused by

infection with one of the Ebola virus strains”. Symptoms include hemorrhagic fever and

symptoms appear from 2 to 21 days. In these countries the virus spreads rapidly because of the
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insufficient amount of resources and the knowledge about the urgency of this virus. As of 2014

4,500 people has died to the outbreak. The ASU takes this issue to heart and on the website they

express their concern.

Spending time with the ASU has been a wonderful and a great learning experience. The

ASU’s mission is to ​share their culture with everyone. Through dancing the ASU dance

members are sharing their culture with everyone on the Miami University campus. The message

is to share their culture with everyone on the Miami University campus. The use writing on their

website on the Hub, to attract new members and inform curious minds about their club. They

hold many events on campus including the African Gala, which is open to everyone.

As my three weeks conclude I have to say that I had an astounding time with the ASU. I, myself

have learned more about the African culture and how diverse each country is. The ASU is doing

an excellent job at sharing their African Culture with the Miami University students. They use

dancing as a form of communication to outsiders. They have fliers and pamphlets explaining

who is the ASU and what is there mission statement. And they host several events: African Gala,

Trivia Night, Ethnic Religious Colloquium on the Miami University campus. that always has

free food.
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Works Cited

“About Ebola Virus Disease.” ​Centers for Disease Control and Prevention​. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, 08 Dec, 2014. Web. 12 Apr.2015

Givanni, June. Symbolic Narratives/African Cinema: Audiences, Theory and the Moving Image.

London: BFI Pub., 2000. Print.

Jahn, Janheniz. “Muntu.” ​Google Books. ​Pgw. Web. 03 Apr. 2015

Newell, Stephanie. ​Writing African Women: Gender, Popular Culture, and Literature in West

Africa​. London: Zed, 1997. Print.

Padilla, Amado M. Ethnic Minority Scholars, Research, and Mentoring: Current and Future

Issues. Vol. 23. 1994. No. 4. Ethnic Minority Scholars, Research, and Mentoring: Current
and Future Issues. American Educational Research Association, May 1994. Web. 1 Apr.
2015.

"The Miami Student." The Miami Student. 23 Apr. 2010. Web. 09 Apr. 2015.

“World Vision International, For Children. For Change. For Life. “World Vision International,

For children. For Change For Life. Web. 31.Mar. 2015.

 
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