By Jason Cunningham
Culture Shock, an event that features performances from across the African Diaspora, received Event of the Year at the Annual Club Recognition Dinner on Monday.
During Culture Shock, cultures with African roots represent themselves through performances, vendors and cultural foods to create a night of diverse entertainment. Culture Shock is the biggest event mainly sponsored by the Africana Students’ Organization.
“The night, all in all, went smoothly because we had a great team of workers to help who were organized and enthusiastic on making the show a memorable one,” said Gigi Neama, president of the ASO.
The Caribbean Orchestra, Karibe Mambo lead by Orlando Ortiz and Alisa from Alisa’s House of Salsa came together during the event to make Culture Shock an interactive performance.
“Just imagine 200 people learning to salsa dance and topping it off with a Conga and Limbo Line,” said Neama.
Culture Shock also featured a full buffet of Caribbean, African, Latin American, European and Indian food.
“In 2009 they needed the services of WFCS for DJing. We were a success so they brought us back,” said WFCS 107.7 DJ Earl B-EZ Nelson.
Nelson along with Michael DJ Fresh Jackson provided music and sound expertise for the evening.
“The reason why this is such a success is because it’s a cultural gathering of all cultures. There’s no superiority there, everyone is treated the same, on the same level,” said Nelson.
According to Neama, the fourth annual Culture Shock in 2009 was a crucial year for ASO. Prior to that Culture Shock had low attendance. The 4th annual Culture Shock was appealing because, like this year, the audience was integrated with the performers, engaging them in activities like salsa and belly dancing. Attendance jumped from 50 in 2008 to 200 in 2009, allowing the ASO a better opportunity to promote Culture Shock on a larger scale for this year.
Other cultural organizations on campus that are involved with Culture Shock include the Black Student Union, the United Caribbean Club, the Latin American Students Organization and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People amongst others. The President of NAACP, Martine Bernade, has acted as one of the emcees for Culture Shock for the past two years.
“A lot of the times cultural organizations have a stereotype that they are specific to a certain race or ethnicity of people and that hinder diversity within membership,” said Neama. “A common misconception among our cultural organizations on campus, Culture Shock counters that and opens up student’s minds to giving ASO a chance.”
ASO has already made plans to incorporate more events into their yearly calendar and hopes to be successful integrating fun and inviting events for the campus.
