Celebration echoed through McCormick Auditorium on Saturday night as the African Student Association closed out Black History Month with Jabulani, a Zulu word meaning “rejoice.”
Under this year’s theme, “Timeless: The Echoes of Our Ancestors,” the night featured a pageant for Mr. and Ms. Africa and performances from NU groups like ELEL Dance Team and Afrothunda.
For McCormick sophomore Sandrine Douti, who represented Togo in the pageant, this wasn’t her first rodeo. She also participated in Jabulani’s fashion show last year.
Crowned this year’s Ms. Africa, she said she showed up for all the African countries, “especially the ones that were not able to be represented.”
“If you can know more about (their culture), then you can connect on a deeper level with that person,” Douti said.
She left the night with more than just a sash. $200 cash prizes were awarded to Mr. and Ms. Africa, $100 for first-runner-ups and $75 for second-runner-ups.
Douti said she plans to spend some of the money on her friends, attributing some of her success to her support system. One of the attendees who showed up to Jabulani to support her was her work manager, she said.
“I feel a bit more connected with her because I feel like she’s seen some parts of me that she maybe did not know before,” Douti said.
She said her friends were screaming “Ms. Africa” and that by the end, most of them “couldn’t feel their voice anymore.”
As part of the pageant, contestants performed a talent, ranging from drawing to playing an electric guitar. Winners were chosen from both the votes of pre-selected judges and votes cast by audience members who scanned a QR code.
For others, this Jabulani was their first at NU.
Competing for Mr. Africa, Weinberg first-year Ezinna Egedigwe took the stage for a poetry reading. Initially hesitant to participate, he was convinced after an ASA board member called his sister, Weinberg junior Eni Egedigwe, to encourage him.
“That just shows you the interconnectedness of the African community on campus,” Ezinna Egedigwe said.
Ezinna Egedigwe performed “Path of Thunder” by Christopher Okigbo and “Dereliction” by Chinua Achebe, selecting poems that he said focused on “legacy and critique.” He said while polishing his performance, he learned Igbo phrases with help from his parents and reflected on cultural change.
The show blended spoken word and dance with a transition from traditional to modern attire. According to ASA’s Instagram post promoting the event, it carried a guiding idea of “Crowned by our ancestors. Styled for the future.”
Although Weinberg sophomore Ruth Habtamu was representing Ethiopia, she said she was also representing three different tribes: Amhara, Oromo and Gurage.
“We did dances that were from all three of my tribes, which I was really excited about, so I was able to show each part of myself,” Habtamu said.
She is a member of ELEL, an Ethiopian and Eritrean dance group, and said performing with the group at Jabulani was an act of self-representation.
Habtamu said rehearsing for the performance with some dancers who were not from Ethiopia or Eritrea gave her “a newfound sense of appreciation” for her culture.
“Like, wow, this is just something that we have, and we’re actually capable of teaching it and they’re appreciating it,” Habtamu said.
Douti said living far away from home has made it only that much more important to represent Togo. She said the show invites Northwestern students to experience African history not as monolithic but as something diverse that “has it all.”
“Togo is a very small country that people don’t really know much about. So I feel like me being Ms. Africa just brings more spotlight on my country,” Douti said.
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