Published: April 1, 2010

On March 20, the Rose Hill Campus hosted the University’s first annual Africa Week, organized by the African Cultural Exchange (ACE), a recently founded, student-run international club focusing on African immigrants.

The ACE’s intent with this week was to, “Bring Fordham and neighboring communities to the African culture as well as the issues they face. We are using culture as a platform to promote democracy,” said Nana Anabel Brenvah, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’12, a member of the planning committee of Africa Week.

Brenvah, an immigrant from Ghana herself, said that she feels that “it is very frustrating for [immigrants] to assimilate into American living, especially those coming from French-speaking countries. Jobs, health and college education also become difficult to obtain. The ACE is meant to specifically target African immigrants and the struggles they face.”

Throughout the week, the African Cultural Exchange held several events highlighting African culture meant to demystify the regions and the misconceptions surrounding it.

A health forum took place on March 20 in O’Keefe Common, and was sponsored by the African People Alliance, a Bronx-based organization that caters to African immigrants in the tri-state area with difficulty understanding their medical rights. Doctors and officials from Bronx-Lebanon and Columbia University Hospital attended.

March 21 featured a traditional African mass service. This mass combines West African worshipping practices and contemporary Western customs, such as dance and music infused with Gospel readings.

A lecture took place on March 25, organized by the Bronx African American History Project and Fordham’s African History department. The speaker, Anna Kwakyewaah Polland, spoke about various African businesses based in the Bronx community, and how they are contributing to both the local and African economy.

Many events will also take place in the coming months. Among them will be a fashion show showcasing current African designers such as the Aya Morrison and Bill Witherspoon, who use African prints and materials in their clothing.

Adama Diop, a U.N. representative, will give a lecture concerning her involvement on Femmes Africa Solidarité, the lack of involvement of women in the governments of many African nations and the push for women to participate to be represented on a political level.

In the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester, ACE will hold an African festival on Martyrs’ Lawn, demonstrating an African Chiefs Durbar, an important dance used to communicate messages such as turbulence, peace and celebration.

The organization has an overall ambition to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, objectives set out by the United Nations to make a global impact, namely to lower the poverty of Africa by 2016. This is carried out in partnership with the African embassy and several African clubs in schools and colleges in the city.

Professor Mark Naison has been credited as a driving force in the creation of the African Cultural Exchange. “I’m very excited about the ACE because we at Fordham in the Bronx are in the midst of the largest concentration of African immigrants in the Western hemisphere, with as many as 100,000 African Americans from 20 different countries. They’ve revitalized Bronx neighborhoods by opening businesses and initiating churches and mosques… We in Fordham have been embraced by this community as advocates and as people who recognize the cultural and political significance of this group.”

The ACE sees great potential in Africa Week. “We want to show a side of Africa people don’t normally see,” says Brenvah. “We want to create a network of possibilities between Africa and the people here.”