The African American Cultural Center will host its second annual AfroPack event on October 19, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Witherspoon Student Center. The event is free and open to the campus community, students at nearby universities, as well as to prospective students and their families visiting campus for Open House. This year’s theme in the African American Cultural Center is “Stories of Home” with a focus on telling and retelling narratives of Blackness locally and globally, and this event will bring this theme to life.
“This day is a time to celebrate Black joy in all its facets,” says African American Cultural Center Program Coordinator John Robinson-Miller IV, who conceived of the event last year as a celebratory gathering to break up the academic year. “We center oppression in many of our narratives, so this is an opportunity for us to have joy.”
AfroPack will feature a variety of events both inside and outside Witherspoon Student Center, giving everyone an opportunity to find an event that suits them. Robinson-Miller is particularly excited about the Vogue dance class with AyJaye, saying he’s “trying to get into it, as Vogue is about empowerment and is a vehicle for self-expression.”
Attractions will also include a playground, vendors, booths, make your own kool-aid, a pop-up exhibit on Black queer folx courtesy of the GLBT Center, a Tiny Couch interview setup and performances from Dotwav Media, Darren and the Buttertoast, Robbie, and Sitch, an NC State alum who will close the show. Other activities during the day include yoga,”Grandma’s Front Room,” paint and sip with Caribbean drinks and African Drum classes. WKNC is a co-sponsor of the event.
See the schedule at go.ncsu.edu/afropack.
Robinson-Miller remembers his highlight from last year’s event — a moment when he was able to sit back and observe current students, future students, their families and the community playing together, having a common experience in a place that is often taxing on the mind and body. He would like to provide a welcoming space for everyone to come and “live their best lives.”
Jenna Nabors is a third-year student majoring in communication and international studies and is a Park Scholar. Share your thoughts about this article on Twitter at @NCStateOIED.