The Marquette Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and African Student Association hosted their “Pink Goes Red” event at the Henke Lounge in the Alumni Memorial Union Feb. 28.
Kennedy Truevillian, President of Alpha Kappa Alpha and senior in the College of Nursing, said she took off the AKA sorority color pink, and wore red for the day.
“It’s just when we stand in solidarity with those that have cardiovascular disease or any other heart problems so for the day, we take off our pink and we wear red to show support,” Truevillian said.
ASA and Alpha Kappa Alpha collaborated on the event to also bring awareness to the importance of heart health through two cultural dances taught by members of ASA.
The goal of the event was to present an informational session on the importance of fighting against heart disease to improve women’s health.
Members of ASA and AKA who attended participated in an African-style dance to the Nigerian Afrobeat song, “Ijo (Laba Laba)” by Crayon. “Ijo” urges listeners to join in dance. “Laba Laba” means spider in Yoruba and “Ijo” means dance.
Carmelo Knight, a member of ASA and year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said he was in the ASA cultural dance show and likes the components that go into African dance.
“I enjoy many different types of dances, but African dance is definitely one of the more motioned ones. Like, there’s a lot of movement in every step that you do,” Knight said.
Natan Fessahaye, Vice President of ASA and a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said he was excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with Alpha Kappa Alpha for a good cause.
“It’s just an organization to show off the culture, traditions, heritage of people of African diaspora but it’s just open space where we can be ourselves and celebrate our cultures and teach it to other people as well,” Fessahaye said.
After students learned the first dance which was taught by two members of ASA, they learned a second dance. It was to the beat of the street pop song, “Abracadabra” by Rexxie, Naira Marley and Skiibii.
After both dances were learned, members tried it on their own without the instructor’s help.
Sophia Rhoda Akosah, a member of ASA and year in the College of Business Administration, said she was also part of the ASA culture and dance show which motivated her to attend “Pink Goes Red.”
“It was definitely really fun and when it comes to African style dancing it’s a lot of rhythm and it’s really fun once you get into it, it’s definitely energetic,” Akosah said.
The event encouraged dancers to push themselves into learning dances to increase their heart rates and immerse themselves in a new dance style.
“Events like these where it raises awareness but then also introduces something that you can do particularly for that awareness, like today it was for hearts and then we did a cardiovascular exercise. So, it helped out to get someone started on doing it,” Knight said.
Fessahaye said he thinks it is important for Marquette students to attend events such as these.
“It’s good to experience other cultures and just learn about other things outside of Marquette, and I think this was a good opportunity for that,” Fessahaye said.
Truevillian said Alpha Kappa Alpha typically hosts three or four events a month and will continue to host this specific event every February.
“We want to bring awareness to problems, and then also create an inclusive space on campus with other people that are college students,” Truevillian said.
This story was written by Mimi Sinotte. She can be reached at [email protected].
