ICE Event Review: African Soul International
The Etherredge Center held the Inter-Curricular Enrichment “ICE” event “African Soul International” as the final Cultural Series of the season March 30.
The Cultural Series at USC Aiken features diverse performers at shows in the Etherredge Center for students to enjoy as well as provide an educational experience through exposure to different cultures.
African Soul International is a performance group founded by Dr. Jewel Jackson in 1998 to educate and spread African culture and history through music. During the ICE event, Jackson shared facts about African American inventors. In particular, she highlighted African American women inventors, in honor of women’s history month, such as:
The inventor of the first home security system - Marie Van Brittan Brown. Brown was a nurse who wanted to secure her home in Queens, New York where there was a high crime rate. Brown and her husband Albert Brown, an electronics technician, didn’t work standard hours and wanted to ensure the safety of their home.
Dr. Gladys West, was a mathematician who contributed to the development of the Global Positioning System “GPS.” She also earned a doctorate degree in public administration and policy affairs at the age of 70.
Sarah Boone, was the inventor of the ironing board and one of the first African American women to receive a patent in 1892.
Executive Director of the Etherredge Center, Paul Crook expressed how excited he was during the process of planning the event to have the group perform because of the educational experience they provide to the audience. The event gave students the opportunity to ask questions at the end and learn about Africa in a positive environment.
“We go through and start planning our events a year in advance, sometimes a little bit longer. It’s a process of talking with agents and managers and looking at videos and meeting artists. It’s a long process. We have to go through the contracting process. We were really excited to bring the group in just because they’ve got such a strong educational component and that’s something I like to have with the Cultural Series,” said Crook.
Jackson informed students that there are over 2,000 languages spoken in Africa and people usually speak at least three languages. The three drummers who performed shared the number of languages they speak. Two of the drummers speak four languages, while the third speaks five. The language they primarily communicate with each other is French.
Jalin Irby, a junior communication major, found the facts about Africa to be interesting and engaging in addition to the group’s overall performance.
“I loved the performance overall. I really enjoyed the drumming and I also enjoyed the lady sprinkling in some African facts,” said Irby.
During the ICE event, the performers interacted with the audience. The drummers would go to the front and motion for the audience to repeat after them by clapping to the beat. The audience participated and managed to follow along until it got gradually faster, which made it hard to keep up.
Another interactive aspect of the event was the performers encouraging audience members to come up on stage and dance with them. Jackson showed the audience members on stage how to do the dance moves and repeated them so they get a good grasp of the dance.
Irby was one of the students in attendance who got invited onto the stage. She stated that it was one of her favorite parts of the event.
“I was not expecting that but it was really fun to interact with the group and interact with different people,” said Irby.
Danielle Brown, a sophomore music major, found dancing on stage to be a welcomed new experience.
“It was nerve racking. I was definitely out of my element on stage. I usually hide from stuff like that, but I’m glad she got me out of my element doing something different,” said Brown.
Crook expressed his appreciation of the performance and his enjoyment of seeing the audience interact with African Soul International on stage while learning about African culture.
“I thought it was magnificent. They’re such a delightful group of artists. So amazingly talented and they’re so wonderful at sharing and teaching as well,” said Crook.
