The Afro Friday event that celebrates and introduces African culture to the Lindenwood community will take place on April 14 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Evans Commons dining hall.

Afro Friday is a community engagement event that brings people of different nationalities together to learn and commemorate African culture.

“It’s a fun event that will have many activities to offer, inclusive of learning African dances and having African cuisine,” Muchena said.

The first Afro Friday event took place last spring semester and was organized by sophomore Chiedza Muchena. She hopes to make Afro Friday an annual tradition at Lindenwood as last year’s event was a success, with many students attending.

“I was happy to hear that Afro Friday is coming back for a second year,” senior Kana Hashizume said. “I attended last year and the event was so much fun with all the music, food, and dancing.”

Muchena said the original idea of Afro Friday came from her brother and his friends, who got together on Friday night to listen to African music, make African food, and spend time socializing.

“My brother used to talk about having Afro Friday nights with his friends,” Muchena said. “And I found it beneficial and thought…why not extend this experience to everybody else that doesn’t really get to have that African experience and learn about it.”

For this year’s event, Muchena teamed up with Lindenwood Student Government as well as Residential Hall Association to make the event happen. Muchena said she also collaborated with Reslife, Flowers Hall, and Mathews Hall.

Activities such as clay pot making, DIY arts and crafts station, and dancing will be available for students to experience. Students who come to the event early will be able to get free t-shirts, sponsored by LSG and designed by Associate Director of Reslife Jennifer Susnic.

The event begins at 7 p.m. at Evans Commons dining hall.