The Black Students Board and the Union Activities Board kicked off their 45th-annual Pan-Afrikan Festival Week with a carnival on Harris Field Saturday afternoon.

“We’re here to celebrate the diverse culture of Africa,” said BSB chair Amira Alexander. “It’s also a platform for other cultures to celebrate and learn about our culture.”

The event aimed to promote African culture on campus by supporting several African-American owned businesses in the area.

Virgil’s Jamaican Restaurant, a local business, catered the event and UAB provided games and opportunities for students to win prizes.

Pan-Afrikan Festival Week began on Saturday and will conclude on Friday.

The schedule of events for Pan-Afrikan Festival Week can be found on UAB’s website. Each day has a number of events centered on a different theme, with an overarching theme surrounding the entire week. 

“Our theme for this week is ‘We are still standing, celebrating 45 years of Pan-Afrikanism,’” Alexander said.

Themes for the individual days of the Pan-Afrikan Festival Week include self-determination, faith, purpose, creativity, corporative economics, unity and collective work and responsibility. 

Alexander said each day’s theme plays a part in promoting African culture on campus, as well as providing students outlets for expressing themselves politically and spiritually.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this.” said Ayana Phelps, freshman in the First Year College. “I’m excited to see what will happen. It should be interesting.”

Events for Pan-Afrikan Festival Week involve students from a number of different culture-based organizations on campus, such as Mi Familia, the Caribbean Student Association, African Student Union and the Multicultural Student Association.

“We’re really showcasing African culture, from Africa, that’s been integrated with other cultures,” Alexander said. “With everything that’s been going on in this country, we want to inspire the people to stay strong and keep standing.”

Brandon Yancey, a junior studying chemical engineering and chemistry said the BSB is an important committee to have on a mostly-white campus such as NC State. 

“It does a really great thing for the minority communities on campus by giving us a chance to explore and celebrate our culture,” Yancey said. 

BSB’s mission is to “instill a sense of unity and excitement within students, and to provide a social outlet by hosting political, spiritual and cultural programs and activities,” according to its website.

Pan-Afrikan Festival week will conclude on Friday with an inaugural Pan-Afrikan concert in the Talley State Ballroom at 8 p.m.

Event schedule

Monday | Purpose

11 p.m.–1 p.m. • Brickyard 

Monday Morning Motivations: Come out for some encouraging words and a treat. 

7 p.m. • Talley Ballroom 

2015 Pan-Afrikan Pageant: BSB presents in the Talley Ballroom (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

Tuesday | Creativity

7 p.m. • Thompson Hall 

38th Annual Spring Concert: Visions of an Era: Brought to you by DanceVisions Dance Company

Wednesday | Corporative Economics

Noon–1 p.m. • Wolf Plaza 

Pan-Afrikan Pride Day: Wear Pan-Af tee from any year and stop in Wolf plaza for pizza! 

6:30 p.m. • Talley Student Union 

An Evening of Poetry, Love, and Enlightment: Guest speaker Nikki Giovanni, sponsored by Black Students Board, African American Cultural Center, Student Involvement, CSLEPS, and SG-Diversity Commission

8 p.m. • College of Textiles 

Unraveling the threads of fashion … back to the Beginning: Brought to you by African American Textile Society

Thursday | Unity

7 p.m. • Caldwell Lounge 

AfroLatinidad: Brought to you by Society of Afrikan American Culture presents with Mi Familia, Caribbean Student Association, African Student Union, Multicultural Student Association, and the African American Cultural Center 

Friday  | Collective Work & Responsibility

12:15 p.m. • Free Expression Tunnel 

Pop the Tension: A Celebration of Social Justice: Brought to you by the community

8 p.m. • Talley Ballroom 

Inaugural Pan-Afrikan Concert: featuring Big KRIT, sponsored by Black Students Board. (Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; show starts at 8 p.m.)