Kent African Students Association hosted a “Paint & Sip” event in the Student Center Monday, March 4. This was the first event of the week for KASA’s “African Week,” as they host an event each night during the week leading up to the main event: “African Night.”  

There were multiple tables set up with painting materials and a bottle of sparkling apple cider to keep it university friendly. There were rose petals scattered on every table, along with soothing African music playing in the background.

Sophomore human development/family studies major, Jenell Martinez, was asked by one of KASA’s e-board members to attend.

“I found out about the event through the flyers that were posted and one of my friends is Irene, who happens to be the event programmer for KASA,” Martinez said.

The theme of the event was the “Tree of Life.” Everyone who attended drew a tree and had the option of drawing things that represent something about themselves, whether it was their hobbies, career goals or using colors to show their personality.

Carleshia Hernandez, a sophomore hospitality management major, created a tree which consisted of different colors, mostly dark. Her painting describes the perception of darkness and light in the world.

“I chose a lot of colors but I did a lot of darker colors and most of it was on the trunk of the tree,” Hernandez said. “I wanted to show (that) there is a lot of darkness and (that) certain things aren’t put into the light in the world.”

Gynesis James, a sophomore fashion merchandising major who also attended, said that she has been to a lot of KASA events during her time at Kent State.

“I’ve been to their Jeopardy event not too long ago, their Face of Africa Pageant, the dance workshops they host, but I’m looking forward to their African Night this year,” James said. “As for my tree design, I chose to do red and orange to give it a sunrise type of feel to it, I think it’s very pretty.”

KASA’s event list and locations for African Week can be found on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Jalen Sephus covers African-American diversity. Contact him at [email protected].