Richardson Ballroom was filled with speakers and musicians from many student organizations to entertain the crowd. The Winthrop Muslim Students’ Association held an event the evening of Wednesday, Apr. 3 promoting unity across religions.
The event “Unity of Humanity” was organized by the association in conjunction with numerous school organizations to promote a sense of peace and togetherness for Winthrop students, regardless of their religion.
The hosts for the event, 2018 Winthrop homecoming queen Destinee Waddy and MSA member Ayana Shahid, provided introductions to the various acts and gave questions to the audience throughout the evening in order to encourage discussion over the meaning of unity and diversity in America.
Present at the event was Winthrop President Dan Mahony, who gave a short opening speech on unity. Discussing the popular idea that America is a “melting pot,” Mahony presented the idea that the country was better represented as a salad bowl:
“I love that analogy a lot better,” Mahony said. “In a salad bowl, all ingredients are separate and have their own flavor.”
That sentiment set the tone as the evening progressed, incorporating the feeling of unity throughout a series of musical and poetic performances on stage.
Musical performers included Saabireen, a female vocalist group comprised of members from the American Muslim Ladies Club of York South Carolina, Kaitlyn Nyree, a South Carolina native and neo-soul singer, and Atlanta rapper LJ, who led the audience in clapping to the rhythm of his music.
The main feature of the evening was Saleem Hameed, an R&B-inspired musician who sings English, Arabic, and Urdu. Throughout the event he sung three separate songs, each focusing on a message of positivity through the use of different languages:
“In the song I say ‘leila,’ the Arabic word for night,” Hameed said, “We’ve all had, in life, our good times and our bad times. And in Islam the best time is night, so this song is called ‘leila.’”
Other performers that took the stage were poets. Sonya Bowers, a 13-year-old student from Falcon Academy in York, gave a reading of her poem “More than thankful,” a piece expressing pride in her community. Later in the evening, Nabeelah Hashim, a mentor for children and a member of the Holy Islamville Community, read her poem “Dear America.”
“It’s a message to everyone in America, and some in other countries, and a call for everyone to come together,” Hashim said.
Between performances, the hosts offered questions like “what is the importance of unity in diversity?” and “is it important to learn about other cultures and religions?” to create conversation among the event attendees.
Audience members spoke up, describing a belief in the power of unity among peoples and religions, and pointing to the diverse body of people in the room as an indicator of that unity.
Following this discussion, the last performance was a musical presentation by the Winthrop University Vision of Prayze Gospel Choir, who sang the final song of the evening.
“We can all use our power and unite to move up,” the choir’s speaker said.
