Festival Honors Black Legacy, Talent

The crowd in Paine Hall was transfixed as Masi Osseo-Asare '00 and Teddy Maynard '00 finished singing "His Eye on the Sparrow." After a silent pause--when the hum of the piano stopped reverberating through the hall--the audience jumped out of its seats, clapping and cheering.

The performance brought the house down, but it wasn't the first time students were on their feet applauding this weekend.

Ushering in Black History Month, Harvard's first Black Arts Festival celebrated past and present artistic voices, drawing enthusiastic, hall-filling crowds to all four of its main events.

Event participants said they felt strong personal connections to their work, and exhibited pride and anger, joy and resolve in their performances.

Maynard, also a lead actor in Friday night's musical "Songs We Can't Sing," said the themes of the show resonated with his personal experience. The Currier House sophomore moved from Puerto Rico to Boston as a child, following the death of this mother.

"It hurts me, as it did my character, to feel that I am not embraced by my people," said Maynard. "My life, like Kwame and Kweku [the musical's main characters], is a constant striving to become closer to God because in that relationship do I find my home."

Friday night's audience witnessed Ashong's interpretation of modern themes in the show's script and choreography. Scenes depicting police brutality, black self-deprecation, the place of religion and the immigrant experience were punctuated by ballet, soliloquy and fast-moving dance segments.

Messages of social change resonated through Lowell Lecture Hall, as cast members chanted lyrics such as "You're chained until you change your perception /Enslaved by lives of lethal inflection..." inone of the show's rap songs.

Adding an academic component to the weekend'sfestivities, the guest speakers at Saturday's ArtsPanel debated the aesthetic merit and politicalsignificance of hip-hop music.

Visual artist Alonzo Adams decried theprevalence of remixing by black musicians inpopular music. "It bothers me," he said. "With allthe gifts laid before us, why do we have to keepreaching back and doing it over and over and overagain?"

Instead, Adams urged the music industry to"build upon past gifts," taking the success ofgreats such as Marvin Gaye and John Coltrane to "ahigher level."

Panelist Conrad Muhammad, spokesperson for theNation of Islam and popularly known as "theHip-Hop minister," said he sees a potential forhip-hop to permeate the political arena.

"Clearly we have been loud," he said. "But whathave we been saying?"

The discussion moved to a historical look atthe African-American contribution to arts in thiscountry. When Muhammad hears blacks being told tomove back to Africa, he responds "we'd have totake so much of America with us that Americanwouldn't be the same."

Saturday night's "Celebration of the BlackArtistic Experience" incorporated many of theartistic contributions to which Muhammad alluded.

Gumboot Dancers began the performance, stormingthe stage with a rendition of dances created bySouth African mine workers.

An array of talent spanned prose, poetry andsong, as well as dance and freestyle rap. Theaudience leapt to its feet several times, cheeringacts such as Saleem Washington, Chiqui Matthewsand B-side, and the third-annual FreshmanSteppers, the finale act of the "Experience."

The first-annual Kuumbafest, introduced byProfessor of Afro-American Studies Cornel West'74, concluded the weekend. Following smallerensemble pieces, the Harvard-Radcliffe KuumbaSingers--over 70 in number--brought the crowd onceagain to its feet, some swaying, others crying.

Robert Winfrey, retiring this year after 25years of conducting the group, addressed theensemble and the audience, calling the group'sdevelopment and the festival's triumph "ablessing."

Despite the success of the Festival, itsplanners criticized the process through which theevent had to be organized.

Although several University institutions--suchas the Harvard Foundation, the Institute ofPolitics and the Dean of students Office--providedfunds for the Festival, founder and coordinatorPhillip A. Goff '99 said the College's policiesand practices made it difficult to coordinate thecelebration.

According to Goff, the Festival'scosts--including rental spaces, as well astransportation and lodging for guests--totaledabout $10,000. Many of the grants that Goffreceived are retroactive and require that theFestival front its own expenses--money it does nothave as a start-up effort.

"When your parents are funding a`University-sponsored event,' there's a problem,"he said.

Kuumba, the Festival's primary sponsor, doesnot have an endowment, which would subsidizespecial initiatives like the Festival. "Anendowment would give us integrity and economicrespect," Goff said.

Yet Goff said he was "pleased" with the event'soutcome.

Despite several glitches--including delayedstarts and the unanticipated absence ofpoet-activist Sonia Sanchez on Saturday--Goff saidhe "looks forward to next year."

"Sonia didn't make it, and she's my idol. Andwe didn't sell out," Goff said. "But we treatedthe subject of black art with integrity, and wemade a joyful noise. So, in that sense, we didexactly what I had hoped for."CrimsonGeoffrey A. FowlerRHYTHM IN MOTION: Ballet segments, aswell as step dancing and rapping embodied "TheCelebration of the Black Artistic Experience,"part of the weekend festival.

Adding an academic component to the weekend'sfestivities, the guest speakers at Saturday's ArtsPanel debated the aesthetic merit and politicalsignificance of hip-hop music.

Visual artist Alonzo Adams decried theprevalence of remixing by black musicians inpopular music. "It bothers me," he said. "With allthe gifts laid before us, why do we have to keepreaching back and doing it over and over and overagain?"

Instead, Adams urged the music industry to"build upon past gifts," taking the success ofgreats such as Marvin Gaye and John Coltrane to "ahigher level."

Panelist Conrad Muhammad, spokesperson for theNation of Islam and popularly known as "theHip-Hop minister," said he sees a potential forhip-hop to permeate the political arena.

"Clearly we have been loud," he said. "But whathave we been saying?"

The discussion moved to a historical look atthe African-American contribution to arts in thiscountry. When Muhammad hears blacks being told tomove back to Africa, he responds "we'd have totake so much of America with us that Americanwouldn't be the same."

Saturday night's "Celebration of the BlackArtistic Experience" incorporated many of theartistic contributions to which Muhammad alluded.

Gumboot Dancers began the performance, stormingthe stage with a rendition of dances created bySouth African mine workers.

An array of talent spanned prose, poetry andsong, as well as dance and freestyle rap. Theaudience leapt to its feet several times, cheeringacts such as Saleem Washington, Chiqui Matthewsand B-side, and the third-annual FreshmanSteppers, the finale act of the "Experience."

The first-annual Kuumbafest, introduced byProfessor of Afro-American Studies Cornel West'74, concluded the weekend. Following smallerensemble pieces, the Harvard-Radcliffe KuumbaSingers--over 70 in number--brought the crowd onceagain to its feet, some swaying, others crying.

Robert Winfrey, retiring this year after 25years of conducting the group, addressed theensemble and the audience, calling the group'sdevelopment and the festival's triumph "ablessing."

Despite the success of the Festival, itsplanners criticized the process through which theevent had to be organized.

Although several University institutions--suchas the Harvard Foundation, the Institute ofPolitics and the Dean of students Office--providedfunds for the Festival, founder and coordinatorPhillip A. Goff '99 said the College's policiesand practices made it difficult to coordinate thecelebration.

According to Goff, the Festival'scosts--including rental spaces, as well astransportation and lodging for guests--totaledabout $10,000. Many of the grants that Goffreceived are retroactive and require that theFestival front its own expenses--money it does nothave as a start-up effort.

"When your parents are funding a`University-sponsored event,' there's a problem,"he said.

Kuumba, the Festival's primary sponsor, doesnot have an endowment, which would subsidizespecial initiatives like the Festival. "Anendowment would give us integrity and economicrespect," Goff said.

Yet Goff said he was "pleased" with the event'soutcome.

Despite several glitches--including delayedstarts and the unanticipated absence ofpoet-activist Sonia Sanchez on Saturday--Goff saidhe "looks forward to next year."

"Sonia didn't make it, and she's my idol. Andwe didn't sell out," Goff said. "But we treatedthe subject of black art with integrity, and wemade a joyful noise. So, in that sense, we didexactly what I had hoped for."CrimsonGeoffrey A. FowlerRHYTHM IN MOTION: Ballet segments, aswell as step dancing and rapping embodied "TheCelebration of the Black Artistic Experience,"part of the weekend festival.