Emancipation festival celebrates the African mind

A festival celebrating the creativity of the African mind will help to commemorate emancipation this Sunday.

The North Hamilton event, hosted by Department of Community and Cultural Affairs in Union Square, North Hamilton, aims to educate and entertain.

There will be a main stage and four “talking tents” covering various aspects of African culture from art and music to health and education.

On the main stage, Amir X will a larger presentation that touches on a number of the elements. He will have models in African clothing and there will be demonstrations including Capoeira – a martial art that African slaves disguised as a dance.

There will be three films showing at Liberty Theatre all looking at aspects of African culture, there will be African food and arts aon display throughout the day as well as lots of fun for the children.

The department has also partnered with the Friendly Society which is creating a display at Manchester Unity Hall. There will be an all-day exhibit called Embrace the Dream, Share the Knowledge.

Kim Dismont-Robinson, folklife officer for the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, said: “With this festival, the emancipation committee wanted to explore the African connections to Bermuda.

“We decided that when commemorating emancipation, we want to make it very clear that the history of black people did not begin with slavery. The idea is to look at not only the point where we became Bermudians but to also look at some of the original traditions from the continent and show the connections to Bermuda. We wanted to see it from a very positive perspective and look at African creativity.”

The day’s events are as follows:

Food and drink: There will be food and beverages of the African diaspora served all day. There will be African vegetarian, Middle Eastern, local foods as well as selections from Brunswick Bakery, D&G Sherbert and Lickety Split.

The main stage: There will be a dramatic dance performance by Amir X at 2:15pm and at 3:50pm the jazz quartet made up of Raymond George, Miles Manders, Stan Gilbert and Tootsie Bean. At 5:30pm is troubadour calypso by Stan ‘Lord Neck-Tie’ Seymour followed by Gombeys at 6pm.

Cuisine — From Codfish to Curry, a Conversation on Foods From the African Diaspora: Cheryl Kerr (2:15pm and 3:45pm) and Rickilee Pitcher (5:15pm) will talk and give demonstrations. There will also be tastings.

Medicine — A Holistic Approach to Healing, a conversation on Traditional Uses of Medicinal Botanicals: Nell Johnson (2:15pm), Roderick Ming (3:45pm) and Neville Richardson 5:15pm).

Education — Safeguarding the Minds of Our Children: a Conversation on the Education of Bermudians of African Descent (from 2:45pm to 4:30pm).

Featuring Dr Joseph Christopher, Michelle Squire and Professor Melodye Van Putten.

Cricket, Cupmatch, Emancipation — Beyond a Boundary (2:45pm top 4:30pm). Representatives from both ends of the island will discuss this subject — Charles Marshall (St George’s), John Stovell (Somerset), Eugene ‘Buck’ Woods (Somerset) and Dr Radell Tankard.

Art — African artefacts collected by Amir X including weapons, masks and clothing will be on display throughout the day.

Religion — Grace Rawlins will discuss African creativity in the Anglican church (2:15pm), Kes. Haile Zion Simons the Ethiopian Orthodox church (3:45pm), while Masjid Muhammad will be representing the Muslim community (5:15pm).

Films of the African Diaspora — Three Community and Cultural Affairs films will be showing at Liberty Theatre: Behind the Mask: Bermuda Gombeys Past, Present and Future (2:15pm). Time and Judgement: A Diary of a 400 Year Exile (3:30pm) and Emancipation: A Love Story (4:45pm).

Music — An introduction to Afro-Cuban percussionism by Calvin Worrell (2pm to 4pm). Then rhythm collector Professor Keith Caisey will do a demonstration on ethnic musicology. (4pm to 6pm).

Children — Storytelling by Florenz Maxwell (3:15pm), African mask and bottle doll making by Trevor Todd , seesaw, stilts and box carts by Leon Burt and African face painting by Sniggles.

North Hamilton Train Tour —on the original Bermuda Train.