EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – Drums and steel pans set the beat for a festive night at East Brunswick’s first Black History Month variety showcase of art, food, song, dance, and spoken word. Organized by the EB Human Relations Council and Mayor Brad Cohen in alliance with the New Brunswick Area NAACP and Rutgers African-American Alliance, the Facebook Live show invited East Brunswick residents to a virtual celebration of Black culture.
From a tour of Above Arts Studios in Downtown New Brunswick with owner Dontae Muse to the melodic steel pans and powerful African drums of Ras Ujima and Jevaun Grant, the showcase featured what EBHRC Council member Paula Quintin described as a mix of African, Caribbean, and American cultures combined. Other guests included vocal artist soprano Sonya Headlam, spoken-word poet LeDerick Horne, tap dancer Gregory Williams, Radio City Rockette Danelle Morgan, and local entrepreneurs Merdel Swaby of InDulce Jamaican fusion catering and Karen Treasure of Caribbean Fusion Sauces & Spices. But to Quintin, these artists are only “a preview of the tapestry of African American artistic contributions, in all of its rich variety,”
Since 1976, the United States has officially designated every February to the celebration of African American culture to highlight the accomplishments of Black Americans whose roles in US history have been far too often neglected. A group known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History sponsored the first Black history week in 1926. From there, thousands of schools began to recognize the event. Around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, the growing effort to celebrate Black identity led many American universities to turn Black History Week into Black History Month, with each year highlighting a specific theme. This year’s is “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity.”
However, as Bruce Morgan, president of the New Brunswick branch of the NAACP, said, learning how deeply ingrained Black culture is in American history should not be confined to one month. In a year of racial reckoning for many across the nation, it has never been more important to recognize the accomplishments of underrepresented Black performers, entrepreneurs, and artists, as well as to emphasize the need for change.
“I urge all of you out there to continue to learn about black history,” Morgan said. “Black history is a 24 hour, seven days a week, 365 day a year endeavor.”
There is so much more to Black history than the icons we learn about in elementary school, each performer explained. Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X were all revolutionary, but at a time when America stands at a crossroads, the power is in our hands to take more initiative. And for the East Brunswick Human Relations Council, that starts at home.
The purpose of the Human Relations Council, EBHRC member Erum Shakir said, is to promote communication, respect, and understanding among the diverse residents of the East Brunswick community, with two goals in mind: first, to celebrate diversity. Second, to address the discrimination and bias that exists to this day in the township.
“We want to be able to foster a united and welcoming community regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity,” said Shakir.
The variety show marks East Brunswick’s first real effort for a Black History Month celebration, Mayor Brad Cohen said. There was no better, or crucial, time to set the bar high. As of 2017, The Lost Souls Project has been working to remember the recently discovered 177 African Americans, who, at the hands of East Brunswick judge Jacob Van Wickle, were sold into slavery in 1818. The legacy Van Wickle left on East Brunswick is painful, Cohen said, but it makes these new initiatives all the more necessary.
“We can’t change that history. But what we can change is how we deal with the history once we’ve learned about it,” Cohen said. “Black history is American history. It is completely intertwined with the fabric of this country, it is inseparable. And that’s what we’re celebrating tonight.”
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