Black History fest energizes LeMoyne Center
LeMoyne Community Center members display their African drumming talent Tuesday during the center’s Black History Month program.
LeMoyne Community Center students play “God Bless America” on the bells Tuesday during the Black History Month program at the center. Students showcased their talents by playing piano, dancing, reading essays and rapping during the program.
LeMoyne Community Center students Deitrick Stogner, left, and Jashawn Martin, along with center director Joyce Ellis, unveil the Underground Railroad quilt that was created by LeMoyne Community Center members. Students designed and stitched each square.
Black History Month closed with a rousing celebration Tuesday night at LeMoyne Community Center. It featured African drumming, bell ringing, rap and religious tunes, dancing and the reading of two compelling essays. And the unveiling of the Underground Railroad Quilt, stitched together by the center’s youths.
There was a sampling of everything but the much-anticipated DNA results of five kids during the “Threading Through Time” program. Those findings, and the youngsters’ responses to their true ethnicities, were supposed to have been displayed in a video near the end of the evening.
“We were told we would get the results by now, but haven’t,” said Joyce Ellis, the center’s executive director.
The DNA project is part of the organization’s Road to Success program, an educational and socialization initiative that serves about 90 kindergartners through 12th-graders following the regular school day.
The DNA setback, however, did not detract from a fun-filled evening for the large audience that gathered at the East Washington facility. Many took the tour of Black history displays inside the entrance, led by the young program participants. The kids’ displays were neatly organized, imaginative and informative, and the tour guides knew their stuff.
LeMoyne’s fourth annual Black History Program, actually, could be known as the Children’s Hour and a Half. The youths took care of everything and entertained throughout, while keeping their cool commendably before a big crowd.
“Please smile upon our children, and be aware that they are children. They are excited,” Ellis said during the introduction. “If we support many, we could save one … then another … then another.
“We should invest in our youth. They are going to multiply and raise up Washington County.”
Some youngsters participating in the show were nervous, especially the singletons explaining the history behind the quilt squares they fashioned. Ellis, playfully but seriously, pushed the microphone closer to the lips of those who spoke too silently. But all ultimately succeeded. Highlights included the African drumming sequence, a conflict-resolution rap song and a tune about racism with the theme “Marching to Freedom Land.”
First-place essay finishers Daniel Gysi and Halea Ellis read their winning works, which were profound. They will run on the Observer-Reporter’s Commentary page Sunday. Display of the colorful quilt, the work of 38 youngsters, closed the festivities.
Answers to the DNA mystery are expected soon. Two months ago, Ellis, volunteer coordinator Leslie Brock and the youths underwent testing through ancestry.com and africanancestry.com.
Videographer Allen Bankz filmed and interviewed the five selected youngsters individually Jan. 19, asking them “Who do you think you are?” Kaprice Johnson, 11; Serena Pierce, 13; Alexandra Berumen, 13; Deitrick Stogner, 14; and Daisean Lacks, 10, could very well be surprised by the analyses.
Ellis did get one set of results on herself and one on Kaprice – at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, two hours before festivities were to begin. There wasn’t much time to pore over them. The executive director quickly scanned her own results and said the only thing clear about Kaprice’s results was that she had a gene that traces back about 15,000 years.
Her own results, from africanancestry.com, “surprised” Ellis. She said she is 36 percent European, with elements of France, Germany, England, Italy and Ireland – nations she, coincidentally, has visited. Ellis said she also is 24 percent West African descent, along with a mix of other ethnicities.
“I’m zero percent Native American Indian, which I thought might be the highest (percentage),” she said, laughing. “I’m just overwhelmed.
“But I’ve been telling the kids they will find out they are a microcosm of many things.”