THE OBSERVER ARCHIVES
“African Heritage Celebrated Through Art”
The literary works, comprised of poetry, prose, and short stories from writers like Langston Hughes will be “interwoven to tell a story of a people,” says Richardson.
From Arts
By Dionne L. Ford
Arts Editor
The month of February brings thoughts of red heart-shaped boxes filled with candy, cold winter winds amidst a blanket of snow and the doldrums of having yet three more months until the semester is over. As Valentine’s Day and summer break are of a more frivolous nature, there is a nobler and more crucial event that the month of February represents to people at Fordham University as well as all over our country. It is a time to reflect and celebrate a culture and heritage. We call is African Heritage month.
Here at Fordham, members of the faculty and students have organized some events to help celebrate African-American history. A series of films based on South Africa will be shown every Tuesday during the month of February at 6 pm in the Student Lounge starting February 5th and each film will be introduced by a speaker, after which a question and answer segment will be provided. The speakers include our own professors, from the African-American and African Studies Department, Dr. Fawzia Mustafa and Dr. Irma Watkins-Owens along with a poet, freelance writer, Karen Carillo and Arts and Entertainment Editor of The City Sun, Armond White.
The film series was largely organized by Jerry Green, Director of the media center in conjunction with co-sponsors Molimo, Higher Education Opportunity Program Social Organization (HEOPSO) and African-American and African Studies Institute. The co-sponsorship has considerably aided in distributing the responsibilities which go along with organizing an event such as this as well as making the presentation reflect the different interests of the sponsoring bodies, according to Dr. Fawzia Mustafa.
“In the past, the responsibility has been on the African-American and African Studies Institute,” said Mustafa. “Now Molimo and Dance Movement, I believe are organizing things. And people like Jeff Richardson have taken the initiative in the theater department.”
And speaking of Jeffrey Richardson, Technical Director/Lighting Designer of the theater department, a play to celebrate this cultural event is also in the works. One Voice, Many Thoughts will be performed on February 13, 14 and 15 at 7 pm in The Studio Theater (SL05). The play will present the works of a variety of prominent black writers as well as those of some of the CLC students. The literary works, comprised of poetry, prose, and short stories from writers like Langston Hughes will be “interwoven to tell a story of a people,” says Richardson. After each performance, there will be dialogue between the actors and the audience because Richardson notes, “We understand that no presentation, no matter how in depth, will answer all questions.”
When students came to Richardson in November of last year expressing interest in doing something pertaining to people of color, he decided to produce something based on his experience with black theater which emphasizes the idea that its primary purpose is to educate; its secondary purpose is to entertain. This theme of educating an audience to students’ their feelings is what the pulse of the show thrives on.
The title of the play, One Voice, Many Thoughts is explained by Richardson as such: The “one voice” is that of Malcolm X. A part of his 1964 speech to members of Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC) on a field trip to Harlem is heard in the beginning of the play. “Many Thoughts” expresses the opinions of the students and the writers who deliver the prose and poetry of the African-American literaries and the other literaries of color.
Of Malcolm X’s speech heard in the opening of the play, Richardson says quoting Malcolm X, “This speech tells young people to think for themselves…In order to make intelligent decisions for themselves.”
Included in the play is a piece by Richardson entitled “A Child of Color” which explores violence on young people.
“The thing that concerns me most,” said Richardson, “is the psychological, spiritual, and economic violence. The physical is just a culmination of the three.”
As this is a very special occasion to all people of color in our Fordham community as well as those interested in knowing more about African heritage, even graduate student Violet J. Lee and former student Linda Jean Sainz are returning to CLC to help insure the success of this production.
Richardson hopes that a play such as One Voice, Many Thoughts will help young adults of all colors “work out and understand their mutual frustrations with society at large and with Fordham’s inability to address them.”