African's Music Past and Present

Music has always had a special place in my heart.  Everyone has that one thing that puts them in a happy place and music does that for me.  On February 9, the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center had a program exploring Africa's past and present through music.  The program started with a presentation of the kings and queens that ruled over Africa.  So many people's impression of Africa are tainted by thoughts of only slavery and hunger that we forget about the great things.

The entertainment of the night started with traditional drums and traditional dancing.  As the drummers pounded away to a fast paced beat, a guy dressed in a tiger costume jumped out and danced to the beat.  He amused the crowd with backflips and turns but that was not all that was in store.  Next, a man on stilts dressed in a traditional African costume strolled and dance on stage.  Then he amazed the crowd by doing the splits in stilts!  That attracted a lot of responses along with when he managed to stand back up in stilts.

Then the crowd journeyed to the era of jazz.  A jazz pianist graced us with a few songs adding his own version of "swing".  Last but far from least, a spoken word artist finished the night with a poem that told the story of his personal history.