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by Josh Gager

The beating of drums and the fiery words of poet-griots marked the beginning of this year’s Black History Month at Rowan. The University’s own Black Cultural League hosted the opening ceremonies in the Chamberlain Student Center pit Monday, featuring acts such as gospel-mime Kevin Knox and the bold stomping of the DC Steppers dance troupe.

A member of the Universal African Drum and Dance Ensemble performs a traditional African-American folk tale. Staff Photo/Josh Gager

“It’s about celebrating our ancestors and the leaders who helped us get to where we are today,” said Ashley Godfrey, a senior K-12 education and English double major who is president of the Black Cultural League. “In order to move forward, we need to acknowledge our past.”

The League, which tries to host at least one event per semester, is open to all students.

“You don’t have to be black to come,” said Godfrey. “We’ve definitely had Spanish people and white people come to our meetings.”

Throughout the various performances of the night there were a few common themes; just about every act that included spoken-word touched on the recent tragedy in Haiti, and all talked about the problems facing blacks in modern society. These included things such as drug abuse, broken families and gang violence.

African Dancers strilke a pose as the Ensemble performs for the opening ceremonies of Black History Month. Staff Photo/Josh Gager

Ms. Wise, a professional spoken-word poet, encouraged audience members to “shine” when they were facing dark times. Likewise, Saleem Wright, the keynote speaker for the night, urged blacks, as well as everyone else in attendance, to make sure this generation was one of knowledge and fairness. His words whipped the crowd into a frenzy, so that by the time intermission came around, audience members were already abuzz about the first half of the show.

Rayshon Jennings, a sophomore psychology major, thought the performance was fantastic.

“It was very inspiring,” said Jennings, who joined the rest of the audience in giving Wright a standing ovation. “They’re celebrating everything that’s happened in the black community.”

An African stilt walker adds to the performance. Staff Photo/Josh Gager

The final act of the night was a returning guest from previous years, the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble. The Ensemble, who have been together for more than 25 years, have performed for the United Nations and the NAACP national convention, and have even been featured on NBC-Today.

“We started out with a small group,” explained Wanda Dickerson, co-founder of the Ensemble, “It was just us and our children.”

Over time, the group’s numbers swelled to its current bulk, which includes numerous dancers, percussionist, storytellers and even a few stilt-walkers. The mind-blowing choreography was done largely by Dickerson’s son, Jamal Dickerson.

“We tour all over the United States,” said Robert Dickerson, husband of Wanda, father of Jamal and the other co-founder of the Ensemble, “and we performed in Africa twice.”

By the end of the night, every foot in the pit was tapping out drumbeats in time to the rhythmic percussion and every head bobbing to the swaying of the nine-foot-tall stilt man. As the music finally faded, it was replaced by uproarious applause and cheering from the audience, kicking off Black History Month 2010 with a bang.

More information about the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble can be found at www.UnityCommunity.com