Showing posts with label Detroit events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Detroit events. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2009

Some snippets from the African World Festival...

As usual, it was wonderful. Friday I caught Amp Fiddler and Ras Kente performing together--I'd never seen either individually, but they were great together. It started with Ras Kente playing Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing on electric guitar (think Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner).

On Saturday there was a parade down Woodward from Mack to Hart Plaza. I'm sure it was wonderful, but I missed it, waiting for someone who was in traffic for two hours. At the end of the route, we did find two belly dancers collapsed and recovering from their three miles (!) of shimmying. Apparently we missed wings.



Around Hart Plaza, some of the floats from the parade were on display:

I must say, I am loving Little Man's hair here.



Looks like they did it up properly!

I was drawn to the Great Lakes African American Quilters Network's booth. I spoke with the president for a while and one of the things she talked about was trying to reclaim the heritage of our grandmothers and their grandmothers who quilted.


Here's one of the quilts they had on display:


And of course there was the Omowale Cultural Society. Here are some shots of them from Saturday. The drummers were getting it:




And the dancers...


The young woman below was all energy (notice how fast her beads are moving!):
They called this woman out of the crowd to come dance with them. I think her initial reluctance was just for show, because she was quickly barefoot and her skirt was flying:

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

African World Festival this weekend!


It will be going on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There's a schedule available at the African World Festival website (http://www.awfdetroit.com/).

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Even more Detroit events

If only I could be in more than one place at time...

In my list the other day, I forgot to mention a few other things coming up in the next two weeks:

The 17th annual Concert of Colors is this weekend. It's a "free diversity-themed music festival." It's going on Saturday and Sunday around the
Max M. Fisher Music Center at the corner of Woodward and Parsons in Midtown. Check out their website.

Also the
Afro-Semitic Experience, a group of "African-American and Jewish-American musicians who are dedicated to preserving, promoting and expanding the rich cultural and musical heritage of the Jewish and African Diasporas," will perform live at the Charles H. Wright Museum on Saturday, July 25th. You can order tickets online. There's a clip below of them performing:



Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Upcoming Events

I had this idea that I was going to create a calendar of Detroit events. Well, people, there is a lot going on! And I have less and less hope of finishing it. So instead, here are a few suggestions about what to do with yourself for the next couple of weeks...

Hotter than July (that would be Detroit's Black Gay/SGL Pride event) There are events from July 18th to 26th. There'll be a pride march, a candle vigil, film festival, brunch, literary event and more...check out the website.

Community Activist Grace Lee Boggs is turning 94! There's a celebration/fundraiser with Danny Glover, Invicible and other local artists July 19th at 7pm at Central United Methodist Church. Check out the website for the Boggs Center.

The Detroit Women of Color International Film Festival is going on next weekend with films from 7:30-10:30pm Friday July 24th and from 12-7:30pm Sunday the 26th and workshops on Saturday the 25th. Films are listed on the website (though warning, last I looked the times for Sunday were wrong).

Volunteer to farm! Detroit Black Community Food Security Network needs volunteers at D-Town farm. The farm is around Orangelawn & W Outer Dr, Detroit, MI 48239. Their work schedule is:


Monday 11:00am - 7:00pm
Thursday 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Saturday 8:00am - 11:30am
Sunday 8:00am - 11:30am and

5:00pm - 8:00pm

Check out their website for more info.

Slow Food Dinner at Capuchin Soup Kitchen Tuesday, July 21 at 6:30 PM at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen (1264 Meldrum) dinner prepared by Executive Chef Alison Costello, featuring Earthworks salad greens, local loin of pork, and more. The cost is $15.00 per person and proceeds will benefit the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and Slow Food Detroit. There will also be a tour of the Earth Works Urban Gardens. They asked for people to RSVP via email to valerie@slowfooddetroit.org. by Friday, July 11, but try anyway if you're interested.


Okay, I'm already tired with all this typing and I just got started. Why don't you just go check out more good things at the calendar of events on the Detroit City of Hope website?