Jeffery Kazembe Batts

LaGuardia Community College having an African Heritage Celebration is of tremendous significance. The necessity of having Africa and African culture, ethics & values appreciated and studied alongside other perspectives is a cause to work for and an occasion to celebrate.

In our celebration we take a broad view of African heritage. All Africans are not Black. All Black people do not consider themselves African. Black people are found all over the world. One of the highlights of the celebration is a presentation by Dr. Lily Golden about “People of the African Diaspora in Russia and Asia”. Many of these people have no connection to anything African. Africa is varied with hundreds of languages and ethnic groups. Arabs, Asians, Europeans and other white people can be found in Africa alongside the majority Black or Bantu or Negroid population.

Nonetheless, in the western world where we live, African and Black are synonymous. Africans living in the west, not knowing exactly what nation, empire, tribe or ethnic group they are descended from have claimed the entire continent as their own! This Pan-African philosophy is best expressed by a famous Marcus Garvey quote “Africa for the Africans, At home and abroad”. Educator Michael Hooper will describe how he has developed a “Roots Revisited” program that keeps students directly connected with Africa and the African diaspora.

Like the continent itself the 2-day celebration is large and varied. Culture is represented by the African Dimensions Dance & Drum Collective, Shona sculpture art and the screening of the “Moolade” film. Politics is represented by His Excellency Aminu Bashir Wali, Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall & City councilperson Charles Barron. Ancestors will be acknowledged for their contributions and student leaders will speak about the future. Embracing Women’s History month a lecture about the “marginalization of women” by author Jill Nelson is scheduled. Dr. Robert Fullilove will lecture about the “global AIDS crisis”. Glucose, cholesterol, hearing and vision testing will also take place as we focus on health. It is common when African people gather to have abundant food and a lively marketplace. Our celebration will include vendors selling various items and a lunchtime feast of African cuisine.

Co-chairing this college-wide effort alongside Luis Merchant has been a rewarding experience. Helping to streamline the various ideas and suggestions into an exciting, informative, and reflective celebration that everyone on the organizing committee can take ownership of is satisfying. It is my intention to plant seeds that will grow into a forest. The 2005 African Heritage Celebration at LaGuardia is a seed that with the nurturing of all can grow into a mighty forest of African consciousness.