The Orpheum Theater hosted the second annual Black History Month Celebration of Culture on Thursday.
The event’s goal was to educate and celebrate black history and culture, both locally and nationally. The event included theatre, music and dance performances, guest speakers and poetry.
Master of Ceremonies and spoken word artist Truth B. Told emphasized the importance of understanding all cultures and celebrating them instead of apologizing for who you are. Told said he has understood from a very young age the importance of not only being proud of his culture but all cultures.
“Understanding the importance of learning of true diversity and not just being stuck with our own ideologies of cultures is important for our community to spread awareness of cultures,” Told said.
He also emphasized that it is important for the community to support and spread the word of events like Celebration of Culture to get community support and continue spreading cultural awareness.
Dr. Warren H. Stewart Sr., the event’s keynote speaker and Senior Pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church, stressed the importance of the event to the community.
“Events like this are important because it reminds us of the African American presence and how significant it has been in the City of Phoenix even for all these years,” Stewart said.
He said that Phoenix needs more events like this one; not just of African American culture, but of all cultures. He talked about different prominent times for black culture in the city, including when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Arizona State University in 1964.
Stewart noted that African Americans are often left out of mainstream history knowledge.
He said it’s important to have events that highlight black culture because “when people mention history, it really means white history.”
Audience member Dawn Jackson said that this event made her feel prouder about living in Arizona and was happy about the City of Phoenix bringing this event together.
“For me, this brought the black facts and it brought the black history to life for this City of Phoenix and Arizona,” Jackson said.
Audience member Carlita Carey emphasized that while she enjoyed the event, she would have liked to see vendors as well.
“I think something like this is important for our community, but also bringing black vendors together is important,” Carey said. “Letting people know that black people are producers and bring a lot of things, such as oil, clothing and hair care products.”
Both women agreed that the community should start bringing in events like these to schools as a way to educate students on black history and bring in new programs.
Contact the reporter at sacastr3@asu.edu.
