On Friday, September 30 - Sunday, October 1 …
ANNUAL AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND TRIBUTE WEEKEND TO INCLUDE SPECIAL MOMENTS OF "MEDITATIONS ON COMPASSION AND HEALING" FOR GULF COAST, NIGER AND HAITI

Wyclef Jean, MC Lyte, Russell Simmons Def Poetry, Cast from Drumstruck, Taye Diggs, Phylicia Rashad, Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy, Violinist Tadia Lynch, Youth Gospel and Tribute Choirs, United House of Prayer for All People brass band, Kaissa, Ileanna Santamaria, Silver Clouds Singers, Dance Performances,"Ring Shout" with Assembly of NYC Schoolchildren to Highlight

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(AANEWSWIRE)(New York, NY - September 2005) The second annual African Burial Ground: Celebration of the Ancestral Heritage Weekend, a commemorative tribute to the 20,000 Colonial-era African men, women and children interred in Lower Manhattan and their contributions to the building of early America will be presented Friday, Sept. 30-Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005 at the memorial site on Duane & Elk Streets, adjacent to 290 Broadway. This year, the event focuses on preparations for the exterior permanent memorial, with special moments dedicated to those whose lives have been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, famine in Niger and suffering in Haiti.

Hosted and produced by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Ancestral Heritage Weekend will feature the participation of African and national leaders, performers, scholars, faith leaders, community leaders and youth from New York City schools. Performances, readings, presentations, and consecration/affirmation ceremonies will pay homage to "all those who were lost" but "not forgotten."

"I cannot call enough attention to the importance of preserving and marking this historic site," says Howard Dodson, Chief of the Schomburg Center. "We need historic markers that represent the past so that we, and future generations, can keep a critical eye on how far we have come and where we need to go."

For the second consecutive year, the Ancestral Heritage Weekend opens at City Hall Park with guest host MC Lyte; an assembly of 1000 schoolchildren participating in a group Ring Shout; and dozens of drummers, on Friday morning (30). The chant will be led Mor Dior Bamba in a consecration/affirmation ceremony with the La Guardia High School Gospel Choir singing "Stand." They will be joined by cast members from Broadway's Drumstruck musical, playing Zulu rhythms on traditional Isigubu drums. As young people lead the placing of the messages to the African Ancestors in Ghanaian liters, ecumenical prayers will be offered to prepare and consecrate the grounds that will hold the permanent exterior memorial for the African Burial Ground.

The Weekend will close, Sunday (2), with a performance of The Spiritual: An Underground Railroad, featuring the renowned Kevin Maynor, at the Schomburg Center in Harlem (West 135th Street & Malcolm X. Blvd.).

During the 3-day Tribute, there will be an official renaming of Elk Street -- the lane in Lower Manhattan along which the memorial site rests - to African Burial Ground Way. In addition to the LaGuardia H.S. gospel choir, there will be other young performers, including: violinist Tadia Lynch, the 18-year-old Hurricane Katrina survivor; Brooklyn's acclaimed Musart Steel Drum Band, and The Eleanor Roosevelt I.S. #143 Concert Choir.

The ancestral roots of our contemporary dance movements will be seen in performances by the Garifuna Dance Company, Abada - Capoeira NYC and Ase Dance Theatre Collective, amongst others.

The African Burial Ground site also will be the location for tributes by such artists as: Wyclef Jean, Russell Simmons' Def Poetry, The McCollough Invaders, the United House of Prayer for All People brass band, Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy (with Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Javon Jackson, sax; Rick Germanson, piano and Reuben Rogers, bass), the African Burial Ground Tribute Choir, The Silver Clouds Native American Dancers and Singers, and Phylicia Rashad, Avery Brooks, Taye Diggs, James McDaniel, Kaissa, Ileanna Santamaria and more.

All events at the African Burial Ground are open to the public, and there is no charge for admission. For more information, visit: www.schomburgcenter.com

Press Contact:
Bernice Elizabeth Green, UniWorld Group, bgreen@uniworldgroup.com, 212.219.7298, 917.860.8363

** Below is a Program Schedule **
(as of 9/26/05)

 

AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND TRIBUTE WEEKEND
PROGRAM SCHEDULE as of 9/26/05

Friday, September 30, 2005
10:00 a.m.
Children's Assembly, Ring Shout, Consecration, Affirmation Ceremonies and chant with youth choirs and cast members from the musical Drumstruck. (Begins at City Hall Park, Center & Chambers Street, and moves to the African Burial Ground Memorial site at Duane & Elk Streets.)

11:30 a.m.
Ecumenical Prayers to prepare for the African Burial Ground permanent memorial with spiritual leaders and The McCollough Invaders, The United House of Prayer for All People brass band.

2:00 p.m. - Midnight
Vigil
2:00 -5:00 p.m. Open Mic Presentations*
7:00 -8:00 p.m. Jazz Tribute: Louis Hayes & the Cannonball Adderley Legacy
with Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Javon Jackson, saxophone; Rick
Germanson, piano; and Reuben Rogers, bass
8:00 -10:00 p.m. Spoken Word Tribute: Russell Simmons Def Poetry
10:00p.m- 12:00a.m. Open Mic Presentations*
(*For Open Mike reservations, bet. 2:00-5:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. - midnight, call 212.491.2040.)

Saturday, October 1, 2005
10:00 a.m.
African Diasporan & Native American Drummers Fanfare

11:00 a.m.
Ecumenical prayers & music with The African Burial Ground Tribute Choir and the Silver Clouds Singers and Dancers.

Noon
Cultural Celebration with Phylicia Rashad, Avery Brooks, Taye Diggs, James McDaniel, and artists representing the African Diaspora: Wyclef Jean, Kaissa and Ileana Santamaria.

Sunday, October 2, 2005
Noon - 5:00 p.m.
African Burial Ground memorial site is open for visitation

3:00 p.m.
"The Spiritual: An Underground Railroad" Tribute Concert at the Schomburg Center in Harlem featuring Kevin Maynor.

Press Contact:
Bernice Elizabeth Green
UniWorld Group
bgreen@uniworldgroup.com,
212.219.7298, 917.860.8363