NMBLC takes a look back at a decade of New Mexico Black History Festival events and previews what’s coming up in 2021
In the fall of 2011, a group of like-minded community members from all walks of life met to plan the very first New Mexico Black History Festival. The vision was to honor and celebrate the contributions of Black people in New Mexico while building community from the inside out. This group of volunteers formed the New Mexico Black History Organizing Committee (NMBHOC), led by founder Cathryn McGill. NMBHOC curated and managed events to reflect themes of the week: Arts & Culture; Taste of Soul; and Mind, Body & Soul.
These collaborations created impactful, necessary ongoing programs that have become anticipated traditions in the community. Such events include the Asante Awards, honoring Black leaders and trailblazers in New Mexico, the Roots Summer Leadership Academy, teaching youth self esteem and leadership skills through the arts, and the Young Blacks of Albuquerque Meetup Group, which in turn inspired The Syndicate ABQ, a safe and curated space for Black creatives, Queer folx, and healing.
“A people who lack the knowledge of their past history, culture and origin are like a tree without roots.”
~ Marcus Garvey
When the New Mexico Black Leadership Council (NMBLC) formed at the end of 2019, the NMBHOC became one of the many programs administered by the NMBLC. NMBLC serves as a hub that focuses on Cultural Vibrancy, Health, Leadership Development, Civic Engagement and Youth Development. As part of its Cultural Vibrancy mission, NMBLC supports the NMBHOC and the annual New Mexico Black History Festival. The year 2021 marks a major milestone— the Festival enters its 10th year of providing a slate of artistic and cultural celebrations to bring the community together.
We’re taking a look back at the festival highlights of the past decade. We’re also giving you a preview of what’s planned for the 2021 festival. Most everything will be virtual, or a virtual and socially-distanced hybrid, and it will still be amazing. Mark your calendar for February – July 2021 as we launch DECADES: Past, Present, Future a 10 year Celebration of the New Mexico Black History Festival!
Inaugural New Mexico Black History Festival – Roots Revival (2011/2012)
The theatrical performance of Roots opened with students who are preparing to go on an exciting trip to learn about the past, present, and future of Black history. The Griot (storyteller) uses a backdrop of high-energy music, dance, and spoken word to take these unwitting students, who initially think they “know it all,” on an eye-opening, riveting journey, full of poignant, heart-wrenching, and inspiring stories they didn’t learn in school.
Sold Out Popejoy with Roots Revival (2013)
Roots: Our Story, Our Struggle, Our Glory and Roots Revival chronicled the history of Blacks in the United States in spoken word, music and dance. Our struggle, our story, our glory was the rallying cry for more than 100 artists, staff and crew members beginning in 2012 at a small 150 seat theater in northwest Albuquerque. Roots became the first locally Black-produced event to sell out Popejoy Hall, the state’s largest theatrical venue. The show lives on in the hearts of the participants and patrons who remember it as a launching point for children coming of age, romance, and new business ventures. The critically acclaimed production renewed interest in authentic Black history created about us, by us and for all New Mexicans.
The WIZ (2014)
Throughout the years, the New Mexico Black History Organizing Committee continued expanding its catalogue of performances. The WIZ is a musical written by Charlie Smalls and William F. Brown. The story is a retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African-American culture. The WIZ stage show was the flagship event of the 3rd Annual New Mexico Black History Festival.
Kumbuka Celebrations at KiMo and Lensic (2019 & 2020)
The Kumbuka Celebrations are all about remembering our ancestors. We brought together a stellar ensemble of artists in song, spoken word, and dance to celebrate our ancestors, the ones who are famous in our collective consciousness and the ones who are close to our individual hearts and minds.
Many memorable community collaborations have taken place over the ten years of arts and culture events. Highlights include the One New Mexico Gospel concert featuring gospel sensation Kelontae Gavin, and the Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt Competition, which awards cash prizes to high school students who win the top spot in the areas of song, dance, and spoken word. Check out winners from the 2019 talent hunt below:
A Taste of Soul
Sweet Potato Pie Contest (2012)
The New Mexico Black History Festival in year’s past included a cuisine focus. In 2012 we hosted a sweet potato pie contest where members of the community were asked to put their baking skills to the test in an effort to win a cash prize of $500, $300, or $200.
Soul Food Cooking Class (2015)
We partnered with CNM to offer a soul food cooking class to the community. The class was hugely popular, filling to capacity within a week of being announced.
Another sold out event was the 2015 Sunday Dinner held at the Navajo Elks Lounge. Several Black-owned restaurants, including Nexus and Powdrell’s Barbecue, brought samples of their menu for attendees to sample. A portion of the ticket proceeds went to the Prince Hall Scholarship Fund.
Work It Out Day & The STEM Festival
The festival often culminated with Mind, Body, and Soul Week. This free, all day community event included health and fitness workshops, dance classes, and interactive game stations where youth learned about all the fun career options available in the STEM fields.
Honoring Service and Leadership
The Asante Awards
The Asante Awards focus on different categories of recognition from law, to the arts, to hospitality. Through the past 6 years, the Asante Awards has engaged participants to honor those who have made significant contributions to the Black community. Past recipients of the Asante Awards include the Powdrell family (2015), educator Joycelyn Jackson (2016), journalist and photographer Ron Wallace (2017), and artists Linda Piper and Juba Clayton (2020). Retired judges husband and wife team Tommy and Angela Jewell were honored at the 2019 Race and Law Conference, held in collaboration with the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association.
Cotton Club Gala
The signature Cotton Club Galas, hosted with the Albuquerque Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, was not just a chance for New Mexicans to show up and show out. It was another opportunity to recognize excellence with the Frederick Douglass Award. The 2018 honoree was education champion Dr. Linda Townsend-Johnson.
In 2019, we honored five amazing Black women who received tenure and professorships at the University of New Mexico: Dr. Sonia Gipson Rankin, Dr. Myra Washington, Dr. Claudia Isaac, Dr. Melanie Moses, and Dr. Nancy Lopez.
In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the Cotton Club Galas benefited the Deltas Judith R. Harris Scholarship Fund.
Upcoming 2021 New Mexico Black History Festival Events
DECADES: Past, Present, Future
NM PBS Screening and Discussion: Mr. SOUL!
Thursday, Feb.18, 2021
New Mexico PBS and the Society of Professional Journalists Rio Grande Chapter present a screening and discussion of Mr. Soul!, a film by Melissa Haizlip.
From 1968 into 1973, the PBS variety show SOUL! offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics—voices that had few other options for national exposure and, as a result, found in the program a place to call home. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. Through participants’ recollections and illuminating archival clips, Mr. SOUL! captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate and celebrates an unsung hero whose voice we need now more than ever, to restore the soul of a nation.
Following the film, join a panel discussion with filmmaker Melissa Haizlip, moderated by journalists Megan Kamerick and Jerry Redfern.
Click here for more information Mr. Soul! – https://mr-soul-screening.eventbrite.com
Asante Awards: Barrier Breakers
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021
Asante means “thank you” in Swahili. NMBLC thanks the following “Firsts” in New Mexico Black history.
Barrier Breakers:
Join us in thanking New Mexico’s Black History Firsts at the 2021 Asante Awards.
- Judge Shammara H. Henderson, New Mexico Court of Appeals, First African American female elected to a statewide office in New Mexico
- Gerald Byers, First African American District Attorney
- Senator Harold Pope, Jr., New Mexico State Legislature, District 23, First African American to be elected to New Mexico State Senate
- Dr. Tracie Collins, First African American Cabinet Secretary, State of New Mexico Department of Health
- Sonya Smith, First African American Cabinet Secretary, State of New Mexico Veteran Affairs
- Marsha Majors, First African American female Credit Union President in New Mexico
RSVP for the Asante Awards below:
Kumbuka Celebration: DECADES DEEP
Friday, Feb. 26, 2021
Kumbuka (Swahili): verb. bring to mind.
Kumbuka asks us to bring to mind, or to remember. At this year’s Kumbuka Celebration: DECADES Deep, we reflect on the past 10 years of the New Mexico Black HIstory Festival and recall the theatrical performances that our community came to know and love.
Though we can’t yet gather in our favorite theaters, our Kumbuka Celebration: DECADES Deep brings the theatre to you. Get your tickets today to gain access to a special celebration featuring the past cast and crew members of For Colored Girls, Roots Revival, highlights of The Wiz, and much more.
RSVP for the Kumbuka Celebration: Decades Deep below:
Save the Dates: New Mexico Black History Festival Events – Beyond February
Afro-Futurism Lecture Series
March 10, March 17, March 24, 2021
COMMUNITY EVENT: Why Me? Diabetes and Hypertension in the Black Community
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
ONE New Mexico Gospel Concert
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Black Health & Wellness Conference
Friday, April 16, 2021 and Saturday, April 17, 2021