CFED hosts Black History Month celebration

On Wednesday, February 28, Canton Families Embracing Diversity (CFED) welcomed students, parents and community members to the CHS Distance Learning Lab for an informative and inspirational evening event in celebration of Black History Month.

Millynnia Lewis performed a liturgical dance selection accompanied by music from gospel artist Israel Houghton entitled “Moving Forward.”

The program’s keynote speaker was Kai Grant, an award-winning community activist and owner/chief curator of Black Market, a cooperative pop-up market in Roxbury’s Dudley Square featuring black-owned, women-owned and locally owned businesses. In her presentation entitled “The Importance of Entrepreneurship in urban communities,” Grant discussed her inspirations and goals for Black Market, including the desire that she and her husband Chris share to uplift and empower their own community and to promote economic growth and self-sufficiency. Launched in June 2017, the retail and cultural space has since attracted considerable media buzz while serving as a launching pad for hundreds of black-owned businesses.

Also during her presentation, Grant discussed the legacy of entrepreneurship in Roxbury and highlighted Marcus Garvey’s vision of black economic empowerment. She also shared seven reasons why urban communities need entrepreneurship: to eradicate the wealth gap, reduce unemployment, increase median income, restore a cultural footprint, reshape socio-economic norms and disrupt violence, lower crime rates, and create generational wealth. “Entrepreneurship,” Grant said in summary, “moves the needle of our communities forward. We are overdue for sustainable socio-economic change, and we must pool our resources and build our own reality. We must believe in ourselves and our ideas — and take risks.”

The evening celebration was emceed by CFED member Cynthia Holcombe and featured a performance of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” by gospel singer Angelena Hightower, a liturgical dance number by Millynnia Lewis, and performances by the CHS chamber singers and jazz quintet. In addition, several members of the student group Canton Students Embracing Diversity (CSED) recited poems and readings, including Radha Luke, Maro Coulibaly, and Fatimah Alyaqoub.

See this week’s Canton Citizen for more photos from the CFED’s Black History Month celebration. Subscribe today at www.thecantoncitizen.com/subscribe.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Mar 9 2018. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.