Black Arts Festival Highlights

Black Arts Festival Highlights

Black Arts Festival

This article mentioned the various activities that were sponsored by the Black Student Union and College Union during a one week period. There were activities that represented black culture such as a rap session between students and faculty, various films, an African-American Dance concert, and a visit from Cicely Tyson who the article called "America's premier black actress".

Bonnie McMeans

The Quad

Special Collections, Francis Harvey Green Library, West Chester University

4-13-1976

Sarah Johnson

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The week of the April Black Arts Festival, which was sponsored by Black Student Union (BSU) and College Union, came to a close last Saturday after making several efforts to exhibit, in various ways, different aspects of Black Culture. The week had begun last Sunday evening with two films, concerning Dr. Martin Luther King, that were shown in the Sykes College Union Building (SCUB). A rap session between students and faculty followed on Monday evening in SCUB. Cheryl Browning, BSU Director of Activities, stated that it was an important session because it was one of the first times students and faculty had gotten together to talk without a "crisis" being the cause of the session. One of the highlights of the April Black Arts Festival week was Tuesday evening's presentation by Cicely Tyson. Miss Tyson, who has been called "America's premier black actress," has won, among many other awards, an Academy Award Nomination for her performance in the film, "Sounder," and an Emmy for her role in the television production, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." Miss Tyson's appearance at West Chester State College (WCS.C) was a pure delight. Beginning with a question-answer period, she responded honestly and graciously to both humorous and serious inquiries into her personal life and film career. Her dramatic readings, which were well stocked with a variety of feelings and messages, kept the audience hanging on to every word she spoke. There is no doubt that quite a few eyes were moist as they watched Miss Tyson take the words on the pages before her and transform them into personal experiences. It was beautiful. Thursday evening, BSU put on an "Appreciation of the Arts" night in Swope, which consisted of a fashion show, some poetry readings, an effective dance routine by Denise Mobley, and a song and dramatic presentation by Day Lipford. The film, "The Harder They Come," was featured Friday evening. Its plot centered on a Jamaican singer who is being hunted by the law while his record reaches number one in the city. All day Friday and Saturday, street vendors selling African-American and African jewelry, artwork, pocketbooks, and other items, decorated the streets of WCSC. The black sororities and fraternities got into the mainstream of the week's events, also, by holding a bizarre in front of Wayne Hall from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The final activity was Arthur Hall's African-American Dance Ensemble's concert held in SCUB Saturday evening. Hall also operates a culture- center in Philadelphia where kids can go to learn dancing, arts and crafts, and how to play some musical instruments. Browning's feelings on campus reaction were about the same that she had held for the time when BSU helped put together Black History Week. She hoped a lot of white students did not feel excluded from the festival because it concerned the Black Arts. In the midst of the week's activities, she had mentioned: "It's a campus-wide event. They are welcome to come out." Browning added, though, that she was well aware that the festival had come at a bad tine because "a lot of students were involved with their studies and exams."