A chorus of drum beats could be heard echoing down the halls of Beltway Plaza Mall on Saturday afternoon, as a crowd of more than 50 community members gathered at the west end of the facility for a celebration of African American music and culture.
The event – titled Wellness, Movement, Inspiration – was organized by the Greenbelt Black History Month Committee and led by local drum circle facilitator Katy Gaughan, who organizes community drum circles on the first Saturday of each month at the New Deal Café.
“I really believe in drumming for wellness – because, you know what, we’ve all got a drum beating inside our chest, don’t we?” Gaughan asked event participants, many of whom were children. “When we drum together, it tunes us up – it tunes up our hearts, it tunes up our minds, it tunes up our bodies – because these drums have been played forever. Our ancestors knew to use them for music, and communication, and communion. So we can do that today, right here.”
Gaughan brought with her not only a host of different drums, such as the goblet-shaped djembes and the cone-shaped ashikos, but also a variety of fellow musicians. Her crew included musicians on the mbira, a wooden instrument played by plucking metal tines, the didgeridoo, a wind instrument played by blowing into its several-foot-long pipe, and the Native American flute.
“A drum circle is such a powerful and spiritual thing, being able to get in sync with the rhythm that’s going on in everybody’s heads,” observed Councilmember Emmett Jordan, who attended the event. “While it’s kind of abstract … it’s really a deeply therapeutic thing.”
Other program highlights included a meditative dance performance by Padma Wine, a Shamanic Trance Dance Empowerment Center guide and guardian, and a family-friendly rap by Brian Butler, recreation coordinator at Springhill Lake Recreation Center.
Accompanying Butler’s performance and drumming throughout the event were many young participants from the Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society’s Earth Squad, which CHEARS describes on its organizational website as “a co-learning tutoring and mentoring project that practices stewardship for the Three Sisters Gardens and Food Forest.”
Community response to the event seemed positive, as reflected by the words of Greenbelter Stacy Turay. “I thought it was awesome,” said Turay, whose grandchildren participated in the program. “It was very educational, and I think that [the organizers] should continue to come out and educate the community.”
Also describing the event as “awesome” was Tanya Knox. “I think it was a great event for the children, and also for the adults,” said Knox. “I believe that everyone learned from the event today about our culture – it doesn’t matter what color you are, we all are one.”
The City of Greenbelt’s observation of Black History Month continues through this weekend, with a movie screening of Harriet starting at 1 p.m. Sunday, February 23 at the Old Greenbelt Theatre. Desegregating Greenbelt, the panel discussion scheduled for February 22, has been postponed.