Gettin' the Spirit

I had the great pleasure of attending the African-American Cultural Arts Festival at Booker T. Washington Park on Saturday July 28, 2007. I have been to this festival several times in its 18-year history and enjoyed running into some of my friends at the park, meeting some new people, perusing the information and craft booths, and enjoying the entertainers. I especially enjoyed Baba Jamal Koram -The Storyman, the spirit walkers, and the Chihamba dancers. If you missed this year's festival I recommend you make a point of attending next year.

I am especially thankful to Brother Ishmail Conway, the festival master of ceremony, for letting me have a minute or two at the festival microphone to introduce myself to those at the festival as an independent candidate for election to city council. He also encouraged people at the festival to be sure to register and vote in the upcoming election wherever they live.

As I was headed off to the festival site, I hoped that the spirit walker I saw at last year's festival would be there again this year. In fact there were two spirit walkers this year. Double the fun! Above are my spirit walker photos. It was a challenge photographing with the bright sky behind them, but with their black facemasks the problem of not getting enough light on their faces to recognize them was not a problem. With two spirit walkers, the evil spirits they chase from the community didn't stand much of a chance. Everyone I met seemed to have a great time.