Contact us at:

Website: www.kuumbasingers.org

Facebook: Kuumba Singers of Harvard College

Instagram and Twitter: @kuumbasingers

Email: president@kuumbasingers.org

Currier House

Community

Congratulates our

Kuumba Singers Taylor Shirtliff-Hinds ‘21

Isaiah Johnson ‘20

Bilal Wurie ‘21

Eliot

House

Congratulates the Kuumba Singers!

Special recognition goes to Eliot House resident:

Camryn Turner ‘21

Cabot House congratulates the

2018 Kuumba Singers!

Semper Cor

About Kuumba Founded in 1970, The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College is the oldest Black undergraduate organization on Harvard’s campus. Kuumba was founded during a time when Black students on Harvard’s campus and in the Boston area, were still reeling from the assassination of Dr. King, as well as heightened racial tensions on campus and around the country. Amidst this turmoil, a group of Black students decided to do something revolutionary; they decided to carve out a space for themselves and engage in the radical act of celebrating Blackness. Over 45 years after they made that consequential decision, Kuumba remains committed to being a safe space for black students on Harvard’s campus, and a cultural mecca for all those who desire to celebrate Black creativity and spirituality in all its forms. Kuumba is a Swahili word that means “to create.” We take that to mean doing what we can with what we have to leave a space better than we found it. This mission permeates throughout our actions as a non-audition choir, welcoming community, and artistic space dedicated to celebrating art from across the African Diaspora. We firmly believe that Black art sustains and directs our culture; it reminds us of our past, makes us mindful of the present, and gives us hope and guidance for the future. And we are committed to celebrating and magnifying it wherever we go.

Dedication

Dr. S. Allen Counter was a Harvard Medical School Professor of

Neurobiology, Director of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and

Race Relations, and Faculty Advisor to the Kuumba Singers of Harvard

College. Our annual Christmas Concert has been dedicated in his honor

since 2003. Last year Dr. Counter passed away. Kuumba remains forever

grateful to the avid love and support Dr. Counter showed us. Without Dr.

Counter’s efforts, many of the incredible experiences Kuumba has had the

honor of having throughout the years would simply not have happened.

Ultimately, as we think about Dr. Counter’s life, we are reminded of the

iconic way he used to talk about the choir when introducing us to

audiences at ceremonies and events. He would almost always refer to

Kuumba as “the gem of Harvard” or “a true Harvard treasure.” As we

survey Dr. Counter’s distinguished legacy as a world explorer, renowned

scholar, trusted advisor, and vocal supporter of black arts, we can’t help

but conclude that Dr. Counter was the real “gem of Harvard.” He was the

“true Harvard treasure.”

Kuumba is eternally grateful to Dr. Counter and is pleased to present our

48th annual Christmas Concert in his name.

The Kuumba Singers would like to acknowledge the

following for their continued support

The Harvard Foundation

Mr. Robert Winfrey

Mr. Hubert Walters

Reverend Dennis Wiley

Reverend Fred Lucas

David Evans

Professor Ingrid Monson

The Department of African and African American Studies

Center for African Studies

W.E.B. DuBois Institute

Jack Megan and the Office for the Arts

Meredith Weenick, Vice President for Campus Services

Jason Govostes

The Harvard Box Office

Dean Katherine O’Dair and the Office of Student Life

Jatnna Amador and Student Organization Center at Hilles

The Memorial Church

Reverend Jonathan L. Walton

Richard Campell

Myrna Johnston Audio

Juno Gordillo

Joshua Walker

Christelle Mfundu Ngale

Mr. and Mrs. David and Ruth Reid

KuumbAlumni and friends

The Kuumba Singers would like to thank our sponsors:

Hero ($1000 and above)

Ms. Yewande Olukemi Fapohunda and Mr. Olushola B. Olorunnipa

Mr. Jeremiah P. Murphy

Meredith Weenick

Angel ($500 - $999)

Ms. Sara F. Eckhouse

Mr. Bryan A. Smith

Benefactor ($250 - $499)

Dr. Maleka Iman Donaldson

Patron ($100 - $249)

Rev. Dr. Patrick G. Duggan

Dr. Neal Nathanson

Mrs. Constance and Dr. Preston Williams

Ms. Naabia G. Ofosu-Amaah

Mr. William D. Gibbs

Booster ($50 - $99)

Dr. Adeline Adwoa Boatin

Mr. Alrick S. Edwards and Ms. Melanie D. Napier

Ms. Shannon T. Hodge

Mr. C. Anthony Purcell and Ms. Kelley Johnson Purcell

Mr. and Mrs. David and Patricia Muehlke

Ms. Tiffany Louise Scott

Dr. Lisa M. Walke and Mrs. Yvonne M. Walke

Friend ($1 - $49)

Ms. Credell L. Coleman

Ms. Linda B. Fields

Ms. Gloria Denise Henderson

Dr. Clara Y. Jones

Words from the President

Good evening Alumni, Family, and Friends,

When I think of home, I think of the smell of the ocean. I think of laugh-ter and Sunday mornings. I think of my brothers and I imitating our parent’s accent into the wee hours of the night. I think of the fables and stories that were used to teach us morals and life lessons.

The concept of home varies between individuals; no two people’s defini-tions are exactly the same. To some, home is a physical place in which many cherished and sweet memories have been made. To others, home is a group of people―a chosen collection of faces who have laughed and loved and cried with them more times than they can even remember. And then, there are those who have never seen or experienced home. For them, home is a dream not yet experienced; it’s still to come. No matter how you may be defining home at this moment in your life, there is a sin-gular thread that runs throughout our idiosyncratic definitions of home: freedom.

Throughout my life, I have had the opportunity to live in multiple places, which has been a blessing―and an interesting challenge. This frequent shifting has forced me to question, define, and redefine what it means to be “home” more times than I have room to share. And for those of us who are rooted in the African Diaspora, this dilemma―this feeling of be-ing both unsure and unsettled―is all-too familiar. What is our home? That’s the question many black people have been forced to grapple with for cen-turies. After all, the African Diaspora is, by definition, the product of cen-turies of violent displacement. Many of our ancestors were taken from their homes―captured and forced to toil on unfamiliar land. Others were forced to flee in the wake of war, genocide, and colonialism.

Regardless of how Black people were separated from their homes, none of them left empty-handed. They were all determined to carry a piece of home with them―a morsel of their culture, a taste of their tradition, a whiff of their spirituality. Torn from their family members, they created and cultivated new families with people from different tribes and tradi-tions. And many of them came to find solace and strength in the story of a baby refugee who was born into a world that had no home for him. Though they still longed to find and return to their true home, they danced and sang and clapped and stomped their feet in order to evoke and approximate a sense of residence. They used music and art to access an

exhilarating and forbidden freedom. Their songs and poems and dances allowed them to lose sight of their present circumstances and imagine, if just for a fleeting few moments, what it felt like to be home again―and free. Thus, it is in the spirit of this sacred tradition that we invite you to join us as we search for our freedom―which is true home―through song, dance, and spoken word. May you leave this concert more inspired and deter-mined to climb home to your freedom than ever before. With Kuumblove, AudreyStephannie Maghiro, Class of 2019 President of the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College

Sheldon K.X. Reid ‘96, GSE ‘98

Director

Ayanna Dunmore ‘19 Vice President

Nwanneka Okolo ‘21

Treasurer

Gabe Wadford ‘21 Business Manager

Keturah Gadson ‘21

Librarian

Sergine Cindy Zeufack ‘20 Corresponding Secretary

Camryn Turner ‘21

Tour Manager

AudreyStephannie Maghiro ‘19

President

Isaiah Johnson ‘20 Associate Director

Kaelyn Brown ‘21

Director of Development

Priscilla Samey ‘21 Director of Publicity

Taylor Shirtliff-Hinds ‘21

Recording Secretary

Freddie MacBruce ‘21 Musicians Representative

Antonia Scott ‘20

Black Arts Festival Co-chair

The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College

Leadership 2018-2019

BAND Ephron Durand - Bass

Andrew Innocent - Keyboard Isaiah Johnson - Percussion

Willie Jones Jr. - Piano Freddie MacBruce - Percussion

James Ramsey - Alto Sax Jamehl T. Taylor - Drums

CHOREOGRAPHERS

Pamela Nwakanma

Chinaza Ochi

DANCERS

Kaelyn Brown

Peyton Dunham

Ayanna Dunmore

Amechi Egbunike

Mila Gauvin

Samirah Joseph

Francesca Noelette

Pamela Nwakanma

Nwanneka Okolo

Antonia Scott

Jade Woods

SOPRANO Lynn Augustin

Catey Boyle Nathalie Dumornay

Mary McCarty Durickas Jessica Edwards

Zoe Hughes Shahara C. Jackson

Sarah King AudreyStephannie Maghiro

Abigail Mariam Francesca Noelette

Chinaza Ochi Alex-Maree Roberts

Julia Sweeney Zoë Towler

Camryn Turner Sergine Cindy Zeufack

ALTO

Ikeoluwa Adeyemi-Idowu Kaelyn Brown Asa Coleman

Shanelle Davis Peyton Dunham

Ayanna Dunmore Tema Fodje Mila Gauvin Sarah Jerome Abigail Joseph Amanda Lee

Carly McIntosh Pamela Nwakanma

Sam O’Sullivan Nwanneka Okolo

Aba Sam Priscilla Samey Antonia Scott

Taylor Shirtliff-Hinds Sydney Stewart Arin Stowman Toochi Uradu Jade Woods

TENOR Abel Berhan Jason Colin

Keturah Gadson Isaiah Johnson

Michael Leonard Ije Okereke

Gabriel Wadford

BASS

Ata Amponsah Amechi Egbunike

Sayo Eweje Chandler Floyd Daniel Foster Peter Hartnett

Freddie MacBruce Christopher Okine

James Ramsey Randy St. Louis

Bilal Wurie

READERS Ata Amponsah - We Tell The Story

Abel Berhan - Home Asa Coleman - Canada

Genesis De Los Santos - Not Neither Peyton Dunham - Where Are My Roots

Amechi Egbunike - West Wind Lauren Fields - What Child is This

(Saturday) Samantha O’Sullivan - We Tell The Story

Cory Ransom - Canada Aba Sam - Africa

Arin Stowman - A Home Like His First Home

Zoë Towler - What Child is This (Friday) Bilal Wurie - Sura Maida, verse 48

The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College

Climbing Home to Freedom

SONGS

Anthem of Praise - Richard Smallwood

Betelehemu - Via Olatunji and Wendell Whalum, arr. Barrington Brooks

Climbing Higher Mountains - Aretha Franklin**

Do You See What I See - arr. skxr*

Freedom - Beyoncé, arr. skxr*

Have You Heard About the Baby - Shelton Becton

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free - Billy Taylor, arr. Gabe Fox-Peck

I’m Gonna Sing ‘Til The Spirit Moves In My Heart - Moses Hogan

Imela - Nathaniel Bassey

Rescue - Keith Lancaster (skxr*)

Silver and Gold - Kirk Franklin

Stranger - Donald Lawrence

Voices of Freedom - arr. skxr*

What Child is This - arr. skxr*

READINGS

A Home Like His First Home - Melody R. Webb

Sura Maida, verse 48 - The Quran

We Tell the Story - unknown

What Child is This - Lauren Fields

Children of the Diaspora

*skxr - Sheldon Kirk Xavier Reid

** Performed with students from Joseph G. Pyne Arts Magnet School on Friday

Africa - Segun Rasaki

Home - Warsan Shire

Not Neither - Sandra María Esteves

Canada - Priscilla Samey

Where Are My Roots - Keturah Gadson

West Wind - Miriam Makeba (Nina Simone)

Climbing Home to Freedom Translations

Betelehemu (Bethlehem) [Yoruba]

Imela (Thank You) [Igbo]

Not Neither [Spanish]

Awa yio ri Baba gbojule Awa yio ri Baba fehinti Nibo labi Jesu

We are glad that we have a Father to trust. We are glad that we have a Father to rely upon Where was Jesus born?

Nibo labe bi i Betelehemu, ilu ara Nibe labi Baba o daju Iyin, iyin, iyin nifun o

Where was He born? Bethlehem, the city of wonder. That is where Father was born Praise, praise, praise be to Him.

Adupe fun o, adupe fun o, adupe fun ojo oni Baba oloreo Iyin, iyin, iyin fun o Baba anu Baba toda wasi

We thank thee, we thank Thee, we thank Thee for this day, Gracious Father. Praise, praise, praise be to Thee, Merciful Father.

Imela, Imela Okaka, Onyekeruwa Imela, Imela Eze m Oh Onyedikagi? Ekene diri gi Onyene mema Onyedikagi? Ekene diri gi One nagworia

Thank you, thank you Great and Mighty creator of the world Thank you, thank you My King Who is like You? All Glory belongs to You He who does good Who is like You? All Glory belongs to You Mighty Healer

Being Puertorriqueña Dominicana (Puerto Rican Dominican)/Born in the Bronx, not really

jibara/Not really hablando bien (speaking well)/But yet, not Gringa either/Pero ni (but not even)

portorra*, pero si (but) portorra too/Pero ni que (But if neither then) what am I?/Y que soy, pero

con (And that I am, but with) what voice do my lips move?/ Rhythms of Rosa wood feet dancing

Bomba/Not even here, but here, y (and) Conga/Yet not being, pero soy (but I am), and not real-

ly/Y somos, y cómo somos? (And we are, and how are we?)/Bueno, eso si es algo lindo (Well,

that is something lovely)/Algo muy lindo (Something very lovely)/We defy translation/Ni tengo

nombre (I have no name)/Nameless, we are a whole culture once removed/Lolita alive for twenty

-five years/Ni soy, pero soy Puertorriqueña como ella (I’m not, but I am Puerto Rican like her)/

Giving blood to the independent star/Daily transfusions into the river of La Sangre Viva (The

Living Blood).

*portorra is short for Portorriqueña (Puerto Rican)