Noted performer and storyteller David Anderson will be the featured speaker for the celebration of Kwanzaa sponsored by the Black Students Union and the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies at the University of Rochester this week.
Anderson will appear as part of an evening of dance, music, and cultural celebration from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, December 10, in the May Room in Wilson Commons on the River Campus. Tickets are $9 and are available in advance through Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Common Market in Wilson Commons.
As Sankofa, Anderson has led residencies in storytelling and writing with school children and has performed at schools, libraries, and colleges in 13 states as well as Ghana, West Africa. He is the author of several books including an award-winning storybook, The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth, which was adapted for the stage and performed at Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, Louisiana in 1988.
The Friday night performance program will cap several days of events, including a discussion on “Through the Looking Glass: The Future of Minorities in this Nation” at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 9, on the River Level of the Interfaith Chapel on River Campus. Participating in the discussion are Black Student Union members, faculty, and community leaders.
Members of the Black Students Union also planned other events for Kwanzaa, which honors the seven principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, creativity, purpose, and faith. Activities also include community service at the Sojourner House and a night of poetry and collage making.
For more information, contact Marquis Harrison at (585) 274-0146.