[Peace] Fwd: Friends of Freedom

[Alfred Kagan]

>X-Originating-IP: [130.126.240.152]
>X-Originating-Email: [amira_nuha at hotmail.com]
>X-Sender: amira_nuha at hotmail.com
>Reply-To: amira_nuha at hotmail.com
>From: "Amira Nuha" <amira_nuha at hotmail.com>
>To: mgdavis at uiuc.edu
>Subject: Friends of Freedom
>Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 19:26:11 +0000
>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 04 Jun 2004 19:26:15.0581 (UTC) 
>FILETIME=[CDAB8CD0:01C44A69]
>
>Peace and blessings,
>
>I realize that this is not the best method to communicate with 
>"friends" on a matter of such importance, but it will have to 
>suffice.  The Afrikan-American Cultural Arts Program is putting on a 
>Juneteenth celebration to be held at the Parkland Community College 
>Theater on Saturday, June 19 from 7 - 9.  The performance will 
>showcase the talent of the program's youth as well as other local 
>artists with special guest, Master drummer, Enoch Williamson, former 
>musical director of Muntu Dance.
>
>We are calling on our 'friends' to help us with this good and 
>necessary work.  I invite you to read the attached letter as a 
>Friend of Freedom.
>
>Asante sana,
>Amira
>
>
>//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\///\\//\\//\\///\\//\\//\\/
>
>Amira Nuha
>www.staff.uiuc.edu/~mgdavis
>"Educate a man & you educate an individual.  Educate a woman & you 
>educate a nation."
>Ghanaian Proverb
>
>
><http://g.msn.com/8HMAENUS/2749??PS=47575>Getting married? Find 
>great tips, tools and the latest trends at MSN Life Events.
>
>

Phone: 217/356-0173
Cell: 217/390-6398
Email:amira_nuha at hotmail.com
3309 West Saratoga Drive
Champaign, Illinois 61821
AACAP
Amira M. Davis, director
AACAP Board Members
Cindy Schmidt
Carol George-Ammons
Sharon Irish
Vera Mitchell
Jason Turner
James Hayes
Jennifer Greene
Crystal Womble
Taliah Abdullah
Lena Roberson
Sam Smith
Titianna Mayes
(Youth Representative)
The Afrikan-American Cultural Arts Program (AACAP) is presenting another
community-wide showcase of youth talent on Saturday, June 19, 2004, 
at the Parkland
College Theater from 7 to 9 p.m. These students (ages 5-18) have been 
rehearsing all
spring, learning dance, Capoeira, videography, singing, drumming, and 
history which they
will share along with a few special guests, including Enoch 
Williamson, percussionist and
former musical director of the Muntu Dance Theater of Chicago, Amira 
and other local
artists. The theme for this event is "Juneteenth," the spontaneous 
celebration of Afrikans
who, upon learning of their freedom on June 19, 1865, two and a half 
years after the signing
of the Emancipation Proclamation erupted into song, dance and prayer. This and
other freedom celebrations take place annually throughout the country 
and are the recognition
of the strength and determination of people who survived the 
inhumanities of chattel
slavery. We remember the past, celebrate the present, and look 
forward to a prosperous
future where our children will be bound together in understanding. We 
invite you to join us
for this exciting, entertaining evening. Tickets are $5 for adults, 
$3 for children 6-16, and
free for those under 6. We hope to make the Juneteenth celebration an 
annual community
event.
AACAP has been partially funded by the Housing Authority of Champaign
County, the United Way, and has enjoyed community collaborations with 
the Douglass
Center, and the Don Moyer's Boys and Girls Club. We have grown, 
however, we need to
broaden our support in the community to provide further opportunities 
for Champaign-
Urbana's talented youth. Just as enslaved people received help in 
their efforts to overthrow
slavery, so too do we rely on community leaders such as yourself to 
build programs
that support young people's education about Afrikan cultures and the 
influences that
these powerful traditions have on today's world. We hope that you 
will join our "Friends of
Freedom" sponsors' group.
We look forward to your attendance at the June 19th program, but we also ask
that you contribute either to the performance as an underwriter or to 
the year-round program
itself. We welcome all levels of support, and will acknowledge your 
generosity in our
promotional materials. For example:
*  $8-$49 will provide tickets to the performance for families who 
otherwise could not afford
to attend
*  $30-$50 will provide funds to print educational posters and 
audience hand-outs about
Afrikan and Afrikan-American history, including Juneteenth
*  $75 will pay for printing programs for the performance (and your 
firm's name will be
listed therein.)
*  $100 will help pay for costumes and scenery for the dancers and 
other performers
June 3, 2004
Dear Friend of Freedom:
The mission of the Afrikan-American Cultural Arts Program (AACAP) is 
to expose youth to the art and
culture of the longstanding Afrikan and Afrikan Diasporic traditions 
in order to boost self -esteem, aid in identity
formation, increase the probability of academic achievement and 
success as well as promoting the positive values necessary
for community upliftment. The program trains youth in teamwork, 
entrepreneurship, visual and cultural literacy.
Additionally, the AACAP weaves existing sundry artistic strands and 
local business and academic resources together
into a communal fabric that helps to heighten and strengthen cultural 
awareness and promote racial healing
throughout the entire C-U community through formats of popular 
education. Further, the AACAP provides local
Afrikan-American artists a vehicle to perpetuate their artistic 
disciplines through instruction.
We also welcome contributions toward outreach materials and future 
field trips to Chicago, St. Louis and
Indianapolis:
*  $30-$50 can produce fliers and registration papers for each term
*  $30-$750 can pay for bus transportation for children on field trips
Checks should be made payable to the Urban League of Champaign 
County. Please write AACAP in
the memo section. You can either mail your contribution directly to 
the Urban League or to Amira at the address on
the letterhead.
Jason Turner
c/o The Urban League of Champaign County
314 S. Neil Street
Champaign, IL 61820
We have served approximately 150 children over the past two years in 
a broad range of classes that meet
each Saturday at the Boys & Girls Club. The AACAP Board is comprised 
of a cross-section of teachers, parents
and community members to give you a sense of the broad involvement 
that AACAP enjoys. We hope that you
will join the "Friends of Freedom." Feel free to contact any of us 
with your questions, but we will call you within the
next two weeks to follow up. Please note that AACAP is not an Urban 
League program. Rather, the Urban
League is acting as fiscal agent to enable your contributions to be 
tax deductible. We hope to have not-for-profit
status by the end of 2004.
Asante Sana (thank you). Peace and blessings,
Sharon Irish, Board Member Amira M. Davis, Director
cc: Jason Turner, AACAP Board Member and Fiscal Director, Urban 
League of Champaign County
Friends of Freedom
June 3, 2004
Page 2
-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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