Celebration of the Arts Closes New Rochelle's Black History Festivities

Baba Abishai Ben Reuben, a Mount Vernon resident and world traveler, walked on staged playing a 6/8 rhythm on the Jembe drum to open the Celebration of the Arts at New Rochelle High School, which was the closing festivity for Black History Month.

“The rhythm is used to arouse the crowd and get the energy up,” Reuben said.

From that point on, the audience’s energy level was high and their focus was keen as they watched different art forms take the stage to celebrate African American culture.

New Rochelle High School student Taylor Ralph, 17, who sang Come This Far, a song she wrote with friend and classmate Tseohnni McCann, 18, said she wanted to see more events like this.

“We get to celebrate our culture,” Ralph said. “It’s something we don’t see very much on TV or in the media.”

Danah Smart, a 28-year-old New Rochelle High School alum and dancer, said events that celebrated African American culture did not exist when she attended.

Two spoken word artists and White Plains residents—Jaren and Julian Epps, 15 and 12, respectively—each performed an original piece that they said took upwards of five weeks to write.

Jaren Epps’ piece was called “Pyschological Slavery,” and Julian Epps’ piece echoed the words of his great grandfather about never giving up.

Jeanie Miller from the Westchester Alliance of Black School Educators (WABSE), who was one of the sponsors of the event, heard them perform at Temple Israel in January and asked them to perform at Thursday night’s event.

The two brothers said they are proud to be spoken word artists and were honored to be able to speak.

“It’s a great opportunity for me since I want to be speaking in front of people when I get older,” Julian Epps said.  

And Jaren Epps added, “It’s pretty exciting when people want to hear you speak.”

A student-staff choir, under the direction of Derrick James, sang a selection of religious-based songs. Vera Cheek, who coordinated the event, said students and faculty singing side by side was a symbolic gesture.

“This was the first time that we brought together students and staff in a choir,” Cheek said. “We want young people to see that we want to work alongside them.”

The event ended at 9 p.m., which means there was only three more hours left of Black History month. But Reuben said February is a short month, and the celebration should not end when the calendar changes to March.  

“February is just for the calendar year,” Reuben said. “We should celebrate our heritage and history every day.”

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