International African Arts Festival
All photos by Curt Sanders for Black-Owned Brooklyn
Last weekend’s International African Arts Festival was all about a vibe. Crowds descended upon Commodore Barry Park over four feel-good days of live music, dance, crafts and food (not to mention style) celebrating the cultures of the African diaspora. Think a global blend of soursop ice cream, bean pie and puff puff; Latin jazz, reggae, R&B and Congolese rumbia funk; West African dancers and lindy hoppers; and a marketplace bustling with jewelry, clothing, sculptures, paintings, textiles, furniture and all variety of shea butters. Now in its 48th year, it is the nation’s longest-running festival of its kind. But did you know it all started as a PTA block party and fundraiser? ⠀
The International African Arts Festival was first produced by the East Educational and Cultural Center for People of African Descent, a Bed-Stuy community organization founded in 1969. Based on principles of Black self-determination and nation-building, the East gave rise to dozens of projects in Central Brooklyn, including its own bookstore, restaurant, food co-op, a monthly publication called “Black News,” and a weekly performance series that drew well-known artists such as Betty Carter, Max Roach, the Last Poets and Sun Ra Arkestra.
The organization also created its own African-centered school named Uhuru Sasa Shule (“Freedom Now School” in Swahili), raising funds for it through the International African Arts Festival — initially a small Bed-Stuy gathering with about 20 crafts vendors, local entertainers and food prepared by parents from the school. While the East shuttered in 1986, the annual Festival lives on, now drawing an estimated audience of 75,000 people from across the globe.
