How Important is it For Us to Save Our Black Cultural Institutions and Festivals Here in Buffalo?

Yesterday (Tuesday, November 30), Legislator Betty Jean Grant called on the community to rally to save the cultural organizations in this community.

It seems that all African American cultural organizations have been slashed from Erie County 2011 Budget! Without this funding, the community’s cultural institutions and festivals will suffer, and some will even be eliminated.

I have always felt that one of the most important ways that a child learns is through images that are transmitted to them. We must understand as a community how important it is for us to keep the ancestral heritage and history of African peoples at the forefront of our consciousness, especially with our children. If we start by decorating our homes with positive images that reflect the heritage and liberation of the people in our community from the past and present, this will allow us to gain strength within ourselves to have a better understanding of how important it is to save our Black cultural institutions and festivals here in Buffalo.

When the doors of our home spring open; the person walking in should be met immediately with images that reinforce our African culture and our African heritage, so that we awaken our consciousness and live a positive life full of purpose and reason.