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Programs and Events

U.S.Embassy-Kingston, marks the International Year for the People of African Descent

The U.S. Embassy - Kingston will mark the United Nations declared, International Year for the People of African Descent with a series of events that examine the African Diaspora, in particular, how Africans came to define themselves in the United States, moving from the status of ‘property’, to ‘3/5 human’, to pioneers of industry and academia, to President of the United States of America.

The events begin in February (Black History Month), with an assessment of the seminal event that brought millions of Africans to the Americas, via the transatlantic slave trade.  The award winning four-part film series ‘Africans in America’ will be screened at 5:30 p.m., each Wednesday in February, (commencing February 2nd) at the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium, Jamaica College - 189 Old Hope Road. It is hoped that persons will attend each screening with a view to better understand the rigor and stages of slavery to the pursuit of freedom.

The month of February will also see the hosting of a workshop with Jamaican musicians on Negro spirituals, examining the art that grew out of human suffering, becoming the root of Blues, Jazz and Gospel music.  The month’s activities will then culminate with a concert, ‘Blues on the Green’, on the grounds of Emancipation Park on February, 25th.  The event will feature the incomparable and versatile saxophonist Brent Birckhead, Downbeat Magazine’s best new blues/jazz soloist of 2010.

Admission to attend or participate in any of the abovementioned events is free.

The rest of the year's activities will examine linkages between Africa and the Americas in the arts, cuisine, theology, and political thought. Similarities in slave rebellions in Haiti, Jamaica, Brazil and the U.S.; the music of Guinea which shares traits with the music of Mississippi; and the shared traits in the English spoken in Ghana, Jamaica and Gullah, South Carolina are only a few of the areas for discussion throughout the year.