From the ‘Hi-De-Ho’ to hip-hop, Purdue’s Black Cultural Center celebrates ‘Black Excellence: Forged In Fire’

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Performing Arts Ensembles of Purdue’s Black Cultural Center will present its Spring 2019 Cultural Arts Festival, “Black Excellence: Forged In Fire,” at 7 p.m. April 13 in Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse.

Tickets for the performance are available through the Stewart Center box office, as well as online, and are $5 for students and $7 for the general public.

“Black Excellence: Forged In Fire” is the culmination of the Black Cultural Center’s semester-long focus on the Harlem Renaissance, hip-hop and black excellence in Harlem and New York City. The Harlem Renaissance is a period in the early 20th century of great African American cultural and artistic work around Harlem.

Through the spring semester, students have studied the greats of the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay and Georgia Douglas Johnson. They also studied architects of hip-hop, such as DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Caz, Busy Bee and Grand Wizard Theodore.

During spring break, 40 students traveled to Harlem and New York City to conduct firsthand research. They met Vy Higginsen, noted author, playwright, radio and TV personality, and visited the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Hi-ARTS Center, NY Public Library for the Performing Arts, BET and the Apollo Theater. They also met with Tiyale T. Hayes, BET’s senior vice president for consumer insights and a Purdue alumnus, at the BET offices.

Ahkiya Allen, student coordinator for the New Directional Players and a student in the College of Science from Cumberland, Virginia, shared that the most exciting and challenging part of the semester focus was “The research in general, because we weren’t just looking at hip-hop or the Harlem Renaissance. We were looking for connections or parallels between two artistic movements that are separated by almost 100 years.”

Kasia Crain, student coordinator for the Jahari Dance Troupe and a student in the College of Liberal Arts from Avon, Indiana, said, “For Jahari, it was exciting and challenging to research and explore the diverse dance forms that exist between hip-hop and the Harlem Renaissance. There was a lot of trial and error, but we are excited to share the results of our efforts.”

The Black Cultural Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Founded in 1969, the center has garnered a national and international reputation through its mission to educate on the contributions of African Americans and the African Diaspora to the human tapestry. 

Writer: Matthew Oates, 765-496-2571, oatesw@purdue.edu, @mo_oates

Source: William Caise, 765-494-4630, wcaise@purdue.edu