Frederick Douglass would have loved Baltimore's African American Festival. Artartus Jenkins is sure of that — and he should know, having portrayed the ardent abolitionist for more than 30 years.
Especially at a point like this in history, when Baltimore is wrestling with racial tension, when communities of all colors need to find common ground and new ways of succeeding where old ways have clearly failed, Douglass would have relished the occasion.
"This is very important," says Jenkins, who will be wandering the festival as Douglass during its two-day run Saturday and Sunday in the parking lots between Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. "At a time like this, when the racial issue has such prominence, we as a people need to know who we are. This festival is key, to bringing about a new consciousness for the city of Baltimore."
Throughout its 30-plus-year history, the African American Festival — which traces its ancestry back to the City Fair, which began in 1970 — has always been a place where families could gather for a day of fun and relaxation, often accompanied by big-name entertainment. In recent years, it has also focused much of its attention on education and empowerment, offering attendees options for improving themselves and their communities.
Festival organizers understand the added burden on this year's festival — to be, perhaps, equal parts celebration and reflection. It offers the chance to focus on the best parts of Baltimore, and work beyond the violent images that dominated the national media a few short weeks ago.
"We can't have anything like this without addressing the civic unrest that's happened in our city," says Shelonda Stokes, who is producing this year's festival for Baltimore-based greiBO Entertainment, now in its fifth year of putting the festival together. "This will be probably the first major event that has the community and the Police De- partment and the business community all together. … This year, we really want to leverage the festival as a platform for galvanizing the community."
This all may seem like a heavy burden for an event that, at its core, is simply two days of fam- ily-oriented fun. And to be sure, visitors shouldn't expect a festival that's weighed down with talk of civic responsibility and bridging cultural gaps. As always, the festival will serve as a showcase for top music acts, this year including appearances by Stephanie Mills, Will Downing, Faith Evans, Sheila E, Doug E Fresh and a host of others.
There will also be plenty of food available. Organizers are expecting more than 100 vendors will be on hand, selling crafts, jewelry, beauty products and a wide variety of other items.
Several corporate sponsors will have tents set up. Toyota, new this year, will present a veritable technology playground, including workshops and demonstrations of coding and game design. The Pepsi pavilion will include tips on mastering skills from making T-shirts to working as a DJ.
This year's festival will also feature an expanded Empowerment Zone, Stokes said, for people interested in education, job training and other self-improvement opportunities.
Still, organizers and city officials alike recognize that the events of the past few months cannot help but shape a gathering like this. There will, for example, be an increased security presence, Stokes says, although pains will be taken to keep it behind the scenes as much as possible.
"It'll be more of a presence," Stokes says, "but hopefully it won't be visible to the point where it's uncomfortable."
Michael Cryor, chair of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's One Baltimore initiative, says a citywide festival may be just what Baltimore needs.
"Our city would benefit from a more collaborative culture — more people from different communities, coming together to appreciate things they may not have known about the city, about communities," he says. "I think this is a great opportunity to build upon that."
Rawlings-Blake, for one, sees the festival happening at this time, in this place, as all for the good.
"I think it's perfect timing," she says. "People want opportunities to show that Baltimore is healing and that residents are coming together. The festival represents an excellent opportunity to do that.
"This is something that people look forward to up and down the East Coast," the mayor adds. "They'll have a chance to be in Baltimore, to see that this is a city greater than the challenges we have, and that we're very focused on moving forward. … We have a strong history and legacy here in Baltimore that I think is worth celebrating. I love being able to show off my city."
Festival organizers are far from daunted by whatever challenges they face, Stokes insists. The African American Festival is always fun, but that's never been it's only mission.
"I think the essence of what we're looking at overall – you know that saying, 'Am I my brother's keeper?'" says Stokes. "Our response is, 'Yes, I am.'"
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