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Annual Black History Service to celebrate Black culture in community

The event is open to all and will be held Sunday, February 8 at 3 p.m. at Alice Millar Chapel

Religious & Spiritual Life (RSL) will honor the Â鶹´«Ã½ Community Ensemble at this year’s Black History Month Celebration. 

The event,  which will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 8 at Alice Millar Chapel, was founded by Kent R. Brooks, RSL’s director of special projects and an assistant professor in the School of Communication. Brooks began organizing the celebration in 2022, inspired by his nearly five decades of Black sacred music performance. This music is also at the center of his scholarship in the School of Communication’s Performance Studies department, where Brooks focuses on gospel music in the United States. 

“Black music is inextricable from both Black history and American history, so an arts-influenced celebration came about organically,” Brooks said. “I hope this event broadens awareness of and appreciation for Black presence and giftedness on Â鶹´«Ã½’s campus.” 

According to Brooks, in its initial years, the event was a worship service with music, sacred texts and a sermon. Over the years, it has evolved and adopted different themes. Its second year was dedicated to the memory of Â鶹´«Ã½ alumnus L. Stanley Davis (BA ‘74, MA ‘97), who co-founded and directed the the Â鶹´«Ã½ Community Ensemble, the University’s gospel choir. Last year, sacred dance was part of the program. 

This year’s theme is “Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future,” celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Community Ensemble. The event will feature choir performances, sacred dance by Â鶹´«Ã½’s Army Praise Dancers, a monologue by a Performance Studies Ph.D. student, a retrospective on spirituals from Brooks and a documentary on the choir’s history.

The documentary, created by Charla Wilson and Jessica Scott, is entitled, ‘Stay With God’: The Â鶹´«Ã½ Community Ensemble and Black Sacred Music on Campus. 

“As a graduate of a predominantly white university, I can relate to the many ways the gospel choir sustained me and gave me community,” Brooks said. “I think this feature will impress upon its viewers the importance of the gospel choir on this campus. Charla and Jessica have done a wonderful job on this feature.” 

Following the event, there will be a reception with food from Soul and Smoke. 

Brooks emphasized that Black cultural sacred practice can be traced back to West African Griot traditions, where most artistic practices were communal, including music and dance. For that reason, each of RSL’s Black History Celebrations includes elements of audience participation, for example, learning a gospel anthem. 

His hopes for celebration attendees are threefold. 

“Emotionally, I hope attendees feel the joy that is inherent in celebration,” he said. “Educationally, I hope they learn about or develop a deeper appreciation for Black artistic expression through song, dance, and the spoken word. Socially, I hope that there will be an expanded consciousness of how communities can exist.” 

Moreover, Brooks also highlighted the importance of events celebrating Black history. 

“Black history is American history,” Brooks said. “We are presently navigating unprecedented waters in American education where facts are being rewritten or altogether erased. My late father always stressed the importance of remembering where you came from in order to know where you’re going. This is why celebrating is important. It is an ancestral act of joy, guidance and resistance.” 

Learn more about the RSL’s Black History Celebration . The event is open to all members of the NOrthwestern community.