Divine Rhythm United Motion’s beats were a treat for the children at the UH Child Care Center Friday as part of its program to teach children about black history.
Along with D.R.U.M., the children made murals and drawings about what Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream meant to them and to America.
Bridgette Lewis, UH Child Care Center teacher read black literature such as ‘Annabelle’s Journey’ and ‘Brown Eyes’ for the children to account history from a black point of view.
‘When I was talking about Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream for one day my child could play with your child and everyone could play and share things together, one of the children said ‘just like how we’re all sitting together here.’ I felt like the children understood Dr. King’s dream and his importance,’ Lewis said.
UH Child Care Center teacher Tiffany Mayes said this year she wanted to concentrate more on the roots of black history and thought bringing D.R.U.M. center would be enjoyable for the children.
‘When I was encouraged to really plant Black History Month this year compared to other years in the past, I decided to ask (D.R.U.M.) to come out and perform for us today,’ Mayes said.
D.R.U.M. combines continental African and African diasporic rhythms with a healthy dose of jazz, funk, R&B and Latin influences to create a rich, earthy (and immediately accessible) sound, according to the group’s Web site, www.drumusic.com site.
They play a range of instruments from different lands and interactively sing and perform folklore from various parts of Africa.
D.R.U.M. started about 19 years ago by Alafia Ifalade, Nathan Faulk, Osakwe Rikondja, Frank Zwee, and Anura Neysadura – good friends who all shared a common idea.
‘We wanted to start the group because not many groups in the 80s were trying to educate and entertain people at the same time, and we wanted to use music is a means to bring people together,’ D.R.U.M.’s founder Alafia Gaidi said.’
The group started off slow with rhythms from Brazil, then followed the sounds of Jamaica and West Africa with more of a high intensity beat.
Many of the children were standing up and dancing, and many were just clapping and smiling while watching the band.’
Ifalade then started telling a story from Guana about a bully who teased many children and how the children overcame the bully by singing a song and making a dance that scared the bully away. The band members taught the children the dance and also the words to the song played in Ghana to this day.
‘That was awesome.’ Praful Menon, Operations Manager for the center said. ‘I’m so happy that the children as well as the adults enjoyed it. Look, they’re still dancing.’
