User:Kuumbasingers/The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College

The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College (founded in 1970) is the oldest existing Black organization at Harvard College. Formed in a time of high political turmoil, the purpose of the Kuumba Singers is to express Black creativity and spirituality in attempts to create a safe space for Black students on Harvard’s campus. In existence for 40 years, the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, or simply Kuumba, has served the Boston community as well as the national community through songs ranging from Negro Spirituals to Contemporary Gospel. With bi-annual concerts in the both the winter and the spring of each year, along with many gigs and a spring tour, Kuumba endeavors to bring the joy and strength of Black spirituality wherever it goes in hopes of leaving each space it enters better than the space was found.

About Kuumba


Kuumba (pronounced koo-oom-bah) was founded in 1970 by Dennis Wiley and Fred Lucas, two African American undergraduates of the Harvard class of 1972. In an era of “Black Power” and Black pride, immediately following the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. and the 1969 Harvard Strike, the choir emerged as a source of community, spiritual inspiration, political motivation and cultural stimulation among the small but growing number of Black students at Harvard. Inspired by the History of Black Music class taught by Professor Hubert Walters in the spring of 1970, the choir concept was conceived that summer as an outgrowth of a project on Black music conducted by Dennis and Fred and supported by the newly established Department of African and African American Studies and African American Cultural Center.

The next fall, Marilynn Sasportas, Radcliffe Class of 1974, joined them in Quincy 317 to assist in planning and publicizing the first rehearsal. The Kuumba Singers were officially born in November 1970 when students from the classes of 1971 -1974 gathered for the first time one evening after dinner in a second floor lounge of the old Freshman Union, now known as the Barker Center. Following that initial meeting, Walters would assume responsibility as the choir’s first director. The first spring concert, entitled “An Evening of Black Spirituality,” was held in Sanders Theater on Sunday, May 16, 1971.

It was not easy for Black students to “sing the Lord’s song” in the “strange land” of Harvard during this period of racial tension and campus unrest. Yet, Kuumba not only provided spiritual inspiration-- it was also a source of unity and strength. The group chose the name “Kuumba” (Swahili for “creativity”) because it best captured the choir’s intent to reflect the creative genius of Black people through the rich diversity of Diasporic music and cultural expression. As written in the organization’s constitution, “Black music is a manifestation of the Black spirit – it speaks to our every emotion. Moreover, Black music helps sustain and direct our culture.” Reminding us of our past, informing us of our present, and giving us hope and guidance for the future, the Kuumba Singers—through song, dance, poetry, and other forms of artistic expression—have always sought to leave the space called Harvard, and its surrounding community, better than when we found it. The choir’s current racial and ethnic diversity is both a remarkable testimony to, and a relentless test of, that noble and enduring ideal.

Since those early years, the torch has been carried forward by only two additional directors, Mr. Robert Winfrey and Mr. Sheldon K.X. Reid (College ’96, GSE ’98), and by more than 1,000 Kuumba members and alumni.

Kuumba Name and Mission


Kuumba’s founders chose the name “Ku’umba” over the original more constrictive name, “Harvard-Radcliffe Gospel Choir” because it allowed for all modes of Diasporic expression. In Swahili, Ku’umba roughly means creativity [or to create], though the literal meaning is subtler: it is the creativity of leaving a space better than you found it; it is the spirit of positively impacting through modes of creativity. --Kuumba Board 2002-2003

Thus, the mission of Kuumba is to express the creativity and spirituality of Black people in a way that leaves a space better than it was found.

Kuumba's Early Political Climate
The late 1960s and early 1970s found Black students at Harvard to be few in number, and as such alienated from much of the instituationthat was Harvard. With curriculum that did not foster the perspective of the Black experience and a campus that was at times even hostile to the presence of its Black students, Harvard showed an unwelcoming hand to those that it admitted during these times. Yet, despite Harvard’s isolating environment, the tides of Black Pride and Black Power pushed Black students on campus to fight for institutional structures that would allow students of African descent a space to commune with their culture in a way that held them accountable to their past and present as Black members of society. The products of this fight were a Department of Afro-American Studies, an Afro-American Cultural Center, and creative cultural groups including the Kuumba Singers. What was so powerful about the Kuumba Singers was the connection it created between Black culture and Black spirituality. The group helped fill-in a gap that had been missing for many of its members at Harvard.

Yet more than just for Harvard students, Kuumba in the 70s was designed to be a space for Black students from all over Boston to join. The organization wished for diversity that would unify the African American community across boundaries of class, gender, denomination, age, and other institutional road-blocks. With that, members from neighboring colleges found a home on Harvard’s campus with Kuumba.

During the political times of the 70s, Kuumba was found at many political demonstrations, supporting the rights of Black people locally as well as globally. In fact, it was these political tensions of the global arena that caused Mr. Hubert Walters, the first director of the choir (who was succeeded by Robert Winfrey when Walters’s contract was not renewed by the College), to implement the tradition of singing “Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika,” a freedom song of South Africa later to be the South African national anthem. With voices tied both to Black creativity and spirituality, Kuumba remained a source of hope for many of the changes that were occurring in those tumultuous of times.

The 1970s saw the creation of the annual Weekend of Black Spirituality, a celebration of the end of Kuumba’s performance year and featured guest choirs, culminating in Kuumba’s spring concert. This tradition continued through the 70s under the leadership of Robert Winfrey, the beloved father-figure director that stayed with Kuumba for 25 years.

Kuumba Now
Now, in 2010 and celebrating its 40th anniversary, Kuumba continues to distinguish itself as more than a singing group. While the political climate of the organization has changed on Harvard’s campus, the organization maintains its role as a safe space for Black students on campus. While the organization is not exclusively Black in its membership, the mission of expressing Black creativity and spirituality remains at the center of all that the group does.

Gigs, Concerts, and Tours
Each year, the group participates in a number of gigs throughout both on and off campus. In recent times, those gigs have included singing at the presentation of Ted Kennedy's Honorary Degree and performing with Bobby McFerrin at Boston’s Symphony Hall. Gigs are requested through the Kuumba website. The only gigs done by Kuumba that are not requested are Kuumba’s own planned performances, including its own concerts, the Black Arts Festival performance showcase, and the Harvard-Yale Body & Soul Showcase put on by Kuumba on the years in which the Harvard-Yale football game takes place on Harvard’s soil.

At the end of each school semester, Kuumba holds its own concert. The winter concert is dedicated to Dr. Allen S. Counter, the executive director of the Harvard Foundation and a strong supporter and advocate for Kuumba throughout Kuumba’s history. This concert occurs on two nights in Harvard’s Memorial Church and is free to the public. The spring concert, dedicated to Dean Archie C. Epps in remembrance of his loyalty to the organization, occurs on one night toward the end of the spring semester. This concert takes place in Harvard’s Sanders Theater.

Each spring break, the Kuumba Singers go on tour. The most recent tours have taken place in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. On tour, Kuumba sings at a variety of locations, including colleges, high schools, and middle schools along with churches in the area.

Black Arts Festival
Founded 13 years ago by Phillip Atiffa Goff, the Dr. Walter J. Leonard Black Arts Festival is a “four-day celebration features various workshops, performances, and displays of artwork, graphic media, film, dance, spoken word, music, acting, and screenwriting highlighting the creative contributions of talented and distinguished artists, paying tribute to the African Diaspora.” Originally founded as a fundraising effort for past director Robert Winfrey, the festival has grown much larger to encompass Black art created not just by Harvard students but by artists in the community as a way to showcase the talents of Black creative culture. The last festival took place March 4-6, 2010 with the theme of Sankofa, a Ghanaian symbol roughly translated to mean “go back and take.” The 13th Annual Black Arts Festival will take place in March 2011.

Alumni Association
In 2009, the Alumni of the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College was founded under the leadership of Linda Sowell ’73 as a Shared Interest Group of the Harvard Alumni Association. This association works to support the current Kuumba members as well as to create a way for past Kuumba members to stay in contact with each other.

Our Spirit Stands (2007)
Tracks 1. Call on the Name of the Lord 2. Introduction to Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (Christmas 05) 3. Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika (Christmas 05) 4. Malibongwe (Christmas 04) 5. A Silent Call for Liberation (Spring 05) 6. Shout (Spring 05) 7. Spiritual Medley (Spring 05) 8. Testimony (Spring 06) 9. Teaching the Truth In Love (Spring 05) 10. Our Spirit Stands (Christmas 05) 11. Amazing Grace (Spring 06) 12. Greatest Gift (Spring 05) 13. Revive Us Again (Spring 05) 14. The Lord Bless You and Keep You (Spring 05) 15. Call on the Name of the Lord (Reprise)

One More River (2003)
Tracks 1. Psalm 1 2. Ong'er 3. Interlude 4. Sorrow Songs 5. Get Your House in Order 6. Nobody's Fault But Mine 7. Interlude 8. Lift Every Voice and Sing 9. Psalm 21 10. Greatest Gift 11. Reading 12. Love Like This 13. Interlude 14. Psalm 23

Rooted in the Spirit (2001)
Tracks 1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel 2. Father, O Hear Us 3. Bless the Lord, O My Soul 4. Ol' Sis Judy Pray 5. I Hear a Voice 6. Soon Ah Will Be Done 7. Sound of the Done 8. Witness 9. My Lord, What a Mornin' 10. Stories of Our Ancestors 11. Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika 12. Ye Faithful 13. Tupelo Honey 14. Can't Turn Around

Kuumba Leadership 2010-2011
Sheldon K.X. Reid '96, GSE '98

Director

Matthews Mmopi '11

President

Vice President

Jeremiah Cross '11

Business Manager

Jason Flood '11

Treasurer

Kayinsola Aibana '12

Director of Development

Ashley Hutchison '12

Musician's Representative

Ekene Obi-Okoye '12

Librarian

Director of Publicity

Linda Ugbah '12

Corresponding Secretary

Kema Christian-Taylor '13

Recording Secretary

Gaga Gondwe '13

Tour Manager

Tsion Aberra ‘11

Assocatie Director

Olumurejiwa Fatunde ‘12

Associate Director