The 4^th Drumming for Peace, Joy, and Unity was held to honor Grandmaster Djembefola, Mamady Keita and raise funds for his family – Monette Marino Keita and their daughter, Nasira Keita.

What an incredible and magical weekend we had with teachers Grandmaster Bolokada Conde of West Africa, Djembefola Monette (Momo) Keita, Nasira Keita,  Bill Scheidt of TTMWS, Michael “Taylor” of TTM Chicago, Robin Bountorabi Leftwich of Happy Beat Drumming, Christan Theresa Poret of Djoli Kelen, and Mama Yeye of Egbe Sekere. Many thanks to these teachers who brought their talent, love, dedication to Atlanta.  No words can express how this amazing event was and how appreciative we are to them! We humbly thank you. The music, dance, culture, and fellowship we enjoyed together was simply beautiful.

There are so many people to thank.  Please take a minute to read because it was a huge community effort to bring this event.  So, with deep gratitude, here goes….

 

The History & Lead-Up

The event began as a dream in my mind and heart to re-create the coming together of our regional drumming communities as it happened with The Grandmaster Tour in 2011.

With the help and encouragement of Christan Poret and Chuck Cogliandro the vision came to life in 2016 as a one-day event on the Decatur Square and continued in 2017 and 2018. Various scheduling and health issues postponed the 4^th event.

Then Grandmaster Mamady Keita passed away in 2021, and it seemed only right that we honor his legacy. Voila! 2023 took on a whole new vision. Jahbri Black (head drummer on Saturday night and dance class on Sunday) and Conundrum’s, Safiyah Pankey (YMCA employee and Outreach Program) joined the team. DPJU-2023 became an event to bring everyone together again to honor Mamady, give thanks, raise funds to help his family, and offer a weekend of djembe/dance/ and sekere classes for all!

Many thanks to Kent Edmonds who helped design the t-shirt, banner, and newsletter . Couldn’t have done it without his patience, love, determination, and expertise!

Folks who hosted teachers!  Lissa Tchernis Davis (Bounto), Saifyah Pankey (Bolokada), Dee Desnoyers (Taylor and Bill), John Jackson (Taylor and Bill), and Me (Monette and Nasira)! So honored to do so!

 

Friday, August 26 – The Meet N’ Greet

The evening was a potluck at my home with main dishes from Sharon Camara (her famous African Peanut Chicken – Grandmaster tour too) and Christan’s Pasta Spinach Shrimp dish that lasted all weekend! Those scrumptious dishes were complemented with dishes from all of you! Many thanks to everyone that attended the meet and greet. Your energy, your spirit, your love, and your yummy addition to the feast made for a beautiful evening!

And did you see the stunningly gorgeous flowers that graced the music room and registration table?  Also a Conundrums sister, Emma Salahuddin! Thank you!!!

Again, many thanks to Kent Edmonds …. The ICEMAN!

Rebekah Carder- our photographer who was also the photographer for the Grandmaster Tour!

The evening started with a Blessing by my daughter, Sarah Jackson. For those of who did not hear the prayer, here goes:

“God, angels, ancestors, the ones living who could not join us, and those who have passed surround us in this space and the spaces we will inhabit over the weekend.  Open us up to this wonderful experience. Allow all of us to pass down, honor and celebrate the joy that was bestowed on us all by Mamady through the playing and teaching of the djembe.  Help us to be who you would have us be this weekend and carry out the intention of drumming for peace, setting aside what separates us to then rebuild what brings us together”. Love you, Sarah.

As guests were arriving, Conundrums’ sister, Lissa Davis gifted us by playing on her Kora followed by Jamie and Joe Empert on her calming flute and his percussion, and the versatile John Jackson on guitar (and I played on a couple rock n roll songs with djembe.

Great food! Great folks! Great music! Great conversations!  Great start to the weekend!

 

Saturday, August 26 – CLASSES

The workshop began at the YMCA (thanks to Safiyah Pankey) who donated their space for the whole weekend! And it was free of charge!  Imagine! We love you! Thank you those of you who were able to make donations to the outreach program that Safiyah facilitates.

Many thanks to Jan Perez (Sunday) and Lissa Davis of conundrums and her daughter Alex Tchernis on Saturday and Sunday at the Registration /T-shirt Table.  They juggled here, there, and everywhere!

And more thanks to:

Christan Poret- swag bags and T-shirt distribution! There are still many t-shirts available for purchase.

Mark Poret, Sean Poret, Jayden Poret and Cameron Poret For Set Ups/Breakdowns, Transportation, Dunun Players All Weekend!

Nikki Jackson’s car for Monette And Nasira all weekend

Eric Taylor For Break Down And Set Up At The Gazebo

Tom Harris- Bells, sticks, and racks and anything else the drummers needed!

Safiyah Pankey, Amy, Linda Good, Sue Rinker- Lunch room setup-

Kent Edmonds -Mr. Dependable and all-around availability, lunch delivery from El Vecino Taqueria and setup

Lissa Davis and Alex Tchernis – Cashiers hostess with for lunch! Awesome!!

Piri Molnar and team Susan Natale and Ben Weston for helping get Bolokada to Atlanta!

Without the dunun players supporting each teacher the music would not have been the same. It was crucial we had them. Many thanks to those of you who were all about coming forward and brave the complicated and unpredictable rhythms that challenged you.  Ten Blocks Away bandmates- Tom Harris,  Sadi Mobasher Sobhan, John Warrington who were willing from the get-go to help in any way possible. Sean Poret, Deborah Peyton, Dee Desnoyers, DJ’s dad, and all the teachers that supported one another.

The first class of the weekend was the dynamic Duo Michael “Taylor” and Bill Scheldt!  Fantastic!

The second Class was another Dynamic Duo, Robin Bountorabi Leftwich lead drummer and Christan Poret lead dancer. Tom Harris was a huge support for Robin!

And our third class on Saturday was Grandmaster Djembefola, Bolokada Conde “Bolo”.  He graced us and was so honoring have him there.

Last Class was another dynamic duo, Monette and Nasira.

Here was one of those magical moments that I’d like to share with you all. The weather predicted for the weekend was HOT. In the 90’s! And low and behold during their class it began to rain and not only that multiple rainbows were reported by participants and pic taken by Eric Taylor! Here is the significance to the rain from Monette who gladly shares it with us: “Mamady would often reference how the djembe communicates with many things seen and unseen.  I witnessed on several occasions at the end of a weekend of workshops when he played a Djembekan that it would spontaneously start raining heavily on an otherwise completely sunny day! So, to my surprise when it started pouring rain during my class in Atlanta, I felt a wave of energy that communicated Mamady’s presence and blessing that we were all together playing/learning/sharing our love for the djembe and the Manding Culture. And perhaps it was no coincidence that the rhythm I was teaching was one he created, “Sewa”, which means Joy/Happiness in Malinke!!”

 

Saturday, August 26 – 4^th DRUMMING FOR PEACE, Joy, and Unity in downtown Decatur

As soon as the classes ended, we whisked off to downtown Decatur to get ready for the community jam. With lots of help, red/yellow/green flags were hoisted, and the banner hung.  John Jackson provided his expertise in sound with mics and amp, and all of you brought your dynamic talents to play the music we love best! West African rhythms.  In the past, each Atlanta Drum/Dance group picked a rhythm that everyone knew started it and ended it.  Everyone would join in and as always Jahbri Black would lead as our djembe player and Jaha (James Smith) assisted.  Awesome!  Mama Yeye and her sekere players joined in on every rhythm ! Many thanks to the Atlanta groups for their willingness to participate and who have jammed every year since 2017…

To start the event, our MC for the last 3 events, Christan Poret introduced our team including herself, me, Safiyah, and Jahbri. The evening Conundrums’ own, Emma Salahuddin graciously blew her didgeridoo and Conundrums started the first rhythm of the evening with Yankadi-Makru.

The evenings groups were:

• Conundrums- musical director, Amy Jackson
• Emerson Drummers- Dallah/Moribayassa- musical director Chuck Cogliandro, led by Mark Cobb
• Chattahoochee Rhythm Keepers- Djole- musical director, Amy Jackson
• Djoli Kelen- Sinte, lead dancer, Christan Poret, lead djembe Jahbri Black
• Giwayen Mata – Sorsornet, musical director, Tambra Harris and her sisters

We all gathered in the front of the gazebo to end the evening with our group photo under the Drumming for Peace banner and  moon!

 

Sunday, August 27 – Classes

Sunday’s classes began with Bolokada with a very heartfelt spirit filled message from Chuck Cogliandro who asked me to read. Couldn’t hold back my tears and sniffling. The message and the  silence during the read was powerful. Thank you, Chuck, for this. Everyone was deeply moved .Many folks asked that I post this message. See below. We missed you so much, Chuck and Happy Birthday to your mom’s 90^th birthday in Michigan.

Thank you, Amy, for continuing to inspire us with your vision for this festival and thank you for inviting me to write something to be shared at the gathering. I’m with my mom in Detroit for her 90th birthday celebration, and with the rest of the family, which is where I should be. Otherwise, I’d be there.

My African American and African friends and teachers have taught me the importance of honoring those who have gone before me, in order to stay in right relationship with the ancestors and with Spirit. I give thanks to Brother Yusef Crowder, who was my first djembe teacher and who taught me to carve the drums. Yusef took me as an apprentice in 1992 at a time when I was not nearly aware of how much about life and history I didn’t know, and he trusted that I would do something good with what he shared.  I still hope to fulfill that trust. Yusef is a quiet and peaceful giant, and I recommend that you get to know him while he’s still with us, here in Atlanta. You should also read Robert Williams’ book “Negroes With Guns,” and watch the documentary (on Youtube) “A conversation with Yusef Crowder” to understand the role Yusef played not just in the earliest days of establishing West African drumming and dance in the United States, but in the foundational struggle for racial equality and civil rights here- a struggle that African Americans have always led. I acknowledge that the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about the promissory note that America had given to Black Americans- a note that had come back marked “Insufficient Funds”- is taking place today, right now, in D.C.

Like all other European Americans born into the racial, social and cultural identity labeled as ‘white,’ I have tremendous blind spots on the topic of race.  We now know, through Ibram Kendi’s research, that the origins of the idea of race can be traced to the efforts of a 15th century Portuguese biographer named Gomes de Zurara.  Zurara decided to flatter his slave-trading patron, Prince Henry the Navigator, help soothe his pained conscience, and sell a lie to him by declaring that the dark-skinned people Henry was capturing in West Africa, trafficking, and profiting from were less than human.  I carried my blind spots as well as my inherited delusion of privilege into Ebster Community Center in April of 1992.  Instead of asking permission, I was the one who decided that it would be okay to enter as a completely untutored beginner and participate with drummers playing for the Uhuru Dancers’ class- even though something in my body and being told me this was a sacred cultural space not of my heritage, and that there were people there who would prefer that I not intrude.  Something deep inside me was awakened that day by the healing energies of the music, dance, and community celebration.  I’ve tried my best to honor the ways that the music has been shared with me through my teachers’ teachers’ teachers, and I’m still unresolved about the pain my presence did cause some people.

More than 30 years later I am beyond grateful for the many African American and African friends and teachers who shared this vital, celebratory, deeply enriching music and culture that serves always to call people together.  I include Stone Montgomery, Baraki, Kofi MacDonald, Aiyetoro, and Ojinga from my earliest days as well as Mohamed Diaby, Mohamed DaCosta, Aly Camara, and many others who had enough trust to share the music with European Americans- trust that I know, with some people and in some cases, was not always fulfilled. 

And finally, I come to my good friend Amy Jackson.  I have been more actively engaged in the necessary work of racial healing and social justice for the last ten years, and in addition to being motivated by my personal longing to live in a more peaceful world, i have come to see that my efforts are also intended to atone for the ignorance I held that day more than 30 years ago when I went to the dance class at Ebster in Decatur.  I too had a hope for years that all the drum and dance groups throughout the Atlanta area could come together to play- but I never made any effort to make it happen.  But Amy Jackson did, and she has been the unstoppable force that has now made it happen four times with great success.  It’s through her heart, her joy, her optimism, her organizing skills, her capacity for hard work- and mostly through her love of drumming- that she has manifested this dream, and I admire her and love her for it.  It should not be lost on us that this joyful gathering has occurred each time on this ground, in front of this courthouse where Africans and their descendants were purchased and forced into cruel conditions of unpaid labor- the labor that built the United States.  May my European American friends of white racial identity always remember to be grateful to our African American and African friends for keeping this joyful music, which comes from the time before race was invented, alive through difficult conditions in order to share it with the world and help us heal the legacies of racism and slavery that remain in the United States.

Bolokada’s class followed with so much joy, laughter, and FUN! Thank you, BOLO!

Bill Scheidt  then led the next djembe class who gave a beautiful message about the words Mamady Keita shared with us during his workshops.

Here again, a magical moment for me:   During Bill’s instruction on the first accompaniment, I was leaving out a “tone”.  Next thing I knew Nasira Keita came around to her right side from the dunun section  and showed me with her hands what I was missing.  I finally got it. And then, suddenly I remembered a moment  from 2005 and raised my hand to Bill to speak.” I shared a time when I first met Mamady Keita at a workshop in Winston-Salem that Bill hosted.  I was virtually in the same place in the circle and suddenly Mamady stood up and walked from his left side towards where I was sitting. , “oh no, I thought. He’s not coming over to me, is he?” Well, he was. He placed his hand on top of mine to show me placement and I looked up to him embarrassingly and said, “I know, I know”.  I truly felt Mamady was present in that moment. Magical, beautiful.  

 At 1:30 Mama Yeye’s sekere class began! MamaYeye always has such beautiful messages and history of the sekere and how it communicates with the dunun of West Africa! Thank you to her sekere team, Baba Romero Beverly, Ginger Jackson, Odomi, and Nuhjah!!! Awesome!

And lastly dancer extraordinaire, Christan Poet with participants from Drumming for Peace, Joy and Unity  and our fantastic lead drummer, Jahbri Black and the supportive drummers from the workshop ended the workshop on a very uplifting dance!  Thank you!

Now to YOU ALL! Thank you thank you for being there and being who you are! It was a privilege and a pleasure to coordinate this event and to share it with you all! And guess what? We raised $3500 for Nasira’s future! They were blown away!

 

Thank you again,

Amy

and on behalf of

Christan, Safiyah and Jahbri

Peace, Joy, and Unity 2023

 

And in the words of Grandmaster Djembefola Mamady Keita:  We love you. Thank you.

“The djembe does not no color, race, gender, age, where you are from. It only knows your heart”

“If we all played djembe, there would be no trouble in the world”

“The djembe will teach you about yourself.”