| March 2nd, 2018

Harambee in Review

By: journeymagazine

By| Aliyah Glover

Students and the community are raving about the Harambee Festival this past weekend. FAMU and the Office of Communications held their annual Harambee Festival February 24, 2018 from 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM at Tallahassee Cascades Park.

“It’s exciting I’m visiting all of the of the vendors, eating the food because I’m a big foodie,” said Noel Simmons 22, a local Tallahassee resident.

All the vendors had a variety of products for sale from paintings, clothes, accessories, food and more.

The festival has been around since 2016 The FAMU Harambee Festival is a free community-wide cultural event to honor our “Deep Roots” in celebration of Black History Month.

Harambee, a Swahili word meaning “let’s pull together,” will inspire and educate Tallahassee residents as the University continues its efforts to make a dynamic difference in our community and educate our future generations.

Harambee’s theme of “Inspiring Unity in the Community” will feature live performances, musical acts, African drumming, dance, poetry, cultural art, fashion, inspiring lectures, healthy food demonstrations, film presentations, and retail vendors from across the region.

Kaiya McIntosh, junior public relations major said, “I’ve been attending the festival since my freshman year. Seems like each and every year it gets better. I love the to watch as the people of the community come out and all have a great time together in honor of Black History month.”

Kids were laughing and playing enjoying the sun. Parents sat nearby, some even were playing along.

The festival is a cultural event open to all. Equality is measured in terms of worth and value. And all people have equal worth and equal value. There is no person who is inferior to any other person, ever.

“This is my second time attending the festival, I thought it was going to be a bunch of black people turns out there were people from all cultures. I was walking pass whites, Hispanics, and Blacks. It kind of made me happy to see so many different people from different walks of life having a good time,” said Isaiah Collins, 34, Tallahassee resident.

Residents and visitors all lounged around the park sitting in the grass or down in the amphitheater watching the performances. All in all this was a successful event and you should be sure to attend the next one .

Submitted: February 27, 2018