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Jonathan McCrury, left, and Marlin Russ, both former students of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, perform in a 20-minute play about the late storyteller Oscar Brown Jr. The play was held at the Children’s Studio Center in Washington, DC. |
Twenty-six college students from across the country were chosen to participate in the Visionary Heritage Fellowship Program’s 2005 Student Leadership and Training Conference held June 5th to June 11th, 2005 at Howard University in Washington, DC.
The Class of 2005 Fellows arrived eager to participate in the week-long event, which included workshops designed to teach the students about leadership, the importance of recording the oral histories of African American elders, and video production skills.
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L. Douglas Wilder, current Mayor of Richmond and former Governor of Virginia, encouraged students to break from the norm and persist until they succeed.
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Workshops were led by NVLP staff and advisory board members. Executive Director and cofounder Renee Poussaint emphasized the historical significance of the Fellows projects and gave students interviewing tips and strategies. Dr. Johnetta B. Cole, Bennett College president and cultural anthropologist, stressed each Fellow’s responsibility to honor and respect their African American elders by achieving excellence with their projects. Dr. Ray Winbush, director of the Institute for Urban Affairs at Morgan State University, challenged the students to adopt a global vision of leadership and Dr. Gayle Pemberton, professor of English and African American studies at Wesleyan University, discussed oral history research methods.
Highlights of the conference included roundtable discussions led by National Visionaries L. Douglas Wilder, current Mayor of Richmond and former Governor of Virginia; Dr. Dorothy Height, Chair of the National Council of Negro Women; and Arthur Mitchell, founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. In addition, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Children’s Studio Center in Washington, DC partnered with NVLP to produce a moving tribute to the late singer, songwriter, actor and activist Oscar Brown, Jr. Mr. Brown, a 2004 National Visionary, was originally scheduled to lead a roundtable discussion, but passed away just prior to the conference on May 29, 2005.
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Dara Foster, a Fellow from Coppin State University in Baltimore, MD and her teammates interview Legacy Keeper Albert “Diz” Russell, a singer with the 1950s doo-wop group the Orioles. |
Each student also practiced the skills they were learning in the workshops, by. participating in a group project to research and conduct a videotaped interview of a local elder or “Legacy Keeper.” Five Legacy Keepers were interviewed this year, including jazz saxophonist Buck Hill, 78; Clyde Howard, 71, a veteran of the postal service; Albert “Diz” Russell, a singer with the 1950s doo-wop group the Orioles; Mattie Taylor, 73, president and CEO of the Van McCoy Music publishing company; and Moncerie Woolfolk, 91, an author and schoolteacher. Excerpts of the interviews were shown during the closing ceremony of the conference.
Throughout the fall semester, the Fellows will continue to build their knowledge and oral history skills. On their own, they will produce videotaped interviews of Visionaries in their home or college communities. Fellows who complete the three best researched and produced projects will be awarded scholarships at the 2006 VHFP conference.