Keep the Beat of History on the International Day of Drumming and Healing

It’s the year of the Drum, and the sound of African drums in Pine Bluff and around the country next week will designate the significance of this year’s Juneteenth celebration as the country commemorates the 400 years since the first Africans arrived in the English colonies.

“I know it’s going to bring a lot of unity which we need here in Pine Bluff,” says Darnell Cann-Ward, an educator. “The year of the drum is very significant considering the times, and we’re hoping for love and appreciation for each other.”

Cann-Ward assembled a drum corps by recruiting children who are in summer camp at the Merrill Community Center where she is also a part of the recreational team.

He says, “They’re enjoying it, and parents tell me their kids are around the house beating on things and that means they are enjoying what they’re doing.”

The young drummers will show off their skills at the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19^th. While the drums will fill the Center in Pine Bluff, the entire day is recognized as  the International Day of Drumming in honor of the first 20 enslaved Africans who arrived in 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia.

Civil Rights activist Rev. Jesse Turner explains, “This all came about because of federal law 115-12 passed by Congress. It was signed into law by the President in January, and the work started in 2018. And, it was created out of concern for recognizing African Americans who have been here for 400 years and their contributions and the things they have done.”

The law established a 400-Year Commission on African American History, and the National Park Service is playing a large role in hosting many of the commemorative events.

“I can say it shows we have done quite well in terms of overcoming all of the obstacles and been successful,” Turner says. “We have not made it per se because we still have issues we are dealing with today, but overall during these 400 years, we have really shown who we are as a people. Our integrity, our pride, and who we are, as MLK said, ‘truth pressed to the ground will rise again.’ We are rising to our rightful place, so to speak…in the nation, and people are recognizing it and appreciate it in spite of the hindrances.”

In 1740 starting in South Carolina, drums were banned because they provided an avenue for the enslaved from different tribes to communicate. Centuries later Historically Black Colleges and Universities have revived the tradition of drumming.

“Drumming also conjures the soulful spirit of our people that spans centuries,” says John Graham, director of the Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South, which is the band at the University or Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

 Organizers hope the drums will usher in a dialogue of healing.

“There are a lot of things that we need as a people, as a country, and across the world…we need to work on overcoming the generational fear, the ignorance and intolerance,” Turner states. “These things have fostered inequality and treatment that was thrust upon us, and so those kinds of things…that’s where the healing comes in.”

From Nigeria, Cameroon, to Dubai and in American cities like Pine Bluff, Houston, and News Orleans, Juneteenth 2019 is as much as honoring as it is about healing 400 years of unparalleled perseverance.