The Leonard Dober Elementary School’s Black History Month program paid tribute to African Royalty. The regal affair opened with a royal processional including festive with African dancers, a parade of African country flags and a rose-petaled walkway. The royal Mistress and Master of Ceremony were Woodlyne Lundi and Kajai Huggins who represented King Mansa Musa and Queen Hatshepsut.
Dober’s school choir kicked off the show with their rendition of the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Following the Black Anthem, the fourth grade class impressed the audience with their knowledge and performance of the South African National Anthem, “Tina Singu.”
The English Language Learners (ELL) class then wowed the audience with an African dance performance to Shakira’s popular hit “WakaWaka.” In the spirit of Virgin Islands History Month and not forgetting the struggles of our local ancestors past, the fifth grade class took center stage and entertained the crowd with a theatrical dramatization of the 1878 Fire Burn in St. Croix. Three female students donned Queen Mary, Queen Agnes and Queen Matilda costumes and the remainder of the class carried craft art torches and sang the notable VI History folksong, “Queen Mary, oh where you gon’ go burn.”
Trio Jennifer Frederick, Woodlande Lundi and Alesha Moreno followed reciting Maya Angelou’s famed poem, “Still I Rise.” Leading into the highlight of the show, the 6th grade class performed a rap-skit of Nas Jones’ 2002 hit black empowerment song, “I Know I Can.”
The African Royalty theme resonated throughout the entire school. Students, staff, teachers, as well as audience members wore festive African garb in an array of patterns and styles and modeled their trends for the audience. The students’ excitement shone throughout the fashion show segment rallying around their teachers as they walked the runway. Ending the program were brothers Jeffrey and Yadiel Segura’s dance performance to the hit South African pop tune, “Wololo.”
Dober definitely ended Black History Month on a royally high note!
