The Drums Are Calling Us Home... Again

On Saturday, May 6, 2023 from 1-3 PM CT, Dr. Carol D. Lee, lovingly known as Mama Safisha Madhubuti, will be honored with a vibrant tribute concert at the Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies. “The Drums Are Calling Us Home … Again!” is a production of drummers, shekere players, youth and adult storytellers, visual artists, vocalists, parents, alumnae and current students. They will come together to say “Thank You!” to Mama Safisha for her more than 50 years of dedicated service to the education of African-descended children and their families. Tributes will honor her as a drum major leading the way back to the educational practices and principles that contributed to the building and strength of the first civilizations on earth.  

The concert will also celebrate Dr. Lee’s appointment by President Joe Biden on October 27, 2022 to the 15-member US Board of Education Sciences. This is a tremendous opportunity for our communities that will now have a voice on this national board to support the work of African-centered and other culturally competent education curricula. 
 
“The Drums Are Calling Us Home … Again” is an updated version of a production done as “The Drums Are Calling Us Home” at the Beverly Art Center nearly 15 years ago. The title was inspired by a true story told to storyteller Mama Edie Armstrong by percussionist Baba David Braswell. Upon his return from Senegal, Baba David shared a story of drummers in the fishing villages of Senegal who aligned the shores to play their drums out across the ocean as their loved ones were taken away. They hoped that the sound of the drums would one day lead them back home. In so many ways, even without having traveled there, the drums have been calling us home.  

Through Mama Safisha’s schools, in the spirit of Sankofa, this journey to reacquire what had been left behind began with New Concept Development Center in 1972. This school then led to Betty Shabazz International Charter School, Barbara Sizemore Academy and DuSable Leadership Academy. Betty Shabazz is now celebrating its 25th anniversary, also being honored in this concert.    
 
This production will also be an opportunity to honor our Chicago Community Drummers and Shekere Players, who have served faithfully, often with little regard for compensation.   

The concert will additionally serve as a fundraiser for: 
 
- Developing Freedom Schools within Betty Shabazz International Charter Schools (BSICS) 
- The Senator Kimberly Lightford Saturday University Freedom School of The Black Star Project (founded by Phillip Jackson, now an ancestor) 
 
Feel free to select one of the organizations to receive funding. On-site merchandise sales will include photos and paintings by artists such as Rose Blouin, Arlene Crawford and William Kwamena-Poh. Artifacts, jewelry, books, videos or CD’s from personal libraries will be sold as well. Until the date of the concert (May 6th), the video recording of this concert may be pre-purchased at $50, which will include shipping/handling and a brief interview with Mama Safisha. The cost after this date will be $75, which will include shipping/handling. Videos will be received by late summer or sooner.  

Please join us in a spirit of celebration at the Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies Auditorium, 700 E. Oakwood Blvd, just west of DuSable Lake Shore Drive near 39th St. Street parking in the lot behind the building will be free. (Please do not park in the private lot east of the Center.) The building is mobility accessible. A Sign Language Interpreter will also be provided. We anticipate a presentation from the Deaf Community, whose children may one day, with adequate support, be included into the Freedom Schools. 

For more information, please contact Mama Edie @ [email protected]. You may also find additional details @ https://www.MamaEdie.com.