Adwoa Bandele-Asante in her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in February 2024 at the Somers Congregational Church Community Room.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SOMERS — On Saturday, Feb. 8, the Somers Cultural Commission will celebrate Black History Month with truth seeker Adwoa Bandele-Asante, daughter of the Afrikan Diaspora performing her one-woman live show, “La Amistad: A Fantastic, True-to-Life Journey of Sorrow, Unity & Triumph” at the Somers Public Library, 2 Vision Blvd. from 1-3 p.m.
From New London, Bandele-Asante will tell the story of the 1839 Amistad Rebellion.
“This is one of the oldest human rights cases to come before the Supreme Court,” said Bandele-Asante. “I’m very excited about this and very much committed to sharing this story in which my hometown plays a part.”
She went on to say, “Black history is American history. I see it as my duty to get this knowledge, understand the past, and share what knowledge I have so we can better understand from where we have come, where we are and help us to better prepare for the future. I use it as an empowerment tool told as a story of sorrow, unity and ultimate triumph.”
Bandele-Asante came to Somers to celebrate the February 2024 Black History Month where she spoke and sang the uplifting story of “Harriet Tubman: A Woman with a Railroad.” The story was so interesting and well received that the audience stayed to ask more questions about the event as well as her production.
Ann Murphy Fraro, who volunteers for the Somers Cultural Commission, said, “Adwoa is extremely knowledgeable, very passionate and enthusiastic. I’m looking to forward to another engaging presentation that will inform the community about a very tumultuous time in our history.”
Chair Ann Levesque of the Somers Cultural Commission added, “We were blown away with Adwoa last year. We’re hoping for more attendance to learn more about Black history in person with a live show. We want to be able to bring this to Somers every year during Black History Month.”
Admission is free, but donations are welcomed. There will be coffee and refreshments afterwards during Q&A time. For questions, contact Levesque at 860-749-2630.
