Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Kayla Ehlen One part of Essence of Heritage featured Roseamber Thompson pretending to be Oprah. She interviewed students impersonating Hilary Clinton, Queen Latifah, Barack Ombama and Tom Cruise.

On Feb. 21, Lakeland College celebrated its tenth annual Essence of Heritage in the Bradley auditorium. The event was sponsored by Black Student Union (BSU) and the Beta Sigma Omega fraternity.

Essence of Heritage is a family friendly event and many families came out to enjoy the celebration. "We also always invite alumni to the event and there's usually a good turn out," said Helen Daniel, president of BSU.

"We don't have much time to prepare for Essence of Heritage, so there's not a lot of stage time," said Daniel. "It's a struggle in the beginning, but one of my favorite parts is watching everything come together."

The celebration is a timeline of Black history that begins in Africa and ends in the present day. It began with all the members entering the auditorium holding lit candles while they sang "The Black National Anthem" written by James Weldon Johnson.

After the welcome from hosts Daniel and Ricardo Brown, Ross Fale entered the stage and played the drums as an introduction for the African dance. One by one the dancers entered the auditorium from the back with an upbeat tempo and kept it up with an amazing dance routine up on the stage.

Dennis Landry gave a poem, which was difficult to understand because he didn't have a microphone and was hard to listen to. An act about Harriet Tubman, played by Precious Joiner, leading the slaves to freedom came soon after.

The following act was a church scene where many of the members of BSU and Beta Sigma Omega were present. The solders received recognition before being sent off to war and their loved ones gathered around to give them their blessings.

Jessika Bragg next lip-synced playing the saxophone in a club scene from 1918. It was interesting to watch the people in the background since there was no script and just music and action going on.

Roseamber Thompson and Helen Daniel had a little competition they tried to show each other who was the better tap dancer. They both tap danced together and amazed the audience with their talent.

Continued...

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