'A beautiful Black History Month party'

Feb. 17—Friday morning's event at the Bakersfield College Indoor Theater was officially called the Black History Month Conference.

However, Dramane Kone had a different name for it: "A beautiful Black History Month party."

Kone, who is from West Africa, spoke before providing African drum beats on his djembe to begin the fifth annual event put on by Bakersfield College's Umoja Community Club.

He is part of the Ballet Djelia Kadi, an African drumming and dancing ensemble that performed for the audience made up of mostly BC and local high school students. They also invited many audience members to participate in drumming and dancing.

Paula Parks, a BC English professor, is the coordinator of the Umoja program at BC and the club's adviser. She called Friday's conference the club's signature event of the year. De'Von Truvel, who created the board game Black Wall Street, served as the keynote speaker.

The event also acts as a recruitment event for local high school students, Parks said.

"Bakersfield College students are here too, faculty staff and community members," Parks said. "We're bringing everybody together to learn more about our culture and celebrate it."

Parks, who became a full-time professor at BC in 2001, started the Umoja program at BC in 2015. Two years later the club began.

Umoja means "unity" in Swahili. BC's Umoja program is one of 70 at community colleges across the nation, Parks said.

Parks teaches English in the Umoja program and includes African voices and literature in the curriculum. It's part of the ASTEP (African-American Success Through Excellence and Persistence), a program that integrates academics, support services and African-American culture.

"I was thrilled to start the Umoja program at Bakersfield College with the help of our then-president and now (Kern Community College District) chancellor (Sonya Christian)," Parks said. "It's a full-service program. The club also allows for leadership opportunities."

The Black History Month Conference returned as an in-person event on Friday after it had been conducted virtually the past two years due to COVID restrictions, Parks said.

The event has included workshops in the past. Truvel provided lessons in business and perseverance during his lecture.

He talked about his experiences in developing his board game that also works as a history lesson tool to tell the story of the Black Wall Street in Oklahoma. Truvel only referred to the 1921 massacre once and instead spoke of the businesses and ideas. He also motivated the audience and encouraged them to pursue their goals.

He said his idea started small. His first design of the board game was created on cardboard. A few years later, Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks bought a board game for every player in the NBA (521 games), Truvel said.

"In the game we're not only teaching you the history of Tulsa Black Wall Street," he said. "We're teaching you the foundation of business development."

Jason Harris, a West High senior, said he learned about life skills during Truvel's 45-minute lecture.

"I learned that at our age we can make the start right now for a business," said Harris, who also showed his dance moves with Kone before Truvel spoke. "I had a good time."

Mohammed Abdullaay of Centennial High bought a board game from Truvel after the event.

"It was really inspirational," Abdullaay said of the Black History Month Conference. "It teaches a lot about so much in the past and what we need in the future to uplift ourselves."