Join the 5th Annual W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Festival & Du Bois Legacy Day Observance
This year’s Festival will honor the spiritual and intellectual homes Dr. Du Bois found and made along his lifelong journey.
The Town of Great Barrington W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee announces the Fifth Annual W.E.B. Legacy Festival in honor of the 154th birthday of native son Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois during the month of February.
This year, the Festival will follow the theme “The Sacred Journeying of Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois: Native Son and Global Intellectual.” Town-sponsored events and those hosted by community partners will incorporate musical and theatrical performances, a panel discussion, and a keynote address, among other highlights. Guests will include leaders from some of the preeminent institutions that were home to Dr. Du Bois’s journeying.
Community partner Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center joins the Town of Great Barrington to present this year’s W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Festival remotely for participants to view over the course of three evenings, February 21, 22, & 23. Segments will be broadcast at 5:30 each evening on the Legacy Committee YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrJDq9aNVL-2MDrm552ReSw
On Monday, Feb. 21 at 5:30 pm, the Festival will open with remarks from town representatives and Legacy Committee members, as well as community leaders Dr. Kendra Fields of the Clinton Church Restoration, Dennis Powell of the Berkshire NAACP and Gwendolyn VanSant of BRIDGE. The Festival keynote address will be given by Dr. George T. French, Jr., president of Clark Atlanta University, an intellectual and spiritual home to W.E.B. Du Bois early in his career, which nourished his groundbreaking advancement of the field of Sociology.
On Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 pm the focus will be on community and youth voices. Performances by Wanda Houston and Dr. Mary Nell Morgan will be highlighted alongside singing and reflections by Legacy Committee member Leah Reed. Delano Burrowes, a New York-based artist with deep Berkshire roots, will speak to local history, and youth from area schools and universities will share their thoughts about Dr. Du Bois’s impact and legacy.
On Wednesday, Feb. 23, Town Manager Mark Pruhenski and Select Board member Leigh Davis will join Du Bois descendants to open the evening’s observance of W.E.B. Du Bois Day and the birthday of Dr. Du Bois. The annual Du Bois Legacy Award will be presented by the Committee. Finally, a panel curated by Committee member Dr. Emily Williams will invite panelists Dr. Barbara H. Combs (Clark Atlanta University), Dr. Melvin Rahming (Morehouse College), and Dr. Alix Pierre (Spelman College) to participate in a lively dialogue about Du Bois’s Spiritual Journeying. The public is invited to join the live webinar of the panel discussion on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. (registration details will be available at the Festival Facebook page https://fb.me/e/3QrHRuUVx).
In addition to town-sponsored events, the Festival calendar includes a number of events hosted by community partners. On Friday, Feb. 18 and Saturday, Feb.19, BRIDGE will be holding the Yolande “Du Bois” Williams Irvin Memorial to celebrate the life of Dr. Du Bois’s only grandchild, who passed in November 2021. The Town of Great Barrington welcomes Du Bois descendants and honored guests for this special weekend.
On Friday, February 18, at 7 p.m., the public is invited to attend a staged reading of the play Knock Me A Kiss, co-produced by BRIDGE and Shakespeare & Co. and directed by Regge Life. This play, written by Charles Smith, offers a more intimate snapshot of the Du Bois family during the time of the Harlem Renaissance through a fictionalized account of the marriage of W.E.B.'s daughter Yolande to the celebrated poet Contee Cullen. The play will be followed by a talk back conversation.
On Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m., guests are invited to a staged reading of the play Knock Me A Kiss, co-produced by BRIDGE and Shakespeare & Co. and directed by Regge Life. The performance, which will be followed by a talk back conversation, offers a more intimate snapshot of the Du Bois family during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, with a focus on daughter Yolande. Tickets are available at Shakespeare.org (https://www.shakespeare.org/shows/2022/knock-me-a-kiss). The event is free, but registration is required, and donations accepted.
First Congregational Church in Great Barrington will host the memorial service for Yolande Du Bois Williams Irvin on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 11 a.m., led by guest clergy Bishop Dr. James Dixon and including an array of notable officiants and speakers. Following the service and a short tour at the Du Bois Center, guests will gather for the unveiling of the memorial gravestone at the family burial site at Mahaiwe Cemetery.
Also on Sunday, community partner Jacob’s Pillow will host a West African dance and drumming workshop with guest Artist Iddrisu Saaka at the Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield at 2 p.m. The event is free and in-person, in adherence with COVID-19 safety policies, and open to all levels of experience. Participants of all ages will learn traditional dances, songs, and stories from the West African country of Ghana, its cultural background, and the role of traditional arts in modern Ghana, Dr. Du Bois’s final spiritual home and resting place. Families will learn dances such as the Kpanlogo dance and the Bawa harvest dance and try their hand at Ghanaian percussion instruments.
The full schedule of events, festival flyer and registration information can be found below.
For more information, please visit duboislegacy.com & the Festival Facebook event page: https://fb.me/e/3QrHRuUVx
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Randy Weinstein, duboiscenter@gmail.com,
Chair, Town Of Great Barrington W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee
Gwendolyn VanSant, gwendolynvansant@gmail.com,
Vice Chair, Town Of Great Barrington W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee
Janis Martinson, janis@mahaiwe.org
Executive Director, Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center,