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black history month

LHK students gain deeper understanding of Black history

LHK students gain deeper understanding of Black history

Effie and Angaza Mwando at Hunt Library Feb. 26.

Patrick L. Sullivan

FALLS VILLAGE — Leaders of Our Culture Is Beautiful (OCIB) — Effie and Angaza Mwando and Shawn Matel — led students from the Lee H. Kellogg School on a lively tour of Black history Thursday, Feb. 26, at the David M. Hunt Library.

Effie Mwando said she and her husband Angaza started the organization, which is based in Torrington, about five years ago. Matel, meanwhile, is a long-time OCIB volunteer.

The group brought a wide range of materials — dolls, books, posters, percussion instruments — and kept the presentation lively, handing out prizes and taking questions.

Angaza Mwando gave a quick lesson on the djembe drum, which he said is made of wood with a goat skin drum head.

He showed the students how to get three distinct sounds.

First was a “bass,” a low-pitched sound created by striking the center of the drum head with the hand.

A “tone,” a sharper, higher-pitched sound made by striking the edge of the drum head.

And the “slap,” which is just what it sounds like.

The presentation also highlighted many prominent Black figures, including James Brown, James Baldwin, LeBron James, Rosa Parks, Katherine Johnson and Maya Angelou.

Patrick L. Sullivan
Senior Reporter
Patrick Sullivan has been a reporter for The Lakeville Journal since 2004, covering everything from town meetings to local characters and the outdoors. He grew up in Northern Virginia but spent summers on Mount Riga in Salisbury, giving him a lifelong connection to the Northwest Corner. A graduate of Denison University, Patrick is also the author of Tangled Lines, the newspapers’ popular fly-fishing column—making The Lakeville Journal, as far as anyone knows, the only newspaper in Connecticut with a regular fly-fishing columnist. He once received a fan letter from England, which he considers sufficient evidence that his work has achieved international acclaim.
black history month

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