Black Arts & Performance Summer Day Camp

About the Camp Director

Anndretta Lyle Wilson, PhD

Dr. Wilson is an assistant professor of Black Feminisms and Community Engagement at California State University, East Bay. She completed her doctoral work at the University of California, Los Angeles in the department of Theater, Film and Television earning her degree in Performance Studies with an emphasis in African Diaspora studies. She is completing of book manuscript that traces the transnational song labor of US State Department performer and Kennedy Center Honoree, Marion Williams.

Program Highlights

Session 1

HARLEM RENAISSANCE

(June 10-14)

Students will dance to BIG BAND JAZZ and play POETRY GAMES that help them learn and appreciate affirming phrases and uplifting concepts.

Art projects will emphasize "chocolate" cities, US maps, jazz instruments, and sports icons of the era.

• Langston Hughes

• Zora Neal Hurston

• Duke Ellington

• Billie Holiday

Session 2

MOTOWN & STILL I RISE

(June 17-21)

Students will dance to MOTOWN MUSIC and play POETRY GAMES like RHYME TAG that help them learn and appreciate affirming phrases and uplifting concepts. The emphasis this week will be public speaking with confidence.

Art projects will emphasize transportation methods/styles and sports icons of the era.

• Maya Angelou

• James Baldwin

• Jackson 5

• Supremes

Session 3

BLACK AESTHETICS, FREEDOM SONGS, and FUNK MUSIC

(June 24-28)

Students will march to FREEDOM SONGS and make FREEDOM SIGNS that help them learn and appreciate affirming phrases and uplifting concepts. They will also dance to FUNK MUSIC by greats like Sly Stone (It's a Family Affair, Everybody is a Star) and James Brown (Soul Power, Funky Drummer).

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Bernice Johnson Reagon & The Freedom Singers

• Sly Stone

• Chaka Khan

• James Brown

Supporters, Sponsors, & Partners

AKA | Alpha Gamma Omega Chapter Supported by The Ivy Heritage Foundation

The Alpha Gamma Omega (AGO) chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® was chartered on October 1, 1927 by 11 members and was the first graduate chapter west of the Rockies. AGO also has the distinction of being the only chapter in Southern California to own a sorority house. Located in the historic West Adams district of Los Angeles at 2615 Ellendale Place, not far from the University of Southern California (USC), the house was purchased in 1960 and the mortgage was burned in 1974. On December 6, 2014, the corner of Ellendale & Adams, was dedicated as Alpha Gamma Omega Square by the city of Los Angeles.

Program Supporters:

The League of Allied Arts Corporation

The League of Allied Arts is one of the oldest existing Black women’s non-profit arts organizations in Los Angeles. Founded in 1939 by Dorothy Vena Johnson, a poet and creative writing teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Juanita Miller, a social worker for the County of Los Angeles and wife of distinguished civil rights attorney Loren Miller. The League was established to support and promote the arts in Los Angeles. Langston Hughes was one of the League’s first beneficiaries. When the young Harlem Renaissance poet and playwright came to Los Angeles to visit friends, he wanted to present a play. However, due to racism, no theater would allow Hughes to present his work. The industrious and civic-minded Juanita Miller and Dorothy Vena Johnson thereby pooled their resources together to help support Langston Hughes successfully present his play, Don’t You Want to Be Free?

The Society Incorporated, Los Angeles Chapter

The Society, Inc., Los Angeles Chapter is organized under 501(c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code and is dedicated to enhancing, exposing and promoting youth in the arts for the betterment of our communities. We engage in fundraising to provide revenue in support of scholarships, and contributions to local arts organizations.