The Community Folk Art Center continued its 50th anniversary celebration recently by honoring its community and supporters and highlighting the creative arts with a mpowering performance by Ailey II.

At the Oct. 27 event, CFAC recognized the following community partners, supporters and area leaders for their support and dedication to the center and youth:

• Carol Charles ’84: Artist, educator administrator; the former executive director of the Dance Theater of Syracuse; and a Syracuse University alumna
• Vanessa Johnson: Griot, one-woman performer, musician and visual arts educator
• The Syracuse (NY) Chapter of the Links Incorporated: One of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of African American women and persons of African ancestry
• London Ladd ’06, G’22: Influential artist, author, the creator of a 2021 alumni mural titled “Coming Back Together” and a Syracuse University alumnus
• Charles Haislah: Educator, internationally renowned ballet dancer and director, and creator of the DanceLab at CFAC
• Founders: Herbert T. Williams, Shirley Harrison, Jack White, George Campbell Jr., Mary Schmidt Campbell, David MacDonald and Basheer Alim

Awardees received a specially commissioned commemorative bowl or plate created by award-winning designer David McDonald and featuring CFAC’s logo.

The celebration and performance, featuring emerging dance talent and artistic director Francesca Harper and the company’s renowned piece “Revelations” took place at the historic Landmark Theatre in downtown Syracuse. Ailey II is nationally celebrated for bringing together early-career talent with emerging choreographers. Their signature work is “Revelations” which uses spirituals, gospel songs, and holy blues to explore the deepest emotions of the soul.

“Ailey II’s performance was certainly a proud part of our 50th anniversary, but it was also a way to continue CFAC’s mission to connect diverse communities—no matter age, gender, race or exposure to dance and the arts—to our collective, universal language of creativity and the exploration of the African diaspora,” says Tanisha M. Jackson, Ph.D., executive director of CFAC, creator of Black Arts Speak, professor of African American studies and one of the evening’s emcees. “Our anniversary celebration will continue through in-person and online events, so we hope many more can join our community during this special year for us.”

The theater was nearly at capacity with supporters from the University, City of Syracuse and the arts community. Additionally, much to the appreciation of organizers and those in attendance, about 350 students from the Syracuse City School District took in the event and performance. Their presence was not just an educational and entertainment experience—many of the students are interested in the visual and performing arts—but a fulfillment of CFAC’s community-focused mission and the creative exploration of the African diaspora.

Public programming offered year-round by CFAC includes exhibitions, film screenings, gallery talks, workshops and courses in studio and performing arts, and more. CFAC also offers a robust that provides a gateway to the arts to middle school and high school students in the community.

CFAC was founded in 1972 by the late Herbert T. Williams, professor of African American studies at Syracuse University, in collaboration with other faculty, students, local artists and residents of the City of Syracuse. CFAC is an incubator for diverse community programming and the creative exploration of the African diaspora. It is dedicated to celebrating cultural and artistic pluralism by collecting, exhibiting, teaching and interpreting the visual and expressive arts. To learn more, .

Nikole Hannah-Jones (Credit: James Estrin/The New York Times)

Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project and staff writer for The New York Times Magazine will share her experiences and writings in an upcoming campuswide conversation on Friday, Oct. 28, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The event, which is co-sponsored by the , will take place at the Syracuse University Art Museum.

More information and registration information can be found on the . The event can also be accessed via .

Hannah-Jones will highlight the importance of reframing American history within the context of enslavement and the true contributions of Black Americans. The New York Times’s 1619 Project commemorates the 400th anniversary of the beginning of slavery in what would become the United States by examining slavery’s modern legacy and reframing the way we understand this history and the contributions of black Americans to the nation, according to Hannah-Jones’ website.

Jessica Lynn Elliott, a fourth-year Ph.D. history student in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, will be the moderator for the discussion.

“We are all active participants in the story being written, but in the story of the U.S., we must revisit the opening chapter and amplify the voices and celebrate the contributions of Black people, whom without, our current chapter does not exist,” says Elliott, who is also a curatorial assistant for the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Libraries,

Kal Alston, professor and associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Education and a member of the Academic Leadership for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (ALDEIA), encourages campus community members to attend, regardless if they have read the 1619 Project or not.

“This conversation will help us all better understand American history and how far back some of these ideas related to Black Americans and our collective history goes,” Alston says. “It can seem that the issues of race and our collective history are coming out of nowhere, but in fact, they’re coming out of a shared set of experiences and orientations, and Nikole Hannah-Jones’s unique perspective and experience will help us better understand that.”

Suzette M. Meléndez, teaching professor and associate dean for equity and inclusion academic affairs in the College of Law, also invites the campus community to join in this event that will add to the continuing conversation surrounding our nation’s shared history.

“Professor Hannah-Jones’ visit is of great significance to the national conversation about the 1619 Project, the contributions of Black and brown people to America’s development and to our collective history as a nation,” says Meléndez, who is also a member of the ALDEIA. “It is a timely response to the apparent confusion regarding what Critical Race Theory actually is and how it can tell a more comprehensive account of our history in ways that can guide us in moving forward more productively as a nation.”

Along with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the event’s co-sponsors include the Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Student Living, Syracuse University Libraries, the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, College of Law, School of Education, School of Architecture and the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided