Women In Education Focus Of Black History Month Celebration

by MARGARETH SMITH.

There are leaders who help people in the present shape the future, while drawing on the accomplishments and sacrifices of the past.

For organizers of “Courage to Persevere,” a Black History Month celebration set for Feb. 17 at the College Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lancaster, the present is the time to honor leaders, including women in education.

Heroes living among us

The event follows the Black History Month celebration that took place last February at the church, and which Sidelca organized with retired educator Josephine Robertson.

“Last year was such a big success, it turned out better than we had even pictured in our mind. We thought, if it worked before, let’s keep it going,” said choir director Kirosha Sidelca, co-producer of the event and founder of Kingdom Voice and Music Academy.

Coproducing the event once again is Robertson, retired principal of Worcester’s Sullivan Middle School, and whom Sidelca credits with facilitating recognition of women in education.

The event will include an art show, a concert of music, dance theater and spoken word, and a food-tasting representing different culinary traditions. Performers include the Unity Choir, King’s Kids chorus, and Kingdom Voices of Glory choir.

Organizers saw an opportunity to celebrate women. Sidelca said, “I think it was Josephine who finally nailed it down. ‘Let’s focus on Black female educators, since we have quite a few of them, and share their own personal stories.’ We thought it would be a great way to shed a light on women who do extraordinary things in our community.’ Their stories will focus on them. People can meet them, to learn and be inspired by them, here and now.”

‘Telling their stories’

Recognitions are planned for educators such as Deborah Harmon Hines, retired vice provost for school services and professor of radiology and nursing at UMass Chan Medical School. Hines is also credited with establishing the Worcester Pipeline Collaborative with Worcester Public Schools to increase diversity among students entering careers in biotechnology, biomedical research and the health professions. Worcester Public Schools guidance counselor Lynnel Reed-Powell will also be recognized.

With last year’s theme focusing on courage, Sidelca said, “This year is ‘Courage to Persevere,’ and we’re going to be highlighting and telling the stories of some of our Black female educators. Most of them, if not all of them, taught in Worcester public schools, so we are going to be telling their stories. So, we’re going to add a new aspect of theater.”

Sidelca added, “It’s going to be different. We have music, poetry, theater, dance … we are going to be telling their stories in between the songs. We are going to be honoring them, and hopefully getting as many of them there in the room as possible.”

‘It’s like fireworks’

As with last year, this year’s show will feature art by local students, with an eye toward including students from area arts schools. The goal is to create both a celebration and a dialogue of past, present and future.

Sidelca said, “This year, we also have the same choirs we had last year. We call it now the Kingdom Voices of Glory Choir. They wanted to continue with the (adult) choir, so that was a great thing that came out of last year. They just had such a wonderful experience. They said, ‘Can’t we just keep continuing and singing?'”

The Unity Choir, consisting mainly of preteen girls, will perform as it did last year. “So very, very talented girls, each individually,” Sidelca said. “When they come together, it’s like fireworks. It’s amazing.”

‘I’ve always been singing’

This year’s featured vocalist is Lois Dwira, who will sing the song “Hero” by Mariah Carey and may also sing an original song, “Joy.”

Dwira had sung “Hero” at the Unity in the Community event, held last February, and sponsored by organizer and activist Ernie Floyd. “All I know is that I’ve always been singing, since I was as a kid,” said Dwira, who recalled her childhood in Ghana, where she said her family held church services at their home. As a toddler, Dwira said she strolled over to the adult choir and joined right in.

“I would make little YouTube videos when I was younger,” said Dwira, who has lived in Worcester since age 6. A graduate of Worcester Technical High School, Dwira credits her voice coach, Siobhan Petrella. “She took me in under her wing. She would meet me in her office after school, and we rehearsed the national anthem together.”

Dwira would go on to sing the national anthem before a game in 2018 at Fenway Park, at milestone events such as the swearing-in of a new sheriff, and at the 2014 Worcester Tech graduation ceremony, whose audience included a special guest: former President Barack Obama.

“I got to meet him. We got to meet him backstage, before we went on stage. It was the class officers, and the principal. He thought I was one of the staff,” Dwira recalled, laughing. “He is, like, ‘Oh, you’re tall!'”

Dwira graduated in 2015 and went on to a nursing degree at Fitchburg State University and a career as a registered nurse.

Dwira, a certified women’s health nurse practitioner and a certified nurse midwife, works at First Choice Health Centers in Connecticut. “I really love working there, because it caters to women of color — Spanish women, Black women. It’s very diverse. We care for people who are low-income.”

Through it all, singing has been there for her. “It has definitely taken me on a journey. I think it has helped me a lot, in finding confidence in who I am as a person. It helped me to feel special. It has been very significant in my life.”

‘Don’t give up’

The theme of perseverance provides an important link, said Sidelca, who noted “the different aspects of persevering, and what they had to go through to be educators. A lot of them were alive during segregation … we are going to sing songs about not giving up, about friendship, all the things that help you keep going.”

Sidelca added, “I hope it encourages everyone in the room, staying strong to accomplish something. That they can do it, if they don’t give up. Just value the people around you who help you to get there.”

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See Original Article at Worcester Magazine