Whitefield Academy Celebrates Black History Month with Actress Kim Fields and Tuskegee Airmen

Whitefield Academy celebrated Black History month with field trips, artists’ displays, special chapels, and an array of guest speakers. This year’s program focused on the arts, highlighting the hard work and dedication of musicians, artists, and entertainers who struggled against racism and adversity to share their talent and pave the way of success for future generations.

During the month, African American speakers were featured Whitefield’s weekly chapel services. Courtney Brooks, the varsity basketball coach at Benjamin Banneker High School, spoke at the first Black History Month chapel. Brooks recently led the school to its first winning season in four years. He also served as basketball coach at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, guiding them to two Class A state championships and five Region A championships. Brookes challenged students to use their talents and emphasized that talents may be God-given, but they are developed through personal dedication and hard work.

Actress and producer Kim Fields spoke at another chapel, sharing her experiences as a child entertainer and urging students to have a positive impact on culture. Fields starred in two long-running series, “Facts of Life” and “Living Single,” and continues to appear in theater productions, TV movies, and feature films, including the upcoming romantic comedy, “Me & Mrs. Jones.” Her life and career has been the subject of an A&E Biography as well as a Lifetime Intimate Portrait.

“Don’t be a passive observer,” she said. “Find where there is a gap of talent or knowledge in your field and fill it.”

Leonard Rowe, president and of Rowe Entertainment and Whitefield parent, was the final chapel speaker of the month. A concert promoter for over 34 years, Rowe has promoted such artists as Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Patti LaBelle, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. He shared the lives of Georgia-born musicians, including James Brown, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding, who toured the “chitlin’ circuit,” before becoming famous. The circuit was a string of performance venues throughout the eastern and southern United States that were safe and acceptable for African American performers.

“Many of these performers were paid in food and slept in their cars,” he said. “But they never complained. They loved their craft and made it possible for the artists we see today – successful performers like Beyonce and Alicia Keys.”

Rowe shared the secret of success in the harsh and competitive field of entertainment.

“I’ve seen many, many talented artists through the years,” added Rowe. “I often wondered what the difference was between those who failed and those who succeeded. I learned that the difference was simply hard work. Those who succeed never quit trying.”

In addition to featuring guest speakers, the Black History month chapels spotlighted various forms of art and music. Students enjoyed the music of the Harlem Renaissance, provided by the Whitefield jazz band, and the songs of famous African American female vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, sung by Whitefield parent Gina Darby. A visual artists’ showcase was featured at one chapel and included the work of Charly Palmer, a mixed media painter from Fayette, Alabama; Alfred Conteh, a sculptor from Statesboro, GA; Dawn Williams Boyd, a painter and sculptor from Neptune, NJ, and Tamara Natalie Madden, a painter from Jamaica.

A highlight of the month was Whitefield’s “Dinner and A Movie,” which featured a “soul-food” dinner and special screening of “Double Victory,” a companion piece to the feature film "Red Tails." Both movies tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African Americans to fly in combat in WWII, maintain combat aircraft, and function as an independent military squadron. Mr. Edgar Lewis, a Tuskegee Airman, and Ms. Zellie Rainey Orr, president of the Atlanta Chapter of Tuskegee Airman, attended the screening and hosted a question and answer session following the movie.

While Middle School and Upper School students learned from displays and guest speakers, Lower School students took to the road and explored Atlanta landmarks such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Museum, Joel Chandler Harris’ home, and Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The Lower School also held a Black History Month Chapel; students performed songs, dances, and poetry readings; they also posed as various African-American arts of the past and present.

-Courtesy of Whitefield Academy