ATHENS, Ala. — The Athens community held a celebration of what organizers like - to - call 'black excellence' with a free community event called the Ubora Fest providing music, dance, theatre, soul food and more.
DEIBA President Jerome Malone explained that this event originally started with an idea for black history month. "We want to put black excellence on display. So you'll have jazz music, you'll have R&B. And so the idea was, I think a lot of times what you have is several organizations doing small things. So we want to come together and do something big, put our resources together and do something big that the city can just really appreciate."
With the fest offering everything from music to soul food, theatre and more. That wasn't the only black excellence on display. A few vendors also had a part to play.
After educators Jessie and Dr. Alfred Brinkley retired from the Decatur City School System. The couple decided that they wanted to continue working with students. So therefore they decided to write books. "Education begins at home. Yes, a parent is their child's first teacher. We wanted our students to always be able to empower themselves from within. And that's what our books are based on."
Furthermore, for Jamah Myhand with JLD Publishing, shares that there Is really only way to really describe African American culture. "Our skills, our, you know, our experience. And so we bring all of those things to the table. you know, we're a complete package."
Event organizers explained that this may be the first Ubora Fest in Athens, but the plan is that it won't be the last.