Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 23, 1994 TAG: 9409240026
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CRYSTAL CHAPPELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Belma Johnson, host and producer of Black Entertainment Television's "Teen Summit," will hold informal rap sessions with local youth during the festival sponsored by Roanoke's Harrison Museum of African American Culture.
The festival for "all people" celebrate's African-American culture through performing and visual arts, children's activities, ethnic and traditional foods and an Afrocentric vendor's market, said museum Executive Director Melody Stovall.
At the children's stage, Johnson will host a youth forum at 10:30 a.m Saturday. Today, Johnson will hold an informal rap session with a group of local high school students at WSLS (Channel 10) to be aired on public access Channel 9.
Johnson was chosen to co-emcee the festival because he is a very "positive, young African-American man," said Sharron Davies, assistant marketing manager of Cox Cable and a member of the festival steering committee. Johnson is a black man doing great things, like many others who are not being recognized, Davies said.
Johnson has been a reporter and producer for BET since 1987 and has been a regular host of "Teen Summit" since 1993. As a journalist, Johnson has contributed to Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, numerous periodicals and two books. He also has served as founding editor of "Gospel Music Connection" and three other magazines or reports and has contributed to film projects such as John Singleton's "Poetic Justice" and Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing."
Teen-agers at the festival can identify with Johnson, whose show has an audience of about 1 million and is aired by BET's more than 2,500 affiliates, said BET Public Relations Director Craig Muckle.
Johnson and his "Teen Summit Posse'' of 32 students discuss issues facing black young people before an audience of about 100 teen-agers from the Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., areas. An episode on AIDS and teens won a 1994 NAACP Image Award. The show, airing Saturdays at noon and 5 p.m., has a "Personal Best" segment honoring outstanding teen-agers in the nation. A "Meet the Best" segment has featured Bryant Gumbel, Thurgood Marshall and former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder. Popular artists perform during a live-music segment.
On Saturday at noon, Johnson will announce the main stage act, Pan Masters Steel Orchestra, a steel drum band. Other main stage acts will be: a youth showcase featuring Roanoke young people; "A Sense of Pride" play by Jazz Actors Theater of Richmond; African culture, music and dancing by ELEGBA Folklore Society; gospel singer and Roanoker Michael Brown; reggae band New Determination from Baltimore; and jazz, rhythm-and-blues band Plunky Branch & Oneness from Richmond.
After the youth forum, the Children's Stage will have Curtis Staples of the University of Virginia Basketball Team,the Jazz Actors Theater, the Ujima Dance Theater and child-abuse prevention tips. The Children's Stage, face painting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and cartoons are new additions to the children's activities. The cartoons and other children's activities will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A beer garden will be housed in the gated garden area of the Jefferson Lodge, which enters into Elmwood Park. The food court will be along Bullitt Avenue.
The festival to celebrate the history of Henry Street will not be held on Henry Street this year, but in Elmwood Park. Henry Street, today First Street Northwest, was the business, professional and entertainment district of the area's black community from the '20s until the mid-'50s, said Stovall.
The Henry Street Music Center, owned by Total Action Against Poverty, is the only usable building on Henry Street, said Melinda Payne, a member of the steering committee to plan the festival and the gala.
Now Henry Street is unable to accommodate the festival crowd, Payne said. Construction for the Wells Avenue Realignment Project and for the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center renovation and construction forced the festival to relocate.
The committee chose Elmwood park because it had the amenities needed for the festival: the stage, electricity throughout the park, available parking in and around the park and the beer garden on private property, Stovall said. The festival probably will return to Henry Street next year, she said.
The Rev. Charles Green, president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that a couple of people who would rather have the festival on "this side of the tracks" - in a black neighborhood - called in to Green's Saturday morning radio talk show, "NAACP Talks and Comment" on WTOY (1480-AM).
But, Green added, "I myself agree with having that [the Elmwood Park location] and look forward to having a great time."
"Elmwood Park is beautiful," Davies said. "I think it's fabulous we will be there."
This evening, a Harambee (meaning, ``let's pull together'') gala of music, entertainment and food will be held at the Henry Street Music Center, 110 First St. N.W. Reflections, a jazz-oriented band, and Storming, a rhythm-and-blues band, will provide entertainment. Donations of $25 per couple and $15 per individual will help raise funds for the festival and for the Henry Street Music Center advisory committee, Stovall said. To register, call the Harrison Museum at 345-4818.
Henry Street Heritage Festival: Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Elmwood Park, downtown Roanoke. 345-4818.
by CNB