Writer Strives to Link Black Youth to Culture

Port Hueneme writer Oni Adams said she was horrified when she found that the children of several of her African American friends didn’t know of Langston Hughes or James Baldwin. So the 31-year-old made it her business to teach them about these noted writers.

Now, through a youth group she helped create, Adams has taken an active role in making sure African American kids in Ventura County stay connected to their culture.

“In a community where there’s such a small population of a certain people, like African Americans, this really helps kids keep their identity,” she said. “It gives them a clear idea of who they are and where they came from.”

Adams and the children in her group will mount an exhibit at Oxnard Public Library featuring the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black troop of World War II fighter pilots.

The Inner Quest Youth Group is just one of several African American organizations in Ventura County that are scheduled to commemorate Black History Month, which began Thursday. Events range from poetry readings and art exhibits to soul-food potlucks and a variety show. Most of these events focus on educating children and the general public about African American culture and achievements.

Such organizations and events take on particular importance in this county, where blacks make up only 2% of the population.

Moorpark High School graduate Tamekia Duah says her membership in Jack and Jill--a group that promotes the social development of African American children--helped her gain a personal connection to her culture.

“In Jack and Jill,” she says, “Black History Month was every month.”

On Saturday, kids from the local Jack and Jill chapter will gather at Adventures for Kids Bookstore in Ventura to listen to African American children’s book author Joyce Carol Thomas speak about Black History Month. She will be joined by illustrator Floyd Cooper, with whom she collaborated on “Gingerbread Days,” and “Brown Honey and Broomwheat Tea.”

Jack and Jill was started in 1938 as an educational, cultural and social organization for African American families. Today, it has 122 chapters nationwide, a chapter in Germany, and more than 10,000 member families.

The Ventura chapter’s monthly events give children from the 15 member families--as well as their parents--a chance to socialize, among other things.

“It’s very important for me that my children know about their culture,” said chapter President Romelle Ecung.

And lest anyone think monthly picnics and cultural outings are child’s play, members say the friendships forged here have proven to be among the strongest ties in the local African American community.

Duah, 19, is now a sophomore at Dillard University in New Orleans and has her eyes on law school. She says the friends she made in Jack and Jill have lasted through to college. “A lot of people I met at the teen conferences have gone to college down here [in the South],” she says. “There’s one girl I know from another chapter of Jack and Jill who lives down the hall from me.”

Such networking extends throughout the member families.

“Knowing there are other Jack and Jill families near where she is makes me feel so much better,” says Tamekia’s mother, Emma. “I know our values are the same, our cultures are the same, and I know their door is open to my daughter if she needs it.”

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Black History Month

Following are some area events celebrating Black History Month:

* Jack and Jill of Ventura County will host children’s book author Joyce Carol Thomas and illustrator Floyd Cooper at 2 p.m. Saturday at Adventures for Kids Bookstore, 3457 Telegraph Road at Mills Road. Gingerbread and tea will be served. Information: 650-9688.

* Writer Oni Adams and the Inner Quest Youth Group sponsor an exhibit celebrating African American history, focusing on the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black troop of World War II fighter pilots. Photos, memorabilia and original art on display Feb. 6-29 at the Oxnard Public Library, 251 South A St., Oxnard.

On March 16, Inner Quest will perform selections from black playwrights of the Harlem Renaissance at 2 p.m. at the Oxnard Library. Information: 385-7500.

* Books and memorabilia by and about famous African Americans will be on display at the H. T. Wright Branch of the Ventura Public Library, 57 Day Road at Telegraph Road. Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Feb. 28. Information: 648-2715.

* The Rev. Willie Wilson of Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington will speak Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. during the Black History program at St. Paul Baptist Church, 1354 South C St., Oxnard. Feb. 11 and Feb. 25 are cultural dress Sundays at the church, and there will be a soul food potluck after the 11 a.m. service Feb. 25. Information: 487-2015.

* Cal Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks, has a roster of events planned for Black History Month. Information: 493-3951. The highlights include:

Feb. 14: “The Culture of Love,” African American romance and poetry. Students read poems and short stories at this potluck event, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in CLU’s Conference Room A.

Feb. 19-23: “Visions in the Black,” a display of art and literature by African Americans, in CLU’s Pearson Library.

Feb. 22: CLU’s Black Student Union will host a variety show featuring music, dance, speech and drama. Held in the Preus Brandt Forum from 8 to 9 p.m.