I woke up the other day in Berkeley Springs with this on my mind:
THE GLOBAL YOUTH VILLAGE
They came from many places and lands to form this Global Youth Village. They came from Iraq, The Crow Nation in Montana, Kurdistan, Northern Virginia and Nigeria. They came, these 14-18 year olds. They came to learn about living in peace, about conflict resolution, about mutual respect, about accepting, and learning about other cultures. They shared their cultures with each other.
It was an honor and pleasure to be a guest artist in residence in this village. I was privileged to share my knowledge of how the human voice can produce healthy and pleasant sounds. I also talked about The American Freedom Riders, and their songs. I shared with them some of the poetic treasures of The Harlem Renaissance, and taught them songs from Africa, The US, and The Apache Nation. I taught a group of young men from Iraq to do The Hambone — that rhythmic game played on ones’ own body. They performed The Hambone on the final evenings sharing concert with great success, and announced that they would teach it to their friends when they returned home to Iraq.
They came, they bonded, they learned, they became one, brothers and sisters. They came and they formed a peaceful Global Youth Village.
Peace-Salaam-Shalom
Charles