Get the Rhythm

• African Americans have a rich history in all types of music. Use the children's book "I See the Rhythm," by Toyomi Igus and Michele Wood as the basis for a musical reading program. The book describes the elements and origins of African-American music including gospel, jazz, rock, ragtime, native African and hip-hop.
  
  Create a program around the book that includes a read-aloud and musical interpretation, or examples of each style interspersed throughout the reading of the book. If musicians are available, have them play a short selection of the types of music. If not, have groups of children or adults learn short songs in each style to sing during the program. Use a large screen and computer projector if available, to add a final touch to the program by showing the beautiful book illustrations during the reading and faces of famous African-American musicians during the musical selections.
  
  

Famous Visitors

• Find important figures from black history in fields such as politics, inventions, space exploration, medicine, science, sports, music and civil rights. For an interesting, fun and educational program, bring these figures to your program in the form of historical impersonators. Get started by researching a website such as blackpast.org to gain insight into the figures you would like to have present.
  
  Have presenters choose a historically significant African-American then research him fully. Locate audio or text of things the person actually said or the way they might have spoken. For example, audio of Martin Luther King's speech is available from several online sources. Create period or professionally accurate costumes to reflect their lives. Prepare brief presentations in the voice and mannerisms of the person. Keep in mind the historical period in which they lived so your speech remains authentic.
  
  

Cultural Sampling

• Have everyone pitch in to create a display, activities and sampling of African-American food, art and artifacts. Invite your staff, students or employees, depending on the organization involved, to bring in African-American art, music or artifacts and allow you to borrow them for display. Artifacts might include tribal masks, kente cloth, clothing or historical photos and documents. Locate music by African-American artists of all genres to play during the event.
  
  Place borrowed artwork or reproductions created by professional African-American artists alongside the artifacts. Have artsy friends or students create reproduction African crafts to display. Enlist some people to operate simple craft tables where adults and children can use paper to create versions of tribal masks or kente cloth prints.
  
  Food often increases outside involvement in your program. Many traditional African-American recipes still find their way to tables today. Foods such as Hoppin' John, Cracklin' Cornbread or Mustard and Turnip Greens probably grace the tables of people you know. Find recipes for them in cookbooks and online. Ask several people to use their own or researched recipes to bring in samplings of various African-American dishes. This food sampling rounds out your interactive program of African-American culture.