On display at St. Agnes + Our Lady of Fatima Church at East 66th and Lexington is a Kente Cloth. According to Wikipedia, Kente refers to a Ghanaian textile made of hand-woven strips of silk and cotton. Historically the fabric was worn in a toga-like fashion among the Asante, Akan and Ewe people. According to Asante oral tradition, it originated from Bonwire in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In modern day Ghana, the wearing of kente cloth has become widespread to commemorate special occasions, and kente brands led by master weavers are in high demand. Due to the popularity of kente cloth patterns, production of mass-produced prints with the kente patterns have become popular throughout West Africa, and by extension the whole of Africa. Globally, the print is used in the design of academic stoles in graduation ceremonies worn mostly by black people in the United States and Canada.
Kente Cloth display at St Agnes and Our Lady of Fatima Church
Posted 6-19-25
2023
African Heritage Day - Cleveland Cultural Gardens World on Stage
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation 2023 World on Stage events in the Gardens are showcasing various heritages. The first 2023 event was African Heritage Day on July 1, 2023.
MC Sia Nyorkor with Ethiopian coffee
Audience members came from a variety of African countries including Liberia, Ghana, Congo, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia. One attendee from Pretoria, South Africa said, "This is the first time I've felt like home since I came to Cleveland."
There was delicious West African food, an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, drummers, dancers and fun for families.
It was a great day to celebrate the heritage of the Cleveland People from the 54 countries of Africa.
Djapo Cultural Arts Institute dancer
2017
A highlight of the 8th Annual ICC-WIN Cleveland Multicultural Holiday Celebration on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at the Global Center for Health Innovation in Cleveland was the performance by Afrique Senegalese Drummers.
3 generations (father, son and grandfather)performed: Papa Assane, Mbaye Momar and Don Davis.
(Click on the white arrow to watch the video)
In this video the group taught the audience how to say thank you as part of the performance. ICC-WIN board member Alassane Fall is from Senegal and did an impromptu dance.
This is the finale of the Senegalese drummers performance.
JAPO African Ensemble from Senegal at ICC-WIN Multicultural Holiday Party
One of the highlights of the 7th annual Cleveland Multicultural Holiday Celebration put on by the International Community Council Worldwide Intercultural Network (ICC-WIN) in Cleveland at the Global Center for Health Innovation was the performance of the JAPO African Ensemble performing drums and dance from Senegal and West Africa.
The 7th annual Cleveland Multicultural Holiday Celebration put on by the International Community Council Worldwide Intercultural Network (ICC-WIN) in Cleveland at the Global Center for Health Innovation continued featured a Multicultural Fashion Show. 120 people participated in the fashion show and each walked the runway to music from their country. Here are the models from Senegal. (click on the white arrow to watch the video)
Models included Ibrahima Kalil Fofana, Aichat Traor, Sarata Kande, Tibou Sock and the youngsters Mariame Kande, Mohamed Yansan, Emily and Guita Kanta.
Tam Tam Magic West African Drummers and Dancers at Continental Cup July 2, 2015
Tam Tam Magic performed at the opening ceremony of the 2015 Continental Cup put on by the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
The Continental Cup is now in its 10th year and the 2015 event had 3300 athletes from 11 countries including Tanzania, Kenya, Mongolia, China, Bermuda, China, Colombia, Canada, Brazil, Nepal and Greece.
The many different cultural performances were a highlight of the grand opening of the Ames Family Atrium in the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday October 28, 2012. This included a performance by Sengalese drummers and dancers Tam-Tam Magic.
The African Soul International Dance Troupe brought drumming and dances from West Africa to the ClevelandPeople.Com International Pavilion at Ohio's Celtic and International Festival.
African Soul International Dance Troupe
Drummers and Dancers from African Soul International perform traditional rhythms from West Africa (Senegal and Guinea) at the Cleveland Oktoberfest.
An impromptu Balafon performance at Parade the Circle in University Circle in Cleveland Ohio. The balafon is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion instrument from West Africa, similar to a xylophone.
Organizations and Resources for Senegalese in Cleveland
The French colonies of Senegal and the French Sudan were merged in 1959 and granted their independence as the Mali Federation in 1960. The union broke up after only a few months. Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982, but the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989.
The Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) has led a low-level separatist insurgency in southern Senegal since the 1980s, and several peace deals have failed to resolve the conflict. Nevertheless, Senegal remains one of the most stable democracies in Africa.
Senegal was ruled by a Socialist Party for 40 years until current President Abdoulaye WADE was elected in 2000. He was reelected in February 2007, but complaints of fraud led opposition parties to boycott June 2007 legislative polls. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping.
Read more about the Senegalese and other Ambassadors. If you are interested in being considered to be an official ClevelandPeople.com Ambassador to the Cleveland Senegalese community, please contact us.
