BHTNH 2025 Juneteenth Celebration
A Reckoning: Reclaiming the Past, Remembering Black Voices, Reshaping the Future
June 8, 10-15, & 19
Presenter Bios
Sunday, June 8 | 2:00 PM | Temple Israel | Portsmouth
JEFFERSON IN PARIS, A FILM DISCUSSION
Delia Malia Konzett is a Professor of English and Cinema Studies at University of New Hampshire. She is the author of the monographs Ethnic Modernisms (2002) and Hollywood’s Hawaii: Race, Nation, and War (2017) and the editor of Hollywood at the Intersection of Race and Identity (2020).
Thursday, June 12 | 5:30 PM | Currier Museum of Art |Manchester, NH
NEVER CAUGHT: THE DEFIANT JOURNEY OF ONA MARIE JUDGE STAINES
Sandi Clark Kaddy was born in Lowell Mass, raised in upstate New York, and is a graduate of Elmira College, Elmira, NY with a BA in Theater. Sandi has been a longtime resident of NH and the seacoast area. She is founder of “Jukwaa Mazoa” a theater production company. Sandi is a producer, director and performer.
Sandi volunteers for several NH based Non-profits, however the majority of her time is spent as President of The Seacoast African American Cultural Center SAACC and she serves on the Executive Council for the Seacoast NAACP. Sandi is active in her Church North Star Ame Zion which is in Newington NH. Founder of the “Set The House On Fire” a Gospel Concert in celebration of the life and dreams of Rev Dr Marin Luther King Jr
Erica Armstrong Dunbar is an American historian at Emory University. She was previously a distinguished Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers. An historian of African American women and the antebellum United States, Dunbar is the author of A Fragile Freedom: African American Women and Emancipation in the Antebellum City (2008) and Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge (2017). Never Caught was a National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist and winner of the Frederick Douglass Prize.
Friday, June 13 | 6:00 PM | 3S Artspace| Portsmouth, NH
ERASED BLOODLINES: THE BLACK DESCENDANTS OF THE “FOUNDING FATHERS” AND THOSE THEY ENSLAVED
Shannon LaNier is currently a television news anchor/host with News 12. He hosts two shows “Be Well” & “Road Trip” which puts him into more than 3 Million homes in NY, NJ, & CT. Plus his health and wellness show, “Be Well” is syndicated in multiple states. Previously, you may have seen Shannon anchoring on the nationally syndicated network BNC (Black News Channel), or CW39’s morning show in Houston, TX. Before that, he was in NYC hosting the star-studded global culture and entertainment series “Arise Entertainment 360,” for BET, and was a correspondent/Sr. Producer on Black Enterprise Magazine’s nationally-syndicated shows: “Black Enterprise Business Report” & “Our World With Black Enterprise.” This year, the energetic father of 3, will reignite his critically acclaimed podcast, “Daddy Duty 365” which features celebrity dads revealing the good, the bad and the funny of fatherhood. Shannon is also a writer, having co-authored the Random House Inc. book Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family along with photojournalist Jane Feldman. The book follows his journey to uncover the history behind his heritage as a 9th generation direct descendent of President Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. Additionally, Shannon has inspired audiences across the globe with captivating speaking engagements that touch on everything from his presidential lineage and Genealogy/Family Research to racial equality and his career in media. At the end of the Obama administration, Shannon participated in the White House’s My Brothers Keep initiative and the National Entrepreneurship Tour, bringing his signature brand of motivational humor to packed live audiences around the country. He’s now hosting a nationwide Small Biz Challenge for The UPS Store & Inc. Magazine.
Despite his full schedule, Shannon remains an active member of his church, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and the National Association of Black Journalists. He currently lives between NYC with his wife/college sweetheart Chandra and their three Little LaNiers… Madison, McKenzie and Carter. Follow Shannon’s life on and off the camera on all social media platforms @MrShannonLanier.
Brendan Narcia is a 6th great-grandson of Doll, an enslaved chef who arrived at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in 1759 with Martha Dandridge Custis. Doll is known as, “the matriarch of one of the largest extended families within Mount Vernon’s enslaved community,” with some members of her family, like her daughter Lucy, son-in-law Frank Lee, and grandson Christopher Sheels working within close proximity of the Washington family just as she had for many years. Brendan served on the board of directors for the League of Descendants of the Enslaved at Mount Vernon from 2022 to 2024 as the nonprofit organization’s inaugural secretary and currently serves on the organization’s membership and education committees.
Laurel Guild Yancey is a distinguished attorney with a private legal practice. She also advocates for equal justice. Laurel follows in the footsteps of her paternal ancestor Prince Whipple, a free African, who was enslaved by William Whipple, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, at the Mofatt-Ladd House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire during the 1800s. Laurel co-presented at the Slave Dwelling Project Conference on the topic Descendants of Northern Slavery History, Black and White, Discuss Freedom and Resistance through the Lens of our Interconnected Family Legacies at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in October 2024. New Hampshire Public Radio aired an interview in May 2024 of Laurel discussing her connection to Prince Whipple for its story How a family discovery connected two strangers — and opened their eyes to NH’s history of slavery. She was honored by We The Action in March 2022 as the recipient of the Amicus Mundi: The Lawyer Honoring Her Ancestors by Empowering Black Voters for her service and dedication to building a more just and equitable society. Through research, storytelling and projects, Laurel acknowledges Prince Whipple as an African and American historical figure who assisted, alongside Brigadier General William Whipple, in securing the independence of America.
Anthony Poore has worked in support of transformative systems change and equitable and sustainable communities for more than 30 years as a community organizer and economic development practitioner, academic, workforce housing and public health advocate, policy analyst, researcher and executive addressing the needs of New Hampshire’s urban and rural low-and moderate-income communities. He launched AP Consulting Group in 2021, working with traditional and non-traditional financial institutions and community-based organizations to identify and develop mutually beneficial public-private community economic development projects. From 2018 to January 2021, Poore served as the Executive Director of New Hampshire Humanities, an affiliated organization of the National Endowment for the Humanities. From 2010 – 2018, Poore worked with Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, in a variety of leadership roles, directing research and policy initiatives of the Boston Fed’s Regional and Community Outreach Department. Prior to that, Poore, served as the Assistant Dean for Southern New Hampshire University’s School of Economic Development.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, and Walden Mutual Bank.
Sunday, June 15 | Gospel Choir Concert | The Music Hall | Portsmouth
AN EVENING OF GOSPEL MUSIC FEATURING HOWARD UNIVERSITY GOSPEL CHOIR
Founded in the fall of 1968 by Melanie Russell (Lee) and Rosalind Thompkins (Lynch), the Howard Gospel Choir (HGC) of Howard University is the first collegiate choir of its kind in the world. As a result, HGC has pioneered an international legacy in gospel music ministry. With an active roster of seventy-plus persons that consists of students and alumni from Howard University, as well as others from the surrounding community, the choir is one of the largest religious life organizations on campus, operating under the historic Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. The Dean of the Chapel, the Reverend Dr. Bernard Richardson serves as the choir’s advisor.
In addition to distinguished professionals in every imaginable discipline, past members of this award-winning ensemble include Grammy Award winners Richard Smallwood, Coré Cotton (member of Sounds of Blackness), and Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark of the legendary Clark Sisters, as well as R&B star Ángela Winbush. Exceptional musicians have always been instrumental in shaping HGC’s unique sound to embrace both contemporary and traditional gospel, church hymns, Negro spirituals and classically arranged anthems. For twenty-five years, the late Arphelius Paul Gatling, III served as the Musical Director. He is largely responsible for crafting the unique sound of the choir.
For almost five decades, the Howard Gospel Choir has set a very high standard as a premier performing arts ensemble, singing at a wide variety of venues in and around the Greater Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area including: The White House, the Capitol Building, DAR Constitution Hall, Washington National Cathedral, and the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Most recently, HGC was one of the featured artists to perform for both the 2016 and the 2017 Kennedy Center Honors, and was also as a part of ABC Television’s Emmy Award winning special Taking the Stage which celebrated the grand opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The choir has also been blessed to receive both national exposure, having appeared from coast to coast within the continental United States, and international exposure, having served as cultural ambassadors to more than twenty countries throughout Europe and the Americas. In additional to headlining numerous high-profile concerts in a variety of venues, they have participated in other cultural exchange activities and have conducted master classes discussing various vocal exercises and the history of Gospel Music.
In 2016, the choir released their latest full-length album entitled Glorious God. The CD is a diverse collective of musical offerings that reflect their musical legacy. In addition to remaining on the Top 30 Charts for national sales and radio airplay in Gospel music for more than ten weeks, this critically acclaimed album was nominated for two 2017 Stellar Awards, four Rhythm of Gospel Awards and a Steeple Award.
From the outset, the Howard Gospel Choir has been in constant demand, and has been blessed to share the stage with a number of musical luminaries including Barry Manilow, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Fantasia, and Patti LaBelle. Additionally, HGC has performed at functions that have featured prominent political, religious and public figures such as President Barack Hussein Obama, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.
Notwithstanding the legacy of excellence and the vast accomplishments since its inception, the main objective remains the same: to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ through song. Our purpose and passion is to serve Christ with our musical gifts bringing peace, restoration, healing and inspiration to all who will lend their ears and hearts. The choir is currently under the musical direction of Reginald Golden, a Howard University graduate from University Heights, OH. Darrell Brown, also a Howard University alumnus, is the assistant director.
Thursday, June 19 | 11:00 AM | African Drumming | African Burying Ground
A DRUMBEAT FOR SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
Theo Nii Martey formed the Akwaaba Traditional African Drum and Dance Ensemble during a tour with Brekete Ensemble in London. It brings together a group of friends who have been drumming and dancing together for many years in Ghana and the UK. The group includes past members of the National Dance Ensemble, Brekete Ensemble and the Shidaa cultural troupe.
The Akwaaba Ensemble’s energetic and engaging performances are a reflection of their name, which means ‘welcome’ in the Twi language of the Ashanti tribe of Ghana. At each performance the Ensemble brings Highlife music, West African drumming and dance to vivid life.
Audiences agree that their performances are “overwhelmingly positive. Once you hear their music, you can’t resist moving”.
Each Ensemble member teaches and leads workshops. Together they have connected with students at dozens of schools around the globe. Parents and teachers praise their work: “These guys are energetic, enthusiastic. They’re really knowledgeable about what they are doing, and they seem to really enjoy working with kids.”
For the past two decades, the Ensemble has toured internationally and performed on many stages in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. They perform at theaters, fairs, festivals, weddings, school settings, Drumming and Dancing workshops in the community, and often collaborate with other musicians. The goal of the group is to produce extraordinary music and great performances that enlighten the audience about African Culture and Music. They dubbed their first album “Akwaaba Welcome Home” in 2008.
At the age of 6, Theo Martey began performing with the African Personality Youth Ensemble and then joined the Shidaa Cultural Troup in 1989. At age 17 he joined the Dance Factory Company at the National Theater of Ghana in 1997, one of the most sought-after performance ensembles in Ghana. When in London in 2000-2002, he performed with the Brekete Drum and Dance Ensemble.
While touring with the Brekete Ensemble, drummer, dancer, and choreographer Theo Martey, formulated the idea to create the Akwaaba Ensemble in 2002. The Akwaaba Ensemble’s energetic and engaging performances are a reflection of their name, which means ‘welcome’ in the Twi language of the Ashanti tribe of Ghana. At each performance the Ensemble brings West African drumming, music and dance to vivid life, holding sway with the rich and subtle rhythmic patterns and styles specific to different tribal groups of West Africa.
Theo currently teaches Drumming class for adult at the Murphy’s Boxing Gymnasium in Manchester and directs the Akwaaba Ensemble.
