What would an August Wilson African American Cultural Center Community Day Holiday Edition be without a…Black Santa Claus?
Santa Claus portrayed as a Black man is not something you see every day, certainly not from a national and international perspective.
That’s why Pittsburgh’s premier venue for African American entertainment made sure that the mostly-Black children that came to the Community Day Holiday Edition at the August Wilson Center talked with and took pictures with a Santa that looked just like them.
“They (Mr. and Mrs. Claus) reflect the community that we serve,” Janis Burley Wilson, President and CEO of the AWAACC, told the New Pittsburgh Courier during the Saturday, Dec. 14 event, Downtown. “It’s an African American Cultural Center and we wanted a Santa that looks like the children that are waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. We’re really happy that the kids came out, families came out.”
Candace Foster, a proud Homewood resident, was one of the hundreds of parents or grandparents that brought children to see Santa. One of the kids told her as soon as they entered the room, “I want to take a picture with Black Santa!” Foster said.
“These are images of what they need to understand as they grow up, that we are African Americans and so we need to see images of such that reflect who we are,” Foster told the Courier, with 1-year-old grandson Noah in her arms.
What did Vonsharie Audiles’ son, Israel, ask Santa for at the event? “He just asked for a thousand dollars,” Audiles said. “And a Blaster. I think it’s one of those Nerf guns.”
Audiles also brought her daughter, Imani, to the event, and nephew, V’Cetres. She said the kids reacted differently to Black Santa than they did at Monroeville Mall with White Santa.
“You could feel the love, they just went right up and gave him a hug,” Audiles said about Black Santa. “The one at the mall, they (the kids) were more distant.”
While Black Santa and Black Mrs. Claus was the highlight of the day, there was also a Kwanzaa section and various Black vendors such as LaShesia Holliday of Naptural Beauty Supply.
On the first floor, there were more vendors such as Natiq Jalil of The Art of Natiq, nonprofit organizations such as The Citizen Science Lab, and plenty of performances from the likes of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Pittsburgh Chapter, and Sankofa Village.
Burley Wilson called this year’s event “fantastic, it’s exactly what we wanted. We have all kinds of people here, the crowd is extremely diverse and we wanted to open the doors widely to the community and other communities here, so we’re very pleased.”
The inaugural AWAACC Community Day Holiday Edition occurred in 2018.
Burley Wilson told the Courier that the AWAACC is primed to have more enlightening attractions in 2020, with a poetry slam entitled “Poetry Unplugged” to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 17, celebrated author and educator Dr. Michael Eric Dyson on Feb. 3, jazz standout Joshua Redmond on Feb. 15, and #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke on March 9.
Burley Wilson also said to look out for another Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival and Blues and Heritage Festival next year. She said the popular Black Bottom Film Festival will return in 2021.
If you haven’t been to the AWAACC in a while, or at all, “You’re missing a lot,” Burley Wilson said. “This is a home for the art and storytelling and exchange of ideas around the African American experience. And keeping with the legacy of August Wilson, we do that through a variety of genres, so there’s something here for everyone.”
FROM PENN HILLS, IT’S THE TUCKER FAMILY, with Santa and Mrs. Claus, at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center Community Day Holiday Edition 2019, Dec. 14. (Photo by J.L. Martello) (Feature Photo)
by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
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