The traditional drum is made of wood and skin.
“Today there are some synthetics, but we still treat it as a living thing,” said Edward Esparza. “We honor the giver of life, the giver of oxygen, the heartbeat of the animal.”
Esparza is the founder of Vancouver’s long-running One of a Kind Drumline, a free after-school program that builds children’s social, academic and leadership skills while teaching them to make music with their own hands. Regardless of origin, culture or color, everyone can find something both personal and universal in drumming, he said.
“The core is how it ties into every child’s heartbeat,” Esparza said. “We all find common ground when we play together.”
You can experience the heartbeat of African drumming and dancing during a Black History Month cultural event that starts at noon Saturday at the Luepke Center. Esparza will discuss his passion for drumming and for community service, and his One of a Kind Drumline students will demonstrate what they’ve learned. They’ll even teach participants to do some drumming of their own.
If You Go
• What: An afternoon of African-American drumming, dance and hip-hop.
• When: Noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 17.
• Where: Luepke Center, 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver.
• Admission: Free. RSVP at naacpvancouver@gmail.com
• On the web: vancouvernaacp.weebly.com
•••
• What: “History and Art of African-Americans in the Pacific Northwest” exhibit.
• When: On display throughout February: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
• Where: Columbia Room, Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver.
• Admission: Free.
And, Brandi Williams, a graduate of Hudson’s Bay High School, will extend the theme to hip-hop dance, sharing her knowledge of black dance history in America and teaching everyone to do a few steps.
It’s all part of a menu of Black History Month activities sponsored by the Vancouver NAACP, which has been resurgent in recent years after a decline in membership. There’s an ongoing exhibit focused on local black history and artworks at the downtown Vancouver Community Library; it will remain on display in the front community room during regular library hours throughout February, which was designated Black History Month by President Gerald Ford as part of the American Bicentennial in 1976.
The NAACP holds an open meeting and potluck at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday of every month at the Vancouver Housing Authority, 2500 Main St. Everyone is welcome to join the group, regardless of ethnicity. On Feb. 17, the meeting will adjourn a little early in order to head over to the Luepke Center and join the festivities at noon.
All welcome
“Drums can be a tool for coming out of poverty,” said Esparza, a Camas native who said he started pouring out his feelings by drumming on newspapers and toys, and never looked back. Now a professional drummer with various projects under his belt, he started the One of a Kind Drumline in 2003 at King Elementary School and has always employed sneaky strategies for student success in life, not just drumming — like making kids write essays about why they want to join. And taking them out to work on volunteer community-pride projects on every Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
That’s to counteract what Esparza sees as a sad lack of community in the modern world, he said.
“One thing I always talk about is cellphones,” he said. “Everybody’s so focused on screens. We don’t look at each other and interact. It’s important for youth to put their phones down, and share.”
The King holiday and Black History Month are central to his students and to Esparza himself, whose own background is Mexican and Native American, he added.
“Martin Luther King is my personal hero,” he said. “And everyone can join the NAACP. It’s open to everybody. I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
