Building Bridges With Da’African Village: Dance, Drumming and Friendship on Martha’s Vineyard
8 Aug
Serigne “Mara” Diakhate, CEO of Da’African Village, myself, my friend, Sheryl Piland, who brought Les Enfants Du Soleil to Martha’s Vineyard
I caught her by surprise, as she set up to sell tickets for A Touch Of Senegal On The Vineyard, outside of the historic Union Chapel on Martha’s Vineyard. Her, is my old high-school friend, Sheryl Piland– who now lives in LA, and who when I think of her, I can’t help but remember how the year we graduated high school, Sheryl entered and won the Miss Black Teen USA contest, and got to be crowned by, and dance with Michael Jackson on stage, on television! I was thrilled, and proud of her, like many people from our hometowns of Waterbury and Prospect, Connecticut were, but I was jealous, too. You all know how much I loved MJ, and I wanted to be the one up there dancing with him. But I wasn’t black and beautiful like Sheryl, or as confident. I always admired Sheryl for her deep intelligence, and how, even at seventeen, she seemed so self-assured. In my eyes, Sheryl was someone who knew what she wanted, what she stood for, and yet was generous and giving to her friends.
And, so as I rounded the corner of the beautiful chapel, Sheryl spotted me, did a double take, and […]
