THREAD DRIFT..

Carol,
Re the folk festival..I haven't been in a while. When I used to put on my West African clothing and go to the annual folk festival,
I usually didn't see many African American, African, Caribbean etc performers..Of course, I did find the other performers interesting, but still....

Though I'm not sure, I think the problem is 'moola'{money to pay the performers who may not be into volunteering year after year..}

And then there's the unfortunate fact that we {African Americans} need to be get more comfortable about going places on our 'off' time where we'll be a minority. I didn't mean to make a pun..but maybe both common uses of that word ""minority" are applicable here.

When African Americans in Pittsburgh area leave our neighborhoods we are ALWAYS seen as a minority racial group. Since only 10% of this county's residents are Black {and 20% of Pittsburgh's population are Black} when we leave our [usually segregated communities-some very nice, some nice, some not nice at all, some very much not nice at all]there are always going to be far fewer of us than there are of White people {there are few if any Latinos, and also few Asians, Middle Easterners etc in this county}.

Does this matter?? Apparently for alot of Black people- YES.

I've gone to cultural programs at institutions like the Carnegie Museum, the Science Center, and the Children's Museum and seen few if any other Black people...Some of this is because of the entrance fee and lack of private transportation to get to these places. But that's only a small part of it..

Besides a good number of African Americans here have money, so it's not just the money-I contend that much of it is pyschological..
It's a challenge, that's for sure...

Anyway, thanks, Carol for the links. I'll check them out.

Azizi