Public Employee Press

Black History Month: Part 1, events of Feb 1-9.
Family Day Photo Album

Family Day fun at DC 37 Feb. 5 included a basketball mini-clinic, music, crafts and dance. Djembe drummer Gary Fritz explained that the drum was the original means of communication in Africa, much like the telegraph or Morse code. “It signaled a marriage, the arrival of royalty or an attack on a village,” Fritz said.

“When the drum was taken away in the United States, slaves invented the tambourine and other percussion instruments that are still used in Latin music and jazz today.” With original songs and choreographed moves Harlem’s own teen troupe, IMPACT Repertory Theatre, danced and sang its way into DC 37 members’ hearts.

“It was worth getting up and getting here for,” said Carmen Carter of Local 1549. “It’s good to see so many members and to see such positive aspects of Black culture.”