Arthur Smith Primary honours African culture

By Michron Robinson

The spirit of Africa descended on the Arthur Smith Primary School in Christ Church on Monday morning as the institution celebrated its African Awareness Day under the theme Embracing Our African Heritage. 

The packed hall of students dressed purely in African garb was a fantastic sight as many paraded in front of the stage showing off their best inspired by the motherland for the Best Dressed Competition and Best Hairstyle Competition.

Teacher Shelly Davis-Barnette, one co-ordinator of the event, told Barbados TODAY that celebrating African Awareness month is crucial to young black identity. 

“When you ask kids why they are wearing African clothing, they don’t usually have any idea. They just think it’s a dress-up day but what we sought to do was to make them aware of four African countries, focus in on them so that they are aware of how Africa [is a part of] their heritage,” she explained.

The four countries that the school focused on were Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria. 

“We looked at their dress, their food, population, what products they exported, if they had any natural wealth and we looked at that from Infants right up to Class Four,” the teacher added.

Davis-Barnett explained that highlighting African Awareness is vitally important, as it’s also a part of Barbadian culture. She noted that this year, the students took to this celebration well. 

“I find they were very excited to see that some hairstyles that they are wearing have an origin [in Africa]. They were also proud to recreate some of the styles that we showed them from Ghana and Nigeria.”

(MR)