by Dr. Carol P. Zippert, publisher

In August, 2025, the Society of Folk Arts & Culture celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival. This was a grand occasion featuring the founder of this annual festival, Mrs. Jane Sapp, who organized this special cultural celebration in 1975 while a staff member of the Miles College-Eutaw Campus. She brought together seemingly ordinary people who were gifted in crafts, foodways, ole timey blues and gospel music, storytelling, dancing and much more. 

These artists were from a generation where, Homemade, was the criterion for producing the basics of their livelihood: homemade quilts kept them warm; homemade baskets used for gathering crops; the gardens and fields gave the fruits for their signature foodways; singing blues released history’s pain and suffering, while singing gospel called up perseverance and refreshed hope; storytelling documented ‘How We Made It Over.’

At the 2025 community celebration, I announced that the Festival’s 50th Anniversary signaled a transition in future cultural events, calling for a festival of younger artists, planned and produced by younger artists, with senior artists maintaining their coveted roles.

Here we are in 2026, carving those first steps to lift new artists in community celebration.  On the 4th Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23, the Society of Folk Arts & Culture, under the collaboration of Ms. Teresa Atkins, Mrs. Barbara Hunter and Dr. Carol Zippert, will call community together for an emerging cultural celebration, lifting senior artists (passing the baton) and new generation artists (finding their role in leadership).

Our elders remind us that we will always be in struggle, we must embrace it and, with the help of a Greater Power, use our gifts to creatively preserve history and celebrate culture and tradition through new generations.

For more information, contact 205-372-0525 and visit the Black Belt Folks Root Festival online.