The Greene County Democrat

Category: Entertainment

  • Black Belt Community Foundation announces the 2026 Levitt Amp Selma Music Series

    Black Belt Community Foundation announces the 2026 Levitt Amp Selma Music Series

    Submitted by the Black Belt Community Foundation

    SELMA, AL— July 14, 2026: The countdown to an unforgettable season of free, live music under summer sunsets and into autumn evenings in historic Selma is officially underway. The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) announces the themes and calendar for 2026’s return of the Levitt AMP Selma Music Series.

    Beginning Saturday, July 25, the series will bring seven unique cultural experiences to Selma’s Riverfront Amphitheater. Families, friends, and neighbors from across the region are invited to bring their blankets, sunbrellas and lawn chairs to the amphitheater lawn to experience the transformational power of free, live music in bringing community together.

    Supported in large part by the Levitt Family Foundation, a social impact funder at the intersection of music, public space, and community building, the Levitt AMP Music Series program injects new life into public spaces through free, outdoor concerts across the country. The 2026 season marks an exciting new chapter for Selma, building on the success of past seasons to present professionally produced, immersive themed festival dates running through late October.

    “This season is about so much more than just the music on stage,” says Lydia Chatmon, TRHT Selma Director. “It’s about bringing people together, supporting our local business ecosystem, celebrating our rich cultural heritage, and showcasing the very best of downtown Selma.”

    Season of Immersive Themes:

    Instead of focusing purely on individual performers, the 2026 series is designed around seven planned experiences that offer something for every member of the family.

    • July 25 — The Inaugural Bridge City Jazz Festival: The season sets sail with an elegant, smooth- jazz atmosphere. Concert-goers are encouraged to come dressed in all-white attire for this premier opening night event.
    • August 8 — Joy Jamboree: A dedicated day of play, music, and smiles designed specifically for children and families, featuring bounce houses, face painting, games, and youth-oriented fun.
    • August 22 —

    Smoke in the City: BBQ & Blues Festival: Fire up the grill and claim your bragging rights! This date blends a competitive community barbecue atmosphere with a soulful soundtrack of regional blues.

    • September 12 — Classic Cars & Chrome: Cruise in for this celebration of sleek vintage automobiles and deep musical grooves, featuring a car show paired with the absolute best in classic R&B, Soul, and Funk.
    • September 26 —

    Gospel Fest: An uplifting community favorite that elevates local and regional voices, celebrating the profound spiritual and musical heritage of the Black Belt.

    • October 10 — Fiesta on the River!: A vibrant cultural celebration packed with high-energy Latin music, salsa beats, and a community taco-eating contest, so don’t forget the hot sauce.
    • October 24 — Southern Soul: The Grand Finale: The ultimate season closer, bringing the community together one last night to celebrate some funky soul, great food, and collective joy.

    Event Details & Vendor Info

    To satisfy every craving, a diverse rotation of local food trucks and vendors from across the region will be on-site for every event. The Levitt AMP Selma Music Series is held inside Selma’s Riverfront Amphitheater and surrounds, located at 3 Lawrence Street in Downtown Selma

    (directly across from the Evans Reception Hall). Admission to all events is completely free and open to the general public.

    Specific artist announcements, finite scheduling details, weather updates, and information regarding parking and wheelchair accessibility will be updated continuously. The public is highly encouraged to visit the official website at http://www.blackbeltfound.org and follow the Levitt AMP Selma Music Series on social media, including Facebook, for the most up-to-date schedule. The main FB page-“Levitt AMP Selma”- is found at https://www.facebook.com /LevittAMPSelma.

    In 2023, the Black Belt Community Foundation was named one of a select group of nonprofits across America to receive a Levitt Music Series grant from the Levitt Family Foundation to present free outdoor concerts. This ongoing initiative is made possible through vital local partnerships, including the City of Selma, the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation, and the Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce, all under the umbrella of BBCF’s TRHT Selma begun through a multi-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

    About Black Belt Community Foundation:

    The mission of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) is to forge a collective stream of giving that transforms our 12- county region in Alabama and connects those interested in having an impact in this region with nonprof- its that are making a difference today. Founded in 2004 with the idea that those living and working in the Black Belt best knew the area’s challenges and opportunities, the Black Belt Community Foundation actively puts needed resources into the region that make a lasting impact.

    The Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation initiative in Selma (TRHT Selma) is a core program of BBCF and serves as the lead programmatic organizer implementing the Levitt AMP Selma Music Series. TRHT Selma is a comprehensive, community-based process to plan for and bring about trans- formational, sustainable change while addressing the historic and contemporary effects of racism, all supported by a multi-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

     

    About Levitt Family Foundation:

    The Levitt AMP Selma Music Series is supported in part by the Levitt Family Foundation, which partners with changemakers and nonprofits to strengthen the social fabric of communities in America through free, live music in outdoor public spaces. Presenting high-caliber talent and a broad array of music genres and cultural programming, Levitt concerts are welcoming, inclusive destinations where people of all ages and backgrounds come together. In 2026, the Levitt Family Foundation is supporting over 900 free concerts in 90+ towns and cities across the country, bringing joy to over a million people. In addition to supporting free concerts, the Foundation is dedicated to advancing vibrant music ecosystems through partnerships, field-building initiatives, and research. levitt.org

    Featured image: Festival goer from the Levit AMP Selma Music Series 2025 (Black Belt Community Foundation)

  • Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, a Cultural Celebration in Transition

    Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, a Cultural Celebration in Transition

    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.

  • Nigerian Prince Tunde Odunlade in Eutaw, July 2

    Nigerian Prince Tunde Odunlade in Eutaw, July 2

    By Maya Quinn, managing editor

    On Thursday, June 2, the Renaissance Theater will hold an exhibition and performance for one of Nigeria’s most celebrated artists and cultural ambassadors, Prince Tunde Odunlade. His artistic career spans over five decades, and his works reflect the spirit and resilience of Yoruba culture. His exhibition will showcase his prints and batik artistry. He will also have a musical performance for attendees, free of charge.

    Prince Tunde Odunlade was raised in Yorubaland, where music, masquerades, textiles, and oral traditions were part of everyday life. Thus, it is no wonder that he refused to limit himself to a single form of artistic expression. His interest in various forms of expression led him to study under Yinka Adeyemi, known for music and multicolored batiks, and participate in the Oguntimehim Art Workshop in Oshogbo. These experiences helped him blend music, drama, poetry, and visual art into methods of cultural exchange. He believed that African artistic expression best presents itself when interconnected. 

    Odunlade is also known as an advocate for African arts and cultural exchange. His work inspired viewers to have global conversations about identity, spirituality, and social transformation. This legacy of cultural advocacy partially began with his participation in Festac ’77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture. The event brought intellectuals and artists from African nations and the African diaspora. Their performances and exhibitions showcased Africa’s postcolonial identity to the world. In 2010, Odunlade continued to attract Western investment in African arts by leading a campaign tagged “Art as a tool to build a virile nation.” 

    Please join Mrs. Sandra Walker and the Renaissance Theater for this culturally significant event. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the performance begins at 7:00 pm. Donations will be accepted.

    Featured Image: A portrait of Tunde Odunlade during Building Open Glam Photo Walk (Energyme/CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

  • Newswire: ‘Sinners’ Surreal Montage: The Walk Is A Threshold

    Newswire: ‘Sinners’ Surreal Montage: The Walk Is A Threshold

    By Jeffrey Page, NewsOne

    When Sinners shows C walking inside the Juke Joint, the movement arrives with a charge that cannot be reduced to entertainment. The feet are smooth, precise, coded. The body moves like it is carrying more than rhythm. It is carrying memory, territory, grief, pride, and the names of people who are no longer here.

    That is what I felt at Davenport Park in Long Beach with Deshawn, known online as @thaeastcidewalkr. He pushed back against the easy language. People may call it dancing, but for him, he is walking. 

    And walking means something. It is not just a step pattern. It is a declaration. A way of holding down the Crips, yes, but also holding down Blackness, neighborhood, lineage, and the people who made the walk matter before him.

    Watching him made me think of the Haka, not because these traditions are the same, but because both understand the body as a force of address. A war dance. A memory dance. A challenge. A prayer. A way of saying: I am here, my people are here, and you will not pass through this space without feeling us.

    But the circle at Davenport Park also showed me something more complicated.

    Larry the Clown of Watts and Rocco the Clown, both featured in Rize, helped open up the meaning of Klown Walking. Klown Walking is not simply Crip Walking by another name. It came from people in the community who wanted to dance without being locked into gang affiliation. When pressed, they could say they were just clowning. Over time, that became its own language, still of the community, still carrying the flavor, but not claiming Blood or Crip. A kind of truce in motion.

    Rocco stood there in a bright red L.A. hat across from Deshawn in blue, and the circle held them both. That mattered. He said that, in another context, people from their different areas were not supposed to be around each other. Without the dancing, the walking, the struggle, that circle might not have existed at all. Or it might have become something else entirely.

    But here they were.

    Talking. Laughing. Correcting history. Remembering the ones who came before. Moving their feet.

    In Compton, at Magic Johnson Park, Boomer Da Clown said it plainly: “We ain’t have no studios out here. We is the studio.” That line stayed with me. Because it names the genius of the thing. The parking lot becomes studio. The sidewalk becomes classroom. The party becomes archive. The body becomes the record.

    Then his son Messiah danced.

    At the end, this little boy lifted his chest to the sky with such openness, such supplication, that the whole frame changed. All the talk about territory and battle suddenly widened into vulnerability. Into inheritance. Into a child standing inside something bigger than himself.

    The walk is not only defense; it is also hope.

    A way to keep moving without disappearing.

    Read the original article here

    Featured image: C walking dancer at the juke joint in Sinners (Warner Bros Entertainment / Proximity Media)