Monifah, Brandy entertain at African Festival of the Arts

As a celebration of African lifestyle, wellness, art, culture, history and performance, this edition focused on tradition, education and celebration. But the festival was far from a stodgy, dry, “important” event mired in the past with endless speeches, arid history and bloodless rhetoric.

For starters, there was an African market filled with handcrafted goods (sculpture, soap, fragrances, clothing, jewelry, paintings, artifacts) but also a stellar line-up of talent on the main stage. Young rapper Tre Tre debuted his new single while Brewski and his crew followed with a hip-hop slam dunk that opened Saturday night’s show. Out vocalist Monifah came next with a set of heavy soul while Syleena Johnson got slinky, feminine and blunt with her set. A highlight of the fest was the two joined for a searing duet on “Angry Girl.”

Monday’s show was of an entirely different flavor. (It was wise to position Chicago blues legend Otis Clay on Sunday—I can’t think of another artist who could meld the past to the present or the spiritual with the profane.) Ghalib Ghallab opened the main stage show with a torrent of cool jazz but, polite as they were, the capacity crowd was there for something a bit more action-packed.

Brandy’s set was action-packed, all right, with lots of syncopated beats, saucy hip-swiveling, sass and punch. Cynics could harp that Brandy is a ’90s star, but she didn’t care and neither did the audience (which included a low-key Jennifer Hudson). Harsher cynics could wonder why an American pop/soul artist and a Chicago blues man would top a festival celebrating the heartland of Africa. But anyone who has a heart, a pulse or an awareness would know better.

The event also included a panel on LGBT issues and marriage equality in Illinois, moderated by the Coalition for Justice & Respect’s Marc Loveless and featuring panelists Pastor Jamie Frazier of Lighthouse Church, Khadine Bennett of ACLU and Tracy Baim of Windy City Times.

Additional photo spread at windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/photospreadthumbs.php?APUB=wct&ADATE=2013-09-03&AGALLERY=AfricanArtsHester.