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Unity in Diversity Day promotes cultural understanding

 
Husband-and-wife team Eric Theodore and Angela Redmond-Theodore of Dade City told stories of African-American culture through words and music.
Husband-and-wife team Eric Theodore and Angela Redmond-Theodore of Dade City told stories of African-American culture through words and music.
Published April 12, 2017

LACOOCHEE

When Sarah Cruz of Dade City dances with Las Mariposas, a teen dance troupe affiliated with Farmworkers Self-Help, she does far more than share a few dance steps with her audience. She shares a piece of her Latin culture.

"It's important for other people to know that there are other cultures out there," said Cruz, 14. "Not just theirs."

Las Mariposas conveyed its mission once again Saturday, when the group performed five Mexican dances at Unity in Diversity Day, a presentation of Lacoochee Elementary School and its community partners that took place at the Lacoochee Boys and Girls Club.

"Here we want to show that our cultures are different, but also the same," said Cruz, whose family originates from Puerto Rico. "And we want to show people that no matter where you're from, how young or how old, how big or how little, we can do anything."

This was the idea behind the inaugural Unity in Diversity Day, according to co-organizer Wanda Delarosa.

"This event is about unification in cultural awareness," said Delarosa, public relations representative and parent involvement coordinator at Lacoochee Elementary. "Many times, when people come to America, their culture is lost. But it's part of our DNA; it's who we are. … Even as we embrace Western culture, we also want to share our cultures, values and traditions."

Unity in Diversity Day featured a number of multicultural musical acts, including Las Mariposas (headed by Londa Edwards), hip-hop and interpretative dancers representing the Prodigy Cultural Arts Program at the Lacoochee Boys and Girls Club, vocalists Josephine Gonzalez and Pastor Willie Wormack, and Divinity, a gospel group featuring Cassie Coleman, program director for the Lacoochee Boys and Girls Club.

"The mission of this event is to come together and learn about each other," said Coleman. "It's important for us to appreciate different cultures. It is our differences that make us who we are."

This message also was conveyed through storytelling, as Angela Redmond-Theodore, youth services provider at Hugh Embry Library in Dade City and a representative of the National Association of Black Storytellers, presented The People Could Fly, a story of African-American culture told through words and music. Husband Eric Theodore accompanied on drums.

"They lost their wings," Redmond-Theodore said of the story's heroes, African slaves who escaped through flight. "They kept their power to fly."

Food served at the event represented several countries. Informational booths featured representatives from a number of community agencies.

Social worker Gladys Sanchez, a representative of the Migrant Education Program, displayed resource material for migrant children and families, as well as a photograph of a migrant student dressed in the cap and gown of a graduate, standing in a field as she embraces her farmworker father.

"Awareness conquers those divides," said Sanchez.

Lee Ogden, veteran Master Gardener with the Pasco County Cooperative Extension Service, presented photos and information about the Garden Club at Lacoochee Elementary School, a club that teaches students how to start their own gardens and grow their own food.

Lorenzo Coffie of Dade City was on hand to represent the NAACP of Pasco County at a booth that featured photos and information about African-American luminaries, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. And Coffie employed a quote first voiced by King to summarize the spirit of Unity in Diversity Day.

"We may have all come on different ships," he said. "But we're in the same boat now."