Photos by L.M. Land
Featured photo: Mittie Carter and Jowanne Carrigan
Written by Tanya Terry
Mini concerts at Hasselbring Senior Center are new this summer and were planned by Beverly Lewis, executive director of Hasselbring Senior Center, to be part of a series. There was one mini concert in June and one in July. The next mini concert will be held in August. Lewis said she came up with the idea herself.
“We’re in a high crime area,” Lewis said. “It’s getting better, but it’s not there yet. So, I would like to meet with the residents and have some activities for them to do so we can talk about increasing neighborhood watches (and) block clubs in the areas we don’t have any. So, my original idea was to host those events, and I have a couple other things planned as well, to see if we can pull the neighbors in.”
The first mini concert opened up with the Dynamic Dancing Diamonds, a youth group of majorette dancers in the area. Very young girls opened the show. R&B/Jazz Singer Gwen Pennyman Hemphill was also featured. In addition, Blue Mykals, who plays the saxophone and other instruments, was part of the June concert. The first mini concert had to be moved inside because of the rain. The audience was smaller because, according to Lewis, some local residents assumed the concert had been cancelled.
Lewis said she was very satisfied with the community’s response to the second mini concert, held recently at the senior center. Although some concert goers brought their own lawn chairs and/or umbrellas for shade to sit outside, the majority of the attendees watched the concert from their vehicles.
“I was in awe,” she said. “I kept looking at the parking lot filling up more and more, and I was like ‘this is even better than I expected.’”
For the second mini concert, Lakia Cannon, who dances with the Great Lakes Baptist District, performed a solo dance selection. Cannon has been praise dancing for about 20 years. She started with her home church, Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle, with the Silent Inspirations from their very beginning. She was 12 years old at the time. Cannon was able to grow beyond being a dancer. She was given the opportunity by Sister Brenda Johnson to dance with the Great Lakes Baptist District and come in as a choreographer and coordinator for the praise dance team.
Cannon danced to the song “War Cry” by Queen Naija.
“I selected that song because, for me personally, it just truly resonated with my spirit,” Cannon said. “From the moment I first heard it, it was a song that was speaking on everything that is going on in the world right now. It’s speaking on the struggles that I saw as a youth coming up. It’s speaking on the struggles that I see the youth of today going through, and there are struggles that I have had to pray through and go to God for guidance for. So, one thing that I do remember is a member of our church saying is ‘life is a battlefield, and you can choose to fight or you can choose to run…but as long as you’ve got God on your side, you’ll never fail. For me, every day you look at it it’s almost like a battlefield. But, for me, I look at it as a battlefield that I’m going to be able to overcome. I’m going to overcome that with the help of God. It’s that constant reminder to fight and that everything’s worth fighting for.”
Cannon wanted to let people know that she understands a lot is going on today and there is a lot people are all trying to get through.
“It’s a lot that we’re all struggling with, especially with over a year of being in a pandemic, of being shut down, of losing people within a matter of days, of not being able to see people that you’re so close with and that you’re used to seeing on a regular basis,” Cannon continued. “People have lost jobs. People can’t get back to work. People have gotten sick. People have had ups and down. Even for me, I’m limited on my babysitters; I’ve had to change careers; I’ve had to make a lot of adjustments just to be able to provide for my family, but we’ve always got God. He’s our biggest weapon. He’s our best weapon. We can still fight, and it’s worth fighting for better. (And) I want everyone to always remember that.”
Jowanne Carrigan sang a cappella, approached viewers in their vehicles and took requests from audience members.
Cora Gilliam requested Carrigan sing “I Came to the Garden Alone.”
“The song I requested ‘I Came to the Garden Alone,’ first of all, is one of my favorites,” Gilliam said. “The song was sung quite often by the late and great Mahalia Jackson, and I find this song to be very inspirational and uplifting, and it helps quite often to set the tone for my day. I enjoyed the performance by the performing artist very much. I loved her voice. I thought she did a very professional job. Her outreach to the audience I thought was very exceptional and well done. She was kind of at a handicap with the audience who were in their cars, but she took it upon herself to connect with them and involve them. The audience, I thought, responded to her very well because she carried everything so beautifully.”
Sherrema Bower requested Carrigan sing “Blessed Assurance” by Fanny Crosby.
“’Blessed Assurance’ is a song that means a lot to me,” Bower said. “I have actually sang that song myself in public spaces, and it’s my favorite hymn. Jowanne sings with such depth and soul! She sings with vibration. Jowanne makes every song her own, and I specifically wanted to hear Jowanne sing ‘Blessed Assurance’ because I knew she would give back that song in such a soulful, beautiful way in a way that nobody else can sing. Jowanne can sing like nobody else can.”
What Bower loved about the mini concert most was the way it brought the community together.
“It did so in a safe way,” Bower said. “We stayed safe in our vehicles, but we were there together. It’s fun to listen to all the horns honking as applause. We came together in the midst of all this difficulty. After 16 months, we’re still not quite back to our regular lives. We’re all still here, in the midst of the pandemic, in the midst of the havoc it’s wreaked in our county and in our city and in the midst of the massive economic downturn this has brought. Jowanne sings with a lot of joy. She characterizes her songs with her sense and spirit of joy. I know I came away from the mini concert with a great deal of joy.”
David Johnson and Eric Driver-Douglas performed praise dance as part of their dance ministry group, The Avengers. Johnson has been performing praise dance for at least 20 years. His church, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, has a dance ministry that just celebrated its 18th year as a ministry auxiliary. Driver-Douglas has been performing praise dance at least 15 years.
“The ask was to come out and support the community with the senior center, and Beverly does a great job with uplifting and keeping activities going for the North End of Flint and the community group and the seniors having a place to go,” Johnson said. “So, being able to come and minister a selection was just a no brainer for us to say ‘yes, let us come forth and kind of continue uplifting and encouraging, and at the same time just be encouraged.’”
Johnson said what he enjoyed most about performing at the mini concert was delivering the message.
“It’s always about getting the message across and knowing that there is a specific message for each time we’re in,” Johnson continued. “Each time we come forth with a selection, we try to minister the word. It’s another form of ministry that you can get the Word out with. We’re being used as vessels to say ‘this is a talent’ or ‘this is the ability that’s given to me so I can get the Word out.’”
The name of the song the Avengers performed to was “I’m Still Here” by Dorinda Clark Cole.
Johnson said with COVID-19 many lives have been lost.
“To be able to say ‘I’m Still Here’ is just a testimony of God’s grace and Him allowing us to come forth with a timely message.”
At each mini concert, free food is provided for the attendees, with Dawson’s Kitchen supplying the meal the first time and Kings and Queens Cuisine Catering supplying it for the most recent.
Alonzo Laster, “Mr. DJ,” provided music for the last concert.
Councilman Eric Mays was also present at the most recent mini concert.
Dr. Latressa Gordon, DNP, RN -nurse coordinator for Michigan United and Tonya Battle, Public Health Navigator for Michigan United offered free COVID-19 vaccinations.
Genesee Health System gave away informational packages.
In the spirit of community, Lewis said she has a relationship with every performer for the mini concerts. For example, one the members of the Dynamic Dancing Diamonds has a grandmother that is the computer instructor at the senior center. Pennyman sang in the senior center’s Black history program and its Christmas program and is very well known around the city. Mykals is a cousin of Lewis’ husband. Cannon is the choreographer & coordinator for the Wolverine State Praise Dance Ministry, as well as Lewis’ daughter. Carrigan is a member of the Hasselbring executive board. Lewis has also known Johnson of the Avengers for several years. He is over the praise dance ministry at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church.
The next concert at Hasselbring will be at 6 p.m. Friday, August 13. There will be multiple performers, with the Hasselbring Hustlers opening. Ninety percent of the performers will be Hasselbring members.
Lewis feels the first two mini concerts have helped build excitement for the upcoming concert. She said several people have commented on how nice the first two mini concerts were and said they can’t wait for the next one. Lewis also said even those who missed one or two of the first mini concerts can look forward to joining their neighbors for the fun on August 13.
