The Kuumba Singers of Harvard College

The Kuumba Singers on tour in Atlanta

Kuumba (pronounced koo-oom-bah) was founded in 1970 by Dennis Wiley and Fred Lucas, two African American undergraduates of the Harvard class of 1972. In an era of “Black Power” and Black pride, immediately following the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. and the 1969 Harvard Strike, the choir emerged as a source of community, spiritual inspiration, political motivation and cultural stimulation among the small but growing number of Black students at Harvard. Inspired by the History of Black Music class taught by Professor Hubert Walters in the spring of 1970, the choir concept was conceived that summer as an outgrowth of a project on Black music conducted by Dennis and Fred and supported by the newly established Department of African and African American Studies and African American Cultural Center.

The next fall, Marilynn Sasportas, Radcliffe Class of 1974, joined them in Quincy 317 to assist in planning and publicizing the first rehearsal. The Kuumba Singers were officially born in November 1970 when students from the classes of 1971 -1974 gathered for the first time one evening after dinner in a second floor lounge of the old Freshman Union, now known as the Barker Center. Following that initial meeting, Walters would assume responsibility as the choir's first director. The first spring concert, entitled “An Evening of Black Spirituality,” was held in Sanders Theater on Sunday, May 16, 1971.

It was not easy for Black students to “sing the Lord’s song” in the “strange land” of Harvard during this period of racial tension and campus unrest.[2] Yet, Kuumba not only provided spiritual inspiration—it was also a source of unity and strength. The group chose the name “Kuumba” (Swahili for “creativity”) because it best captured the choir's intent to reflect the creative genius of Black people through the rich diversity of Diasporic music and cultural expression. As written in the organization's constitution, “Black music is a manifestation of the Black spirit – it speaks to our every emotion. Moreover, Black music helps sustain and direct our culture.”[3] Reminding the Black community of its past, informing it of its present, and giving it hope and guidance for the future, the Kuumba Singers—through song, dance, poetry, and other forms of artistic expression—have always sought to leave the space called Harvard, and its surrounding community, better than when we found it. The choir's current racial and ethnic diversity is both a remarkable testimony to, and a relentless test of, that noble and enduring ideal.

Since those early years, the torch has been carried forward by only two additional directors, Mr. Robert Winfrey and Mr. Sheldon K.X. Reid (College ’96, GSE ’98), and by more than 1,000 Kuumba members and alumni.

Kuumba’s founders chose the name “Ku’umba” over the original more constrictive name, “Harvard-Radcliffe Gospel Choir” because it allowed for all modes of Diasporic expression. In Swahili, Ku’umba roughly means creativity [or to create], though the literal meaning is subtler: it is the creativity of leaving a space better than you found it; it is the spirit of positively impacting through modes of creativity.[4]

Thus, the mission of Kuumba is to express the creativity and spirituality of Black people in a way that leaves a space better than it was found.

The late 1960s and early 1970s found Black students at Harvard to be few in number, and as such alienated from much of that institution. With curriculum that did not foster the perspective of the Black experience and a campus that was at times even hostile to the presence of its Black students, Harvard showed an unwelcoming hand to those that it admitted during these times. Yet, despite Harvard's isolating environment, the tides of Black Pride and Black Power pushed Black students on campus to fight for institutional structures that would allow students of African descent a space to commune with their culture in a way that held them accountable to their past and present as Black members of society. The products of this fight were a Department of Afro-American Studies, an Afro-American Cultural Center, and creative cultural groups including the Kuumba Singers. What was so powerful about the Kuumba Singers was the connection it created between Black culture and Black spirituality. The group helped fill-in a gap that had been missing for many of its members at Harvard.[5]

Yet more than just for Harvard students, Kuumba in the 70s was designed to be a space for Black students from all over Boston to join. The organization wished for diversity that would unify the African American community across boundaries of class, gender, denomination, age, and other institutional road-blocks. With that, members from neighboring colleges found a home on Harvard's campus with Kuumba.

During the political times of the 70s, Kuumba was found at many political demonstrations, supporting the rights of Black people locally as well as globally. In fact, it was these political tensions of the global arena that caused Mr. Hubert Walters, the first director of the choir (who was succeeded by Robert Winfrey when Walters's contract was not renewed by the College),[6] to implement the tradition of singing “Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika,” a freedom song of South Africa later to be the South African national anthem. With voices tied both to Black creativity and spirituality, Kuumba remained a source of hope for many of the changes that were occurring in those tumultuous of times.

The 1970s saw the creation of the annual Weekend of Black Spirituality, a celebration of the end of Kuumba's performance year and featured guest choirs, culminating in Kuumba's spring concert. This tradition continued through the 70s under the leadership of Robert Winfrey, the beloved father-figure director that stayed with Kuumba for 25 years.

Kuumba continues to distinguish itself as more than a singing group. While the political climate of the organization has changed on Harvard's campus, the organization maintains its role as a safe space for Black students on campus, responding to inequality issues as they arise. For instance, in 2002, members of Kuumba Singers protested comments made by a Harvard professor concerning the term of ebonics.[7] While the organization is not exclusively Black in its membership, the mission of expressing Black creativity and spirituality remains at the center of all that the group does.[1]