Sunday, March 26, 2000
Miami event celebrates diversity
Culture, food on display
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Organizers hope the inaugural “Multicultural Celebration” will get people to embrace the diversity of the area's various ethnic groups.
The event will showcase cultural entertainment, literature and sampling of ethnic foods such as mushroom zapata, gujarati dip, sweet potato pate, vegetable samosa and red beans and rice.
The celebration will be 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Wilks Conference Center at Miami University's Hamilton branch to emphasize the educational component. Participants will be able to sample the foods and stop by the tables of 16 student and community groups. Live entertainment will be provided throughout the program, which is free and open to the public.
“This is really going to be entertaining, with the storytelling and the dancing,” said Vaughn Lewis, director of the city of Hamilton's Human Relations Department, which is one of the primary sponsors. “I want people when they go to the different tables to really take an opportunity to learn about other countries.”
Mr. Lewis said he hopes people will “not just tolerate diversity, but to really embrace it and accept it.”
The entertainment will be provided by the Butler County Council for Native Americans, the Indian Students Association at Miami, and the Pan-American Society.
Mr. Lewis said he conceived the idea for the celebration after taking his family to a daylong, outdoor multicultural festival in Springfield, Ohio.
“I just thought it was a fun way to learn about diversity, different nationalities, cultures and ethnic groups,” he said.
Victor L. Davis, executive director of the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Hamilton, said his group's table will feature African-American literature, books and symbols.
“I just look at it as being a part of a continuation of the activities that have taken place or a start to other events” Mr. Davis said.
Maggie Krey, coordinator at the Human Relations De partment, said her goal for the program is for people “to walk away learning about another culture that they did not know about before.”
She said this is an opportune time to have the celebration because Hamilton's Hispanic population is growing. To help educate participants about Hispanic culture, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Hispanic Ministry and Miami's Association for Latin American Students will each have a table featuring literature.
Mrs. Krey expects up to 200 people to attend the program. She envisions in a couple of years the program grow ing so much that organizers will have to move it outside.
Other groups participating include the Appalachian Community Development Association, the Beth Israel Synagogue, Hamilton High School, Hamilton/Fairfield National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Liberty Home German Society, Miami University's Japanese Culture and Language Club and also the Miami U. Korean Club, Miami University-Hamilton's Multicultural Services, and the Students for Israel/Hillel Foundation/Association of Jewish Students of Miami U.
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