Asili Night extra credit reflection

The Asili Night of loving spirit(s) and powerful love was a great night that exceeded my expectations. When I read the flyer it said “An evening of Poetry and Music” but I didn’t expect the actual vibe that was present. The evening began with Doc and his band, they played some blues and jazz and the man on the flute played so beautifully. The man on the bass guitar was really good along with all the band members. It moved on to Professor McNair reading a few poems and ending with one of his lovely poems. His poem was so great and it was about love and sensuality and I just loved the poem. Kiki Sanchez and his band were really good playing Latin beats. The drum man was the one that impressed me the most because that is something that you have to play with your hands and you have to constantly hit the drum and he kept making the beats with his hands and it sounded so awesome. The night continued with a poem by Donna Soley and the poem was so well written, I could picture everything she was saying while she said it. We heard a bit more music from both bands and then the most explosive performance of the night was Prince. He was an African dancer and he was so- wow, words cannot describe. At first I was a bit scared because he was swallowing paper that was lit up in fire and he kept doing this until he ran out. Then he lit a torch on fire and turned it off with his hands! Kiki Sanchez and his band were playing the drums and the bongo and it was so moving and it went so perfectly with Prince’s performance. He put the torch in his mouth and back out, he left me with such a strong reaction. Afterward we heard a short story by Geoffrey Philip and the story was so good I couldn’t believe he wrote it, it was so well detailed. Next came Shamele Akua AdomaJenkins and she recited a poem but with emotions, it felt like one of those cafes they have in New York that after the person performs instead of clapping you snap. Both of her poems were really good and the emotions that she added into them were really good. Doc and his band played the Michael Jackson song called “Billie Jean” and they were really good, everyone was singing along and tapping their feet to the song. Oh! They also did a song by Barry White and they even imitated Barry White’s voice! Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay all the way to the end because I had to pick up my sister at the movies because her car is in the shop, but I had an amazing time and I am so glad I was able to experience this night.