Shefik To Host 46th Annual Harambee Festival In Dallas

Harambee Festival is the oldest and largest African-American cultural event in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex of Texas, with over 15,000 in attendance.

The festival is a community-based educational and cultural event that was created in the early 1970s, by the founding members of the Harambee Festival Steering Committee, a group of community-minded citizens who gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center to form a safe and alternative celebration to Halloween.

Harambee is a Kenyan tradition of community self-help events, e.g. fundraising or development activities. Harambee literally means "all pull together" in Swahili, and is also the official motto of Kenya and appears on its coat of arms.

In 2020, traditional Harambee Dallas will begin the Harambee Dallas Interactive, or HDI for short, due to COVID-19, to continue to keep our children safe and to support our children and young adults with positive interactions - ranging from marketplace demonstrations, to talks, and entertainment on video and virtual experience.

On Saturday, October 31, 2020, media personality and philanthropist Shefik (https://shefik.info) of the multiple award winning, nationally syndicated radio show "Shefik presents Invocation" (https://invocation.co) is hosting the 46th Annual Harambee Festival live on video, via broadcast on the festival's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DallasHarambeeFestival. Starting at 10 a.m. CT, a full day of exhibits, music performances, and more is planned. Local and surrounding families are welcome to stop by the venue location's drive-through giveaway, to receive free treat bags and care packages (until supplies last). The address is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75215.

CR Capers of Harlem Film House (https://harlemfilmhouse.org) (a New York based, non-profit organization) is slated to direct the live broadcast. Attendees are encouraged to watch the event on the festival's Facebook page, in order to capture the full excitement and experience of this year's festival.

Sponsors of this year's festival include City of Dallas, Dallas Park & Recreation, Texas Fallen Officer Foundation, Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District, Dallas Independent School District, K104 (KKDA-FM), Majic 94.5 (KZMJ-FM), 97.9 The Beat (KBFB-FM), Heaven 97 (KHVN-AM), Telecom Electric Supply Company, Parrish Restaurants, and Anna's House.

"As a former resident of Dallas, Texas, I am honored to be a part of such revered tradition," says Shefik.

Shefik is a Professional Member at the New York Chapter of National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (New York Emmys), as well as a National Associate Member at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Primetime Emmy Awards). The organizations are dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational, and technical achievements within the television industry. They recognize excellence in television with the coveted Emmy Award.

As a multiple award wining videographer and producer, Shefik's work has been featured in television broadcasts and video productions for TIME magazine, The Washington Center, "Unsung" (TV One), Broadway World, and a major news station in New York City. Additionally, his photography has been featured in print and online publications, such as Daily Mail, Harvard Kennedy School Magazine, Playbill, and China Press. Shefik currently serves as a Technical Lead at NBCUniversal, where he is leading the development of business critical applications and web-based technology for the 202ONE Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan; the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China; as well as other major sporting events throughout the world for NBC Sports.

Harlem Film House is the production arm of Hip Hop Film Festival (https://hiphopfilmfestival.org), operating year round workshops, theatre productions, and live events. While also offering business consulting to filmmakers and content creators in underserved communities around the world, Harlem Film House creates an economic ecosystem, by providing filmmakers various services and resources to ensure career longevity in film, theatre, and related entrepreneurial pursuits.

Founded by filmmaker and philanthropist CR Capers, Hip Hop Film Festival features every genre from filmmakers worldwide. It is also the only film festival that shares the profits from the festival with the filmmakers selected to participate. Although the festival is titled "Hip Hop", that does not necessarily mean all films will be about hip-hop. Rather, the term is used in reference to the filmmakers who grew up in the elemental culture of hip-hop and the wide-ranging narratives they project to the screen, as a result of being incubated by such culture.

Learn more at https://www.harambeedallas.org.

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