Africanism Gala is a ‘love letter to Black women’

As a youngster growing up in Hazelwood, Demeatria Boccella didn’t see Black women in arts and fashion. It has been her passion to create opportunities for young people.

Now, she is co-producing the third annual Africanism Gala with Darnell McLaurin and Sandra Aristide Soteriou.

It’s a love letter to Black women.

The Nov. 8 gala will feature the U.S. premiere of “The Unspoken Elegance of Stillness: A Love Letter to Black Women,” an 18-minute movie by international British filmmaker Simon Frederick.

Held in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the event benefits programs of FashionAFRICANA, whose mission is to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the African diaspora through design, dance and music, according to Boccella, founder of FashionAFRICANA.

“What’s unique about it is that the programming that is associated with it is a reflection of the programming that is part of the Africana initiative,” Boccella said at a press event unveiling details of the gala on Wednesday at the FashionAFRICANA studios in Lawrenceville.

Proceeds from the gala will help to support those opportunities.

Being able to show the powerful film for the first time in the U.S. fits with Boccella’s mission to connect Pittsburgh to the world.

“I saw the work that Demeatria does, which is amazing,” said Soteriou. “Her work is powerful. Communities mean so much to the people who live there and who they serve and that is important to Demeatria.”

The film premiered in London in May.

“There was not a dry eye in the place,” Soteriou said of the premiere. “When I watched the film, I thought Simon made this film just for me. But it’s not just me as a Black woman but me as a woman … me as a human being.”

Frederick spoke at the press event via video. He will be in Pittsburgh for the gala, a creative black-tie event.

“I knew the film was powerful, but the way that it spoke to people individually really did take me by surprise,” Frederick said. “The other thing that took me by surprise was when I had my first meeting with Demeatria and she proposed the idea of us working together with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Being able to work with such a world-renowned symphony was wonderful.”

“It was like a ‘Mission Impossible,’ but we accepted the mission because we understood the mission,” Frederick said. “This has been a really seamless and beautiful working relationship.”

The symphony connected him with Grammy-nominated composer Carlos Simon to create music for the gala, which is being co-chaired by fashion designer Kiya Tomlin and Mary McKinney Flaherty.

“Anything that Demeatria does is just extraordinary,” Flaherty said. “She is an ambassador for our city around the world. And it’s such a beautiful thing. It’s going to be just an extraordinary and powerful experience.”

FashionAFRICANA is a global multimedia program, Demeatria said, and it’s really important to create that bridge between Black creatives who are based here in the U.S., and especially Pittsburgh, and Black creatives across the world.

Tomlin is partnering with Pittsburgh-based Damon Young, an award-winning writer and literary artist, to produce a piece that will feature his writing on Tomlin’s design.

In addition to the film and symphony’s performance, there will be a fashion show and a presentation to FashionAFRICANA awardees WNBA and NCAA basketball champion and Olympian McKeesport native Swin Cash and Fatou Jobe, a Bronx-born and Gambia-raised international fashion model.