Georgia Southern University’s Multicultural Student Center has cranked out yet another special event for all students and faculty to enjoy.

“Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance” is a music theater work that celebrates the lives, history and works of three well-known black poets. Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay will be characters portrayed on stage with the help and creative abilities of the painter, muralist and the “Father of Black Art,” Aaron Douglas.

Darius Robinson, a second semester graduate assistant and employee at the Multicultural Student Center said, “It’s an opportunity for students to get a glimpse at the different music and poetry of the Harlem Renaissance.”

This is the second year that the production “Of Ebony Embers” has been presented here at GSU. The Multicultural Student Center has always worked hard to bring diversity events here for students and faculty alike to take part in. This show that portrays characters that have left their own landmark on American history is no different.

“Of Ebony Embers” ties together the spirit and celebrities of that era with the music of that time period. It ranges from poets that were inspired by the movement of the Harlem Renaissance, like Hughes, to musical talents that sang their way to the top of the charts during the Jazz Age, such as pianist Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and other black composers.

Many students in America’s education system have previous knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance and its influences that spread and touched people’s lives of various backgrounds. Poets like Hughes, Cullen and McKay are familiar names, but this time it is different. “Of Ebony Embers” is portrayed how Douglas would have seen it. Music and words come to life and collaborate to tell the story of the Harlem Renaissance once again.

Those who attend this presentation will be sure to walk away with a new perspective on that same historical event.

“The main message is a better understanding and a glimpse into the artistic side of the Harlem Renaissance,” Robinson said.

It is hoped that many students and faculty will attend this event produced by the Multicultural Student Center and support its efforts to push diversity here on campus.

“It’s meant for all students,” Robinson said. “We want to increase diversity because we are the Multicultural Student Center. It’s meant for no one particular group.”

The group works to bring diversity events to campus. “Of Ebony Embers: Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance” will take place this Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:00 p.m. in the Williams Center. For this event, admission is free and proof of attendance will be provided.