# African American History Month Celebration: National Visionary Leadership Project Showcase

The Library of Congress celebrated African American History Month with its signature event--a showcase of the American Folklife Center's National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP) Collection. The NVLP is a collection of oral life histories of extraordinary African American elders who have made significant contributions to American society, and the American Folklife Center is the official repository for these stories. The Library's signature event featured a panel discussion of two distinguished elders/visionaries in the NVLP collection: Carmen De Lavallade, world-class dancer and actress; and Arthur Mitchell, world renowned dancer, choreographer and founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The panel discussion focused on this year's theme, "Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism" or more specifically, how different ethnic groups and cultures influenced them as individuals and the art form of dance. NVLP co-founder, Renee Poussaint, an award winning veteran journalist, served as the panel moderator. The program also included film clips from videotaped interviews of DeLavallade and Mitchell, which are a part of the NVLP collection, as well as materials from the Music Division's Alvin Ailey Collection featuring DeLavallade. Another highlight of this event included a performance by students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The program was co-sponsored by the Office of Workforce Diversity…

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2008
- By: American Folklife Center
- Genres: History, Music
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687926/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021687926?play=1)