(upbeat music) Mary Dickson: Sema Hadithi Foundation shares and celebrates the narratives of African Americans, especially the descendants of the enslaved and formerly enslaved who have greatly contributed to Utah's story.

And here to tell us more about upcoming events is Robert Burch.

Hi Robert.

- Hi Mary.

- Welcome back.

- Thank you.

- Always look forward to what you have to say.

- (laughter) Appreciate it.

- So, let's start first with the Ancestral Remembrance Celebration you are having the day before your conference.

- [Robert] Yes.

We have the Ancestral Remembrance Day to make sure that we take time to remember and celebrate our forefathers.

This year our theme is Color Him Father, so specifically to focus on the African American men who are the father figures in our community.

- [Mary] Okay, great.

And now you've got some good things coming with that like a catered dinner from- - Yes.

- -Papa Stew's Kitchen.

- (laughter) Yes.

We love Papa Stew's.

It's great food.

- Yeah.

And then the next day is your Tell the Story Conference.

- Yes.

And we started doing this because we wanted to make sure that people really begin to learn the story of African American contribution in Utah.

And that our name, Sema Hadithi, actually means "tell the story".

And so we know that it's important to tell our story so that we can add our story to the story of Utah.

- [Mary] Okay.

And I know you're doing separate breakout sessions for that one.

- Yes.

We're going to be talking about some few hard subjects, like blackface and things of that nature, things that, you know people don't necessarily consider as a part of Utah history.

But again, to be able to have people to recognize that there's some shared history that we have that we can talk about and try to grow closer by understanding each other's culture and heritage.

- [Mary] Yeah.

And it's a great thing you're doing.

So good luck with that.

Thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you.

- And if you'd like to know more about what's happening, first, the Sema Hadithi Foundation is the Ancestral Remembrance Celebration, September 15th from six to nine at Salt Lake County Government Center.

For more, just go to semahadithi.org and then the next day we have the eighth annual Tell the Story Black History Conference, that's on the 16th at the Community Opportunity Center which is 2530 South 500 East and South Salt Lake.

And again all the information is at semahadithi.org.

That's semahadithi.org.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching Contact.

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Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

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