Ujamaa Fest in Wyandanch encouraging support for Black shops  

Part shop-till-you-drop, part cultural empowerment and part healthy lifestyle fair, Ujamaa Fest is as much a celebration of community strength as an annual pop-up market. Now in its seventh year, the market — set for Sept. 14 from noon to 5 p.m. at Delano Stewart Plaza on Station Drive in Wyandanch — aims to uplift the community from all angles.

“ ‘Ujamaa’ is a Swahili word that translates to ‘cooperative economics,’ ” says Falischa Moss, president of Black Long Island and its umbrella not-for-profit, Empact Inc., which runs the event. She says that maintaining a healthy economy builds self-reliant communities. At Ujamaa Fest this year, that concept has expanded to include building community mental and physical health and civic responsibility. “We want to make sure we cover all grounds.”

“All grounds” include more than 75 vendors and entertainers offering Afro-centric clothing and other handcrafted items, plus food and entertainment all afternoon. Wyandanch native DJ Belal will spin house party-style music, while food trucks will serve up chicken and ribs, catfish sandwiches and ice cream.

The grounds also include two new initiatives: a voter registration event starting at 2 p.m., preceded by a men-only panel session on men’s health at 1 p.m.

“For the first time this year, Black Voters of Long Island — a bipartisan group — will stress the importance of getting the vote out, providing a panel discussion and voter registration opportunities,” Moss says.

“We will also have a men’s panel — no women allowed,” Moss adds. “Women create their own safe spaces. But men just don’t talk about it.”

The panel, including representatives from Witness Project of Long Island, a cancer education organization; The Suffolk County Office of Minority Health; and Nassau Suffolk Alumni Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. will address questions of mental and physical health with a focus on Black men, says Jason A. Richberg, a Suffolk County legislator representing Wyandanch, and a Kappa Alpha Psi member. 

“Black men don’t go to the doctor as much as we should,” Richberg says. “We say, ‘I’ll just throw some ointment on there and I’ll be fine.’ At the forefront of this issue is that all of us need to talk more about both physical and mental health and ask ourselves, ‘Are you really OK?’” He adds, "The goal of the panel is to find innovative ways to look at health. It is the start of the conversation, not the finale.”