Hill family celebrates son’s life with concert
Published: November 20, 2009, 12:30 am
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In September, after a car crash claimed the life of 7-year-old Asa Hill, the boy’s parents turned their sorrow into celebration.
Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatzion, after years of putting off marriage, decided to fulfill Asa’s wish and tie the knot directly after their son’s funeral. The event, filled with drumming, music and dancing, turned into national news. It’s still being talked about in many circles as an example of tragedy transformed into hope.
In an effort to extend the spirit of the unorthodox wedding, and to honor the life of Asa Hill — the grandson of Ujima Theatre Company founder Lorna Hill — Amilcar Hill has organized an evening of song, dance, poetry and music. “The Pro-Love Tour,” as Hill has named the event, kicks off tonight in the Riviera Theatre.
Hill described the mixture of pain and love at the September wedding, a time when raw feelings sought out the balm only a community could provide.
“Everybody was there trying to find their center and find their place of peace, to let each other know that we were going to make it through,” Hill said. “With that, there was just a lot of love flowing out. It really moved people. It helped people to be able to find hope.”
The concert will feature a huge variety of performers, including music by R&B singer Bradd Marquis, Rodney Appleby and the All Star Band, jazz singer Zoe Scruggs, gospel singer Caprice Butts, the Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus, hip-hop from Amilcar Hill and many others; dance from Buffalo Krump, Chelsea Prophet and others; and poetry by Gary Earl Ross, Jimmie Gilliam and Alexis DeVeaux.
Hill hopes tonight’s concert is the first of many devoted to Asa’s spirit and to the energy that comes from forming a truly diverse and cross-disciplinary artistic community.
“Just like Asa was this unifying, binding force, where he went through all different kinds of communities, the arts are the same way,” Hill said. “Music doesn’t know any real religious or cultural boundaries. I think art is just a wonderful unifying vehicle in itself.”
The “Pro-Love” project, which Hill hopes to take into Buffalo public schools as well as on the road, can’t take away the pain of Asa’s absence. But it gives Hill purpose. And for now, that’s enough.
“This does, definitely, help me to heal,” Hill said. “Having something to be inspired about is very helpful. When I wake up in the morning, I definitely need to be inspired by something to feel like today is going to be a good day.”•
PREVIEW
WHAT: “The Pro-Love Tour”
WHEN: 8 tonight
WHERE: Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda.
TICKETS: $20
INFO: 692-2413 or www.rivieratheatre.org
cdabkowski@buffnews.com
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