Musicians, vocalists, poets, dancers and even guests went barefoot so that others might have shoes as part of Project Cold Feet's benefit concert on Monday night in Blackburn.
Project Cold Feet, held the Frostbite Benefit Concert to raise enough funds to provide shoes for 1,000 students in Ghana. Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, a junior telecommunications management major, co-founded the nonprofit organization and chose Ghana as his targeted location in honor of his father, a native of the African country.
"We're aiming to buy 1,000 pairs of shoes for the children in the city of Kumasi," Osei-Bonsu said. "I have a strong passion to become a change agent. I want to make some things happen for people who have no voice."
The concert opened with an African dance performance by the NSAA Dance Company. Dressed in Afrocentric attire, the all-women ensemble performed its choreography to conga drums. Following the dance company, Darrell Brown Ministries performed three gospel selections including an arrangement of "Total Praise."
Wallace Mealing, a senior music education, was moved by the selections. "I really was not expecting gospel music at this concert," Mealing said, "but it was great."
Between musical acts, Rasheed Goldring read excerpts from his recently published collection of poetry, which included African terms and geographical references. The first week's proceeds from his book, "19 Years in the Universe," will go to Project Cold Feet.
Khaleefa Safir, a native of Memphis, Tenn., performed three original pieces from her first EP, which is expected to be released at the beginning of the year.
Ivan Michael, an international business major from New York, "Brooklyn to be exact" as he told the crowd, is a student by day and rapper by night. He performed two pieces touching on his social and cultural observations of Brooklyn and the D.C. community.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!