Not even torrential downpour in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro area could snuff out the drumbeat that connects people of African descent across the globe. Nor could it deter a small, but powerful, group of artists and activists from fulfilling their vision of enlightening others about the power of said drumbeat in uniting the African Diaspora.

Last weekend, a bevy of melanated people from across the United States and around the world converged on the grounds of a large ranch, located just south of Dallas, for a weekend of dance, song, and discussion during the fifth annual DFW Africa Festival. This African-centered event served as the first stop on the NOMAD Tour, an effort to promote and preserve art, tribe, trade and culture of people of African descent.

“This tour goes around the Diaspora to promote that rhythm spirt and remind us of our ancient ancestors and what they left on their nomadic journey around the world,” Kim Poole, leader of the Rhythm People Coalition, the group that hosted the NOMAD tour, told an audience shortly before a panel discussion about education and wealth-building in Black community Saturday evening. “We must be aligned with who we are and with our destiny,” Poole, a globally renowned singer from Baltimore, said to the multigenerational audience of artists, educators, and entrepreneurs.

The panel discussion, themed “What It Means to be Black” counted among several activities that took place at the Cedar Canyon Dude Ranch in Lancaster, Texas on June 3rd and 4th. From University Hills Boulevard, passersby could see a multitude of flags, including those representing Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica, and Pan-African unity, flailing in the wind along the outskirts of the property.

What took place at the festival however, proved nothing short of mystical.

After parking, picking up a NOMAD Tour packet, and walking into the ranch’s pavilion, guests had a number of vendors and food choices through which they could peruse. On the main stage, Sista Bey, a member of the Dallas area’s Pan-African community, kept an upbeat vibe going through much of the day, acknowledging audience members who travelled far and near and encouraging guests to buy Black and follow in the footsteps of those who are homeschooling their children. Later, Bey poured libations and called the ancestors into the space. Underneath Bey were Kente clothes of various colors and patterns along with bamboo trees.

Other activities on Saturday evening included self-defense workshops and a gun demonstration, during which experienced brothers dissembled an AR-15 and touted gun ownerships and safety to onlookers. Children safely frolicked around the space in their multi-colored dashikis and people of the Diaspora, including Queen Diambi of the Luba tribe in the Congo, relished in the moment, forging new connections.

“I go around trying to meet people of African descent wherever they are. This is the calling of the ancestors to connect with another experience. We have to reconcile our experiences and put them together,” Diambi told AllEyesOnDC during an interview in the ranch’s pavilion. That weekend, Diambi, crowned by her village elders in 2011, met with other African-centered groups and people as part of her mission.

“We need Africans in the West to be well versed in the culture and resources. We also need you to help us realize the value of what we have. They don’t know the riches. You can be a wonderful mirror to recognize the wealth we have in your traditional systems to elevate our consciousness,” Queen Diambi added.

Other stops on the NOMAD Tour include Paris, Portland, Jamaica, and Los Angeles, all of which will most likely include participation from those who came into contact with the Rhythm People’s Coalition in Dallas.

“I felt very good about the festival,” George Omoth, key organizer of the DFWAfrica Festival, and affiliate of the Rhythm People Coalition, told AllEyesOnDC. “It was a very big improvement and the theme of the festival is important. My goal is to share the African cultural tradition in the Diaspora,” said Omoth, a Dallas resident of more than a decade and Kenyan immigrant who has lived in the United States for 35 years.