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Oakland
Tribune, June 25, 2003
Mourners recall
'genius' of Malonga Casquelourd
Those
who loved Congolese dancer and drummer Malonga Casquelourd remembered him
Tuesday as an African Renaissance leader in life, a beloved ancestor in death.
They
said goodbye through prayer and dance to the beat of tightly stretched
drums and clapping hands.
Mourners
celebrated Casquelourd's African roots and remembered the Oakland father,
friend, artist and intellectual.
" He did a lot of good living in a short amount of time," said Greg
Hodge, Oakland school board president and an ordained minister who offered Casquelourd
a touching eulogy. "He was a genius of the African Renais-sance."
Casquelourd, whose full name was Auguste Leonard Malonga "Casquelourd," died
on Father's Day, June 15, when his car was struck by what police said was a
suspected drunken driver. He was 55.
About 600 people gathered at Acts Full Gospel Church in East Oakland to remember
him. Among them were political activist and author Angela Davis, jazz musician
George Duke, and actor Obba Babatunde, who led a Congolese call and response
that Casquelourd once taught him.
Many mourners were dressed in traditional African mourning clothing.
Big heart
Hodge described Casquelourd as a committed family man who was conscious of
his community and his race. He brought the dance and song of West Africa
to the world, and lent out his big heart to nearly everyone he met, Hodge
said.
The open-casket service began with a drumming processional of Casquelourd's
family: his wife of 18 years, Cynthia Phillips; daughters Muisi-kongo and
Lungusu Malonga; and sons Kiazi and Boueta Malonga.
Congolese dancer and master teacher Sandor Diabankouezi performed an ancestral
invocation, and Michel Rafa told the mourners, in French, that Casquelourd's
death was a deep loss for the world.
Mayor Jerry Brown declared Tuesday as Malonga Casquelourd Day and drew cheers
-- and a few skeptical boos -- when he said: "I did have an opportunity
to meet him and he gave me a piece of his mind and said, 'Don't touch the
Alice Arts Center.'"
The mayor initially had hoped to permanently locate his charter school of the
arts at the Alice center, but recently backed off the idea.
East Palo Alto Mayor Patricia Foster also read a city proclamation naming Tuesday
as Malonga Casquelourd Day, and said she had lost a friend who touched
people everywhere he went.
Casquelourd's dance company, Fua Dia Congo, formed in 1977, practices at the
center. There was talk Tuesday about renaming the arts center after Casquelourd.
Casquelourd was born in Cameroon, and as a child served as an apprentice at
Community Fetes, a center dedicated to teaching the young about Congolese cultural
traditions. He became a principal dancer with the National Congolese Dance
Company, and then Le Ballet Diaboua in Paris.
He was an activist and teacher who supported the Afro-centric independent school
movement in the Bay Area. He taught at San Francisco State University for
26 years.
His influence, even in death, was apparent.
Tears came when singers Mabiba Baegne and Rashida Knox each performed a solo
song. Baegne's piece was Congolese, while Knox sang a version of "Amazing
Grace."
Empathy flowed from the audience once Casquelourd's kin and best friend, C.K.
Ladzekpo, stood before his coffin, offering words about the man they loved
so much.
Ladzekpo said he had been friends with Casquelourd for 26 years.
" He was one of those kinds of people who will never be in front of you
or behind you," Ladzekpo said. "He was always at my side."
Good parent
Daughter Lungusu Malonga said her father was not only a good man, but a wonderful
parent.
Casquelourd's oldest son expressed anger about losing his father. Kiazi Malonga
should have been in Africa now, performing. He apologized to the audience
and his friends for being angry as he mourned his father's death.
" I really tried to model my life after him," he said.
The two-hour service ended with more drumming and dancing. Mourners passed
Casquelourd's coffin in tears, and some collapsed with grief.
They met up again in front of Alice Arts Center, where Casquelourd's coffin
was put into a horse-drawn carriage for a processional near Lake Merritt.
He was interred Tuesday at Mountain View Cemetery.
A trust account has been established in memory of Casquelourd,
to support his four children. Call (650) 326-3053 for more information.
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