History can march down a fictitious dirt road in a wool uniform, speak in the voice of a Civil War veteran and invite a visitor into the battlefield.
That’s how I met Khabir Shareef. I was in the fifth grade on a school field trip to Crown Hill Cemtetery’s Spirit of Freedom. He was portraying Major Martin Delaney, the first Black field officer in the U.S. Army. Shareef, wearing his navy Union Army uniform costume and brandishing his fake muskets, transported my 9-year-old self to 1863. I didn’t know that Black soldiers had fought in the Civil War.
I also met him a year later. Baba Khabir, as we called him, was a caring, gentle, tall man. My African dance troupe performed with his Griot Drum Ensemble at Central Library events, during memorial dedication ceremonies and an Art & Soul showcase.
Baba Khabir was still drumming and storytelling until his death Nov. 8, 2019…