Kayyum Allah curates Happy Hill Neighborhood Association Art Anthology exhibit

By Felecia Piggott-Long, Ph.D. Local artist Kayyum Allah curated the Happy Hill Neighborhood Association Art Anthology (HHNA) exhibit that was recently on display at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts from Jan. 19 – Feb. 18. The purpose of the art collective is to create a visual representation that helps to revitalize the oldest African American community in North Carolina. The HHNA Art Anthology was founded in 1999 and established in 2018 by Allah, a resident of Happy Hill. The Happy Hill community has a vibrant, evolving history, and the HHNA members record this story. The current members of the HHNA include Kayyum Allah, Jerry Hanes, Don Sawyer,  Gilbert Young, Amy Binns, Phebe Pankey, Brianna Hairston, Mikaila Muhammad, and Gerald Hayden. They exhibited their work in the Milton Rhodes center as well. “The Happy Hill Art Anthology coalition is dedicated to reproducing and reclaiming the history of Happy Hill,” said Kayyum Allah. “My mother, Doris Kimbrough, sang  with the Ebernette Gospel Singers at Rising Ebenezer Baptist Church. The pastor was Willim C. Brown.” Allah created a colorful painting of the Ebernette Gospel Singers who often sang at Rising Ebenezer Church in Happy Hill and at various churches around the...