Charlene Muhammad | Los Angeles Sentinel
Senagalese Pape Diouf is a master drummer and a pillar of the West African drum class, “Pape’s Little Village” in Leimert Park. On Sunday afternoons, he carries on the rich tradition of the weekly Leimert Park Drum Circle, which originated as a vehicle for healing through the power of the drum.
The Leimert Park Drum Circle grew as a response to civil rights uprisings in the 1960s and 70s, according to the Rhythm Arts Alliance, a cultural organization founded in 2010. The drum circle began in collaboration with the cultural oasis Kaos Network, the brainchild of filmmaker/multi-media artist/educator Ben Caldwell.
Diouf (“Pape”), 61, began nearly 20 years ago, with just three students, in a small space carved out by gracious clothing store-front shop owner “Queen” Aminah Muhammad of Sisters Marketplace on Degnan Boulevard. They grew from there to the sidewalk in front of her store, and ultimately grew into the drum class or circle, under a tree.
“She’s very good. I love her. She’s a Muslim. Sister Aminah tries to help everybody! I know it’s not easy to help everybody, but she tries her best all the time. I cannot pay her, but God can pay her, because if I am doing all of this, that’s because of her. She fights very hard for me to stay here,” said Pape.
That reaches beyond the South L.A. community, into Senegal, because it allows him to help his family back home, he said. “I’m here because of the village, so we have to keep ourselves together. No fighting, but help each other and keep this going,” said Pape.
He prays for unity, consistency and support for the Leimert Park Village and acknowledges the role of the drum circle towards that end.
“I am here every Sunday at 6 o’clock in the morning. As soon as I finish praying, I don’t go back to bed,” said Pape about his regimen. He sometimes teaches a private class, and then at 2 p.m., starts the larger class, affectionately, historically known as the “Drum Circle. His students range from babies to elderly.
“I’m so happy,” said Pape, before pausing to greet a young visitor from the South, who enjoyed the sounds.
“Pape is amazing,” said Andy Tsai, who has been playing the dundun for six months. He grew interest in the barrel drum hailing from West Africa, when he heard the djembe drum on a trek through Oakland’s Lake Merritt in 2021. “That was it,” exclaimed Tsai, who like many, learned how to drum from Pape.
Said Tsai, who wishes drumming was more prevalent “I wish every park in every community had a group of people that kind of met up and drummed, and then people came and started dancing and singing, and having a good time.” “When you see people smiling and dancing, we’re doing something right,” he added.
Observed one drum circle enthusiast on Dec. 14, Pape has taken people who just came and sat down, not knowing anything about the drum, and taught them about an entire culture through art.
Pape also travels around the country, performing, noted Queen Aminah. “They didn’t have a place to go,” she said. But after a year, they outgrew her shop and now the full circle is accepted by the merchants, local civic leaders, all of the components who make up Leimert Park, and especially, the community, she said.
“I love the music. It’s like your heartbeat. It’s a part of what makes Leimert Park special, because you can’t go anywhere in this State, probably, on a Sunday at 2 o’clock, other than Leimert Park, to hear the drum beat,” said Muhammad. “It brings all ethnicities, all age groups, male, female, children, everyone loves it! You feel it in your bones,” she said.
The drum circle is situated right across from the Pop-up Market for Imani’s Grocery Store, located nearby on Crenshaw Boulevard. Patrons are often seen sampling produce, humming, dancing, and casually taking in the sounds as they shop.
“It’s the best spot in Leimert Park because we capture the energy from the circle. We’re in the vortex of activity! People come to us and get refreshed through organic fruit and get revitalized through African drums,” said Imani Grocery Store co-founder, Adam X.
The drum circle and drum festivals like it keep parks and communities alive through channeling the rhythmic beat of the African Diaspora, he expressed. “We’re all connected through music, rhythm and that beat that keeps us all in tune with each other, so that’s what it does. It’s music from the Motherland! When the drum circle is not here, it’s a completely different vibe. It’s literally like the heartbeat of Leimert Park,” he continued.
“Our heart is a drum,” concurred Adrien Jarvis, standing under the pop-up’s tent, enjoying the scene. “We navigate through life as a dance, and when you have the drums here, it’s bringing life to our community. It’s also a way that our ancestors communicated, and that’s what was taken away from us,” said Jarvis. “Drums keep us alive, connected, in our community, and in unity with one another,” she said.
This story was produced by American Community Media in collaboration with the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) at UCLA as part of the Greening American Cities initiative supported by the Bezos Earth Fund. Read more stories like this by visiting the Greening Communities homepage.
