This year the Festival of American Folklife presents a pilot program, "The African Diaspora," which pays tribute to the widely varied cultural contributions of the Black American community while depicting the historical and cultural continuum that links Black Americans to their African roots via the Caribbean Islands and Latin America. The term "African Diaspora" characterizes the dispersion of African peoples and cultures to many areas of the world. "African Diaspora 1974" is a survey statement which emphasizes the strength and vitality of one of America's strongest ethnic groups and marks the beginning of a new Festival thrust toward a ...