“Forward forever, backward never!” cried Grenadian Prime Minister and revolutionary Maurice Bishop from the stage of Hart House Theatre. Well, his dramatic reincarnation declared it, anyway, during the annual V.I.B.E. (Visions in the Black Experience) gala Friday night. Missing Pages: The African-Canadian Experience was the culmination of the fruits of labour of eight separate campus groups, celebrating the struggles of their historically marginalized community.

Under the auspices of Black History Month, the Black Students’ Association and numerous other student groups brought their talents together for a single night of dance, music, and theatre that shed light on the African-Canadian story that has been all but erased from our history books.

To usher the audience through this journey, writers Rebeckah Price and Malik I.M. worked together to create an eclectic narrative guided by dub poet Michael St. George and actress/poet Naila Keleta. The connection between the “missing pages” and the orally narrated journey was an interesting one-the V.I.B.E 2005 show managed to find a common ground between the restrictive and finite nature of the printed word, and the evolving free spirit of the spoken word.

From the first striking silhouetted bodies lying lifeless on the stage while an emotionally charged, incantation called out, “To the millions!” to the fiery hanging of Marie Angelique; to the entrancing African folk dance trios; to the wild hip-hop party, the audience was hopelessly-and happily-saturated with sensory overload. Although the narrators relied on cue cards to provide the historical framework for this untold story, that was understandable, taking into account the sheer enormity of their undertaking for a mere one-night event.

Similarly, the down-to-earth nature of the extras, employed in many group scenes, was assuring because it was evidence that V.I.B.E really did involve many interested and passionate (even if not regularly theatrical) members of the various organizing groups. It was clear they all pooled their energies towards what was a very impressive venture that delivered on its promise to educate and entertain.

I admit I was reluctant to give myself over to the idea of V.I.B.E as a “journey.” According to the show’s publicist, Joy Harewood, “The show is a journey. To call it a ‘performance’ wouldn’t trivialize it, but also would not capture the feeling of what happened in the past to get to this point in history.”

Even if I was not entirely committed to the concept at the intermission, by the end of the evening I was totally absorbed in the spirit of it, and in spite of myself had to note that I had undergone an emotional journey as an audience member (even contributing my melodious voice to a musical number or two).

I also had to swallow my pride in realizing that, although I think of myself as a relatively well-informed Canadian, there were numerous historical events and details that I had never heard of before, including the frighteningly recent example of the 1990 protest against the bigoted Royal Ontario Museum exhibit Through the Art of Africa. Organizer expected a certain level of contextual ignorance: “I hope that if the audience really doesn’t know the stories included in V.I.B.E., they will be inspired by what they see, and look into it further on their own,” said the BSA’s CJ Cromwell Simmonds.

“I hope the show would appeal to anybody interested in any kind of history,” added Harewood. “I’d like it to be viewed as a story of history and hope in the larger picture, and not just black history.”

The issues raised by this year’s event, and the ideas it triggered were a testament to its enduring legacy as an annual campus tradition that resonates beyond February’s brief Black History celebrations.