Reflections: The African American Choral Ensemble, University of Georgia

by Pastor Nawanna Lewis Miller
Founder and Chairperson
Pamoja Connections, Inc. 501(c)3 Board of Directors

In 1970, I was a nineteen-year old sophomore from Atlanta, Georgia, at the University of Georgia (UGA). I majored in Broadcast Journalism. Now Attorney Dwight Thomas was President of the Black Student Union (BSU) that year, and he appointed me as the Mistress of Cultural Affairs. I went back to my dorm room on the eighth floor of Creswell Hall and typed out the “God’s vision” for five groups that God gave me.

The goal that pushed me was to create the groups that spoke to us as Black people to which we could relate and belong in a harsh environment of isolation.  The five (5) groups were Pamoja Singers; Pamoja Dancers; Pamoja Drama and Arts; Pamoja Newspaper; and the Journalism Association for Minorities who published the Pamoja Newspaper to tell our own stories. Pamoja means “together” or “togetherness” in Swahili.  God gave me the energy and interest to manage the Pamoja groups until December, 1972 when I finished UGA. In 1973, I graduated the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism. I majored in Radio/TV/Film, and minored in Black Studies and Speech.

Over the last 54 years, the five groups proliferated beyond anything that I could ever imagine, Currently, they are the components of Pamoja Connections, Inc. a UGA Alumni Affinity Group of which I am Founder and Chairperson. The groups are currently known as the African American Choral Ensemble (AACE); Pamoja Dance Company; InfUSion Magazine; National Association of Black Journalists; and the Black Theatrical Ensemble (BTE, which Larry Calhoun founded. Pamoja Drama and Arts is the  antecedent of BTE.) 

When I returned to UGA in 2010, I met Dr. Gregory Broughton, Conductor of the African American Choral Ensemble (AACE).  Immediately, I discerned that he was a tremendously well-educated professor who is gifted, and profoundly cares about his students who he empowers through music. He is a genuinely, caring person, and a person of vision as well who creatively shepherds AACE. Through his leadership, AACE  became an elective course that is available in the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music.

In 2020, Dr. Broughton was extremely instrumental to coordinate and facilitate UGA’s 50th Anniversary Celebration of Pamoja: “My Soul Sings, Still!”

On November 25, 2024, Pamoja Connections, Inc.’s President Subrena Clark and I presented our first Founder’s Award to Dr. Broughton for 35+ years excellence. Our honor to and gratitude for Dr. Gregory Broughton continues…