Friday will begin the fourth celebration of a multicultural fest called “I’ll Make Me a World in Iowa.” Chair Betty Andrews says the state historical center in Des Moines will host a day of music, performances, food and art. The next day will see school kids coming from all over Iowa to compete in a Black History Game they’ve been studying for.The celebration day’s a kickoff for an outreach project, the “Black Inventors’ Exhibit, From Dreams to Reality.” Andrews says that traveling exhibit about African American inventors will go to towns around Iowa all through the month of February.The black inventors’ exhibit showcases doctors, inventors, and the things they accomplished like inventing the stoplight. Andrews says she loves her home state, though she faces questions when she’s somewhere else about whether there are black people in Iowa?Andrews has heard reports that Iowa’s one of the “whitest” states in the nation, but says though minorities are small in number, they’re an important part of the state’s population. “I’ll Make Me a World in Iowa” was created four years ago and has more than two dozen partner organizations, from the National Guard to the state historical society to the NAACP.
