The Funzzies – the youngest and brightest of the Watoto De Afrika Performing Arts Program – are now staples at the National Civil Rights Museum.

Regine Miller, 10, is a veteran performer in the Watoto de Afrika youth performing arts program. Now she’s participating in the group’s edu-tainment troupe known as the Funzzies, which has begun regular performances at the National Civil Rights Museum. She gets in some face time with her mother, Regina Miller, between a recent appearance at the museum. (Photos by Shirley Jackson)

Watoto de Afrika’s “Positive Image” initiative features the “Funnzies,” some of whom are shown here in a performance to a song entitled “Old Landmark.” Pictured (left to right): Nicholas O’Conner, 10, as Dr. King; Mattie Anderson, 9, as Rosa Parks; and dancers Jamie Jefferson, 9 and Chase Jefferson, 8.

Dubbed the Memphis version of Disney’s Mouseketeers, the Funzzies will perform the third Saturday of each month until July 2010, with 30-minute performances at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The Funzzies sing, dance and act under the direction of Donald O’Conner and the staff of the Memphis Cultural Arts Enrichment Center. They are school age children (7-11) from the Greater Memphis area.

Through a youth development initiative named “Positive Images,” the Funzzies are scheduled to tour and perform in Atlanta at churches, The Martin Luther King Center, the Aquarium and Morehouse College. In addition, the group will research the King family and study the family’s history.  

Other upcoming tours by the Funzzies will include the Muhammad Ali Museum in Louisville, Ky., and the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, Ala.

Video projects are part of the “Positive Image” initiative and include “Biking For Life,” an urban health project; “It’s a Green thing,” which focuses on ecology, respect for the earth and its inhabitants; and “Love Everybody,” which spotlights cultural diversity and tolerance.

Regine Miller, 10, a fifth-grader at Brownsville Road Elementary Optional School, has been performing with the group for five-plus years.

“Performing has been inspiring to me because we have the opportunity to represent our culture (and) ancestors with African dances and our history,” said Miller. “We perform and tell the story in a fun and meaningful way.”

Regine’s mother, Regina Miller, says, “The history is moving and touching with the way the children perform in telling the story. You leave the performance smiling,” she said.

“It is also good and important that the student performances are being recognized year round, instead of just during Black History Month.”