Black & LatinX club will be hosting their first annual Ritmos Unidos event for Westford, Chelmsford, Groton, and Lowell high school students on Friday, March 27, at Westford Academy from 6-8 p.m. Admission will be $10 at the door, where students can celebrate their Latin and African-American culture over food, music, and activities. Interested students must complete an online form prior to attending.
Ritmos Unidos, which translates to “United Rhythms”, will be the first event of its type hosted at WA, having replaced Salsa Night.
“We expect it to be big, but I feel like it’s not going [to have a lot of attendance] since it was kind of short notice,” club leader Walten Wambui said.
Salsa Night was the first Latin American event held at WA. While WA hosts a myriad of different events that shine light on numerous cultures, such as Darba, Chaat Masala, and the Lunar New Year Celebration, there was no event representing Black culture. Black and LatinX club leaders thought they could change that narrative with Ritmos Unidos by combining two cultures into one event.
“Salsa Night was really only [celebrating] hispanic culture, and this time we wanted to [include] more of the black population,” co-founder Ranya Fortune said. “We’re hosting this [to celebrate] Black and LatinX [cultures], but it’s for everybody.”
According to Fortune, the club has had the idea to create Ritmos Unidos since Salsa Night premiered, in June of 2025. The actual planning took more than a month, which included purchasing supplies, contacting other schools, and creating an agenda for the night.
The event will start with a presentation on African-American and Hispanic culture by the Black and LatinX club, followed by an ice breaker activity. Afterward, there will be an open floor with cultural music for everyone to dance to. There will also be food and a raffle that will be used to help fund the clubs other ventures but also provide an opportunity for people to win various items.
“We’re nervous because we don’t know how many people are going to come,” Wambui said. “It might end up being a small event and we planned for a big event, so we’re definitely nervous.”
Black and Latinx Club is a fairly new club, only having had their first meeting on Feb. 29, 2024. Since it’s creation, the club has not thrown big events such as Ritmos Unidos that is a four school event, so they have encountered some challenges.
“Next year, we’ll try to plan faster, make plans and reach out to schools way beforehand,” Wambui said.
Westford has a small black and hispanic population, with 0.8 percent of the town’s population being of Black heritage and 2.9 percent of LatinX origin. According to Fortune, this can make kids of that heritage feel like a minority.
“I had a friend tell me once that she doesn’t see any black kids around here, and I think [Ritmos Unidos] is a way to put ourselves out there,” Fortune said. “We want to make a [lasting] impact.”
Ritmos Unidos is expected to return next year and become a tradition for the club, with the hopes of making this event an annual occurrence here at WA.
“Community, that’s how I define the Black and LatinX club,” Fortune said. “That’s what we want to show through our event, unification.”
