Category: Entertainment
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Project: ‘King’s Dream Unite’
BY LAURA MULROONEY
NNB ReporterST. PETERSBURG — As part of the nationwide Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, a substantial crowd gathered as a mural by local artist Ya La’ford was unveiled on the north side of the historic Manhattan Casino in Midtown Monday.
Titled “King’s Dream Unite,” La’ford and 25 students from MYcroSchool Pinellas, a tuition-free, dropout recovery, public charter high school, painted the expansive 30’x30’ mural in one week with what was described as a “tremendous amount of paint.”
“King’s Dream Unite” is a community mural where La’ford admits the community helped her realize Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.
“The mural is about unity, this is about how we’re connected, this is about how we can pull and collaborate the community together where I am not only exposing you to the visual but also to the dance and to the music, I am kind of forging these forces together to have something so impactful to the community,” she said.
The event Monday began with the roar of the Mt. Zion Progressive Community Marching Band. The 13-percussion piece ensemble’s force and presence brought the crowd alive with the beat of their drums and crash of their cymbals.
“The pounding of the drums represents our heartbeats coming together,” said La’ford at the end of the event.
Jacqueline Williams Hubbard, Esq./Pres., St. Pete Chapter, The Association for the Study of African American Life and History spoke of the importance of the mural’s location on the side of the historic Manhattan Casino. For 40 years the Manhattan Casino played an instrumental role in south St. Petersburg arts, entertainment, and cultural development in the 1920s when Jim Crow segregation laws were still prevalent.
The Moving Mural, a collaborative dance and song presentation performed by dancer and rehearsal director Helen Hansen French, singer Becca McCoy, MYcroSchool students and Mt. Zion Impact Dance Ministry confirmed that arts and entertainment still thrive in Midtown.
La’ford along with Deputy Mayor Dr. Kanika Tomalin, Councilwomen Lisa Wheeler-Brown and Darden Rice and Chris Steinocher, president and CEO St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce cut the ribbon as the tarp simultaneously raised, revealing the unified efforts of a diverse community.
The mural consists of a black background with silver intersecting geometrical lines starting from the base of the building like tree roots that grow upwards to form the trunk and then a circular crown. The crown embraces two illuminated circles, one inside the other. A description by La’ford is essential to understand the magnitude of the piece.
“Black represents the color of our people, the lines forge together in silver, silver being one of the oldest and most precious metals, as precious as our people. The three circles represent all of us rotating around each other for infinity. The geometric patterns represent how all of our lives intersect, everyone’s life journey may have traversed to the left or to the right but they will all intersect at some point. The center two circles are illuminated to acknowledge the presence of a higher being connecting us all together.”
La’ford consistently involves children in her art to show that art is in everything that they do and see. This project provided MYcroSchool Pinellas students with the opportunity to participate in something they would not have normally done.
The mural unveiling also included a free book giveaway for students and children courtesy of Keep St. Pete Lit and Bluebird Books. Students received bookmarks where they could write their response finishing MLK Jr.’s famous sentence “I have a dream.”
Laura Mulrooney is a reporter in the Neighborhood News Bureau at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
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Celebration and remembrance at St. Petersburg’s MLK Parade
BY MIRANDA BORCHARDT
NNB ReporterDOWNTOWN — An estimated crowd of 3,000 people filled the streets of downtown St. Petersburg to take in the 31st annual Drum Major for Justice National Parade celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, Jan. 18.
This St. Petersburg tradition is the nation’s longest running Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade with the inaugural event being held on Jan. 20, 1986.
Student Matthew Vorra, 15, and friends spent their school day off traveling from Seffner to experience the event but mostly to celebrate, remember and honor the legacy of the civil rights leader.
King was “a man who fought for what he believed in,” said Vorra.
The parade showcased local school marching bands, dance troupes and floats featuring community groups and local businesses who embraced the spectators with smiles, waves and by throwing beads to the crowd. There were even a few local celebrities who joined the two mile route from Tropicana field down to Vinoy Park including Mayor Rick Kriseman and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
Yolanda Fernandez, St. Petersburg police spokeswoman, said attendance was average. Some attendees may have been deterred by the lower than normal temperatures for the day.
While the crowd was all smiles some were pensive remembering the times of struggle while embracing their freedoms of today. Charles Payne, 80, of St. Petersburg, has attended for about 20 years.
“Martin Luther King (Jr.) stood for nonviolence,” he said. “It is good to see so many people recognize (that).”
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City Council candidate forum at Enoch Davis Center Monday
BY CARLY ROMANO
NNB ReporterResidents can get a chance to grill candidates for city council tonight.
The NAACP St. Petersburg Branch City Council Candidate Forum is at 7 p.m. at the Enoch Davis Center.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive early in order to submit written questions for the candidates.
All candidates running are expected to attend.
District 1: Charlie Gerdes and Monica Abbott; District 5: Phillip Garrett and Steven “Steve” L. Kornell; and District 7: Lisa Wheeler-Brown and Winthrop “Will” Newtown.
If you go:
What: NAACP St. Petersburg Branch City Council Candidate Forum
When: 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 26. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Enoch Davis Center, 1111 18th Ave S
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Just A Little Love to Restore A Stronger And Diverse Community
BY ZENENA MOGUEL
NNB ReporterST. PETERSBURG – It was just another night where the sound of music and laughter filled the air of this vibrant community. It was Midtown in the 1940s bringing out the African-American culture. But, it was not always that way. It took brave and valiant individuals to build the lively and joyful culture of Midtown. Then, Sidney Harden and his grocery store was one these individuals, and today, it is Elihu and Carolyn Brayboy.
Sidney Harden’s advertisement on the outside of the grocery store’s wall. Published in St. Petersburg Historic 22nd Street South by Peck and Wilson, 2006, 68. In 1942, Harden opened ‘Sidney Harden’s Grocery Store’ on 22nd Street South. It was the place to get cultural food and resources throughout the community, according to the St. Petersburg Times. The grocery store also served local residents in times of need and comfort.
Harden was a neighbor and hoped the best for his community. According to a staff report from the City of St. Petersburg Community Preservation Commission, when local residents didn’t have enough, he gave and was known to hire residents for minor labor in exchange for food. He is remembered for his donations to different charities in the hope to make Midtown a better place for those in the community.
In the 35 years since the closing of Sidney Harden’s Grocery Store, that same passion and determination can be seen in Elihu and Carolyn Brayboy, better known as Mr. B and Mrs. B, and their hope to build a stronger and diverse Midtown. Despite a tough start and individuals’ perception of Midtown as being a rough place, the Brayboys decided to start their own business. They even have a reply for those with a misconception of Midtown.
“We’re putting the neighbor back into the hood,” said Elihu Brayboy. “Therefore it is a neighborhood.”
The café was renovated to meet modern day demands while keeping the design and layout of the historical Sidney Harden’s Grocery Store. Although it was not what they intended, it became a place they now hold dear and true. Like Harden, the Brayboys are trying to invigorate the community. With just the start of a café, the Brayboys hope other businesses will see the opportunity Midtown has to offer.
“We value it and our view is it’s a great area and all it needs is love,” said Elihu Brayboy.
Named after Elihu Brayboy’s mother, Mary ‘Chief’ Brayboy Jones, a native of South Louisiana who catered to many celebrities such as Teddy Pendergrass, the Chief’s Creole Café serves a taste of Creole dishes including shrimp and grits, spicy jambalaya and Creole gumbo. Along with a delicious meal, customers have a choice of a spacious, elegant and vintage dining room or the outdoor patio setting to enjoy.
Chief’s Creole Café celebrates their first year anniversary on Nov. 1. The celebration starts with a momentous ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 30 with Mayor Rick Kriseman. The event leads into the ‘Masquerade Under The Stars’ with live entertainment and dancing.
“We are ready for the storm,” said Kenny Roberts, a restaurant employee. “We know it’s coming.”
This is just the start of a new and diverse Midtown. The Brayboys and their employees are definitely excited, but so are those in the community.
Cranston Cumberbatch, office manager of Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, has been a regular at Chief’s Creole Café since its opening.
“I really think that it’s a real treasure to this community,” said Cumberbatch. “For what (the Brayboys) are providing I think it’s really something good to help in the resurgence of this community to getting back to those memorable iconic places that so many residents in this community are familiar with.”
