Neighborhood News Bureau

Tag: Black History Month

  • Midtown Moments: Black History Month

    Midtown Moments: Black History Month

    By Abigail Payne

    Black History Month in St. Petersburg had a productive start this 2017.

    For the second year in a row, Mayor Rick Kriseman rose the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum flag above City Hall. The event took place on Feb. 1, 2017, to jump start Black History Month.

    From left to right. Mayor Rick Kriseman (center) and Deputy Mayor Kanika Thomalin (right) during the rise of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum flag above St. Petersburg, Fl, City Hall on Feb. 1, 2017.

    It represented the hard work that Dr. Woodson was able to put forth for the recognition of African American History.

    “Dr. Carter G. Woodson is the father of black history month,” Terri Lipsey Scott said.

    Black History Month was originally known as Negro History and Literature Week.

    According to the attendants, Woodson was the reason to celebrate this month due to his efforts dating back to 1926. The acknowledgment and recognition of this cultural history are integral to the history of St. Petersburg.

    In the event, participated members of ASALAH and Omega Psi Phi, two organizations that had tied with Dr. Woodson. There were also students from Mt. Zion Progressive Christian Academy; author Jon Wilson and Gwendolyn Reese from the African American Heritage Trails of St. Petersburg, among many of the community’s entrepreneurs, artists, and public figures.

    It is important for the young populace of the community to see that African-American History is recognized and that they learn the rich history that shaped the city as it is now.

    With the reminder that there are failing schools in Pinellas County, all predominantly African American, history as powerful as the one of this city should be exalted to revamp those institutions.

     

  • Flag raised over City Hall commemorates 40 years of Black History Month

    BY LAURA MULROONEY
    NNB Reporter

    ST. PETERSBURG – History was made February 1 at City Hall.

    Amid applause, whoops and laughter, Mayor Rick Kriseman raised a flag over City Hall commemorating 40 years of Black History Month.

    The flag featured the likeness of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an educator, author and historian who is known as the father of Black History Month.

    After the flag was raised, Terri Lipsey Scott, chair of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg, praised Kriseman for the important gesture.

    She commended him on doing what no other St. Petersburg mayor has ever done, “which was to acknowledge and commemorate the contributions that African Americans have made to this nation by flying, over a government institution, a flag in honor of not only Dr. Carter G. Woodson but African American history,” said Scott.

    In response, Kriseman said that “one of the many things that makes our community so special is our black history and the countless contributions that black individuals and families have made, and continue to make.”

    Last March, Kriseman also won plaudits when he announced that the city will try to purchase and preserve the Woodson museum, a long-simmering point of controversy between the museum board and the museum’s landlord, the St. Petersburg Housing Authority.

    Two months earlier, the Housing Authority board had voted 4-3 to sell the small community museum at 2240 9th Ave. S.

    Since then the city has announced a plan to purchase the building with the intent to keep it as a cultural landmark, museum, and now city building.

    In praising Kriseman’s recognition of the city’s diversity and the importance of keeping its history alive, Scott quoted Woodson: “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”

    Woodson announced the celebration of “Negro History Week” in 1926, in effort to preserve African American history, which had been routinely overlooked in history books.

    In 1976 “Negro History Week” was extended to encompass the entire month of February. Some say that the establishment of Black History Month is counterproductive to Woodson’s initial intent.

    Relegating black history to one month excuses the full integration of black history into mainstream education.

    This is not the first time Kriseman has made steps to unify the community and demonstrate St. Petersburg’s inclusiveness.

    During Pride Week in 2015, Kriseman flew the LGBT Pride Flag over City Hall and returned as the parade’s honorary grand marshal along with former St. Petersburg Assistant Police Chief Melanie Brevan.

    Laura Mulrooney is a reporter in the Neighborhood News Bureau at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.