Friday, February 29, 2008

Thanks for Black History Month 2008

I've been so busy lately that I have not had time for much blogging. I want to break my silence to say thanks to many of the people who have made this Black History Month so informative.

1. I am grateful to the Valley News Dispatch for the announcements and coverage it has given for the many Valley events that have occurred during Black History Month. I am especially grateful for the series of articles about how local educators in each of the school districts handle Black History Month and diversity education year-round. I am glad the teachers were given a way to share their perspectives with a broader audience than their students.

2. I am grateful to Pittsburgh Presbytery and its Racial Justice Taskforce for the hour we spent with Tony Campolo at the last meeting at Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church. I am also grateful to Pittsburgh Presbytery for the series of presentations at each presbytery meeting in 2007 to celebrate 200 years of African American Presbyterianism.

3. I am grateful to whoever put up the small Black History Month posters outside the hospital cafeteria at the Alle-Kiski Medical Center. I learned something every time I stopped to read a poster in that high traffic location.

4. I am grateful to the Alle-Kiski Cultural Enrichment Center for organizing the "Great Debate" on Saturday, February 23, with a re-enactment of Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" Speech.

5. I am grateful to the the Alle-Kiski Historical Society and the Bethel AME Church in Tarentum for organizing the Black History Program on Sunday, February 24, and for inviting Doris Carson Williams of the African American Chamber of Commerce - Pittsburgh to speak.

6. I am grateful to the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches and the Alle-Kiski NAACP for organizing the Alle-Kiski Valley Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service on Sunday January 27, and for inviting Dr. Richard Arnold to speak.

7. I am grateful to all of the people with whom I have spoken during the last month for the fact that not once did anyone ask me when it would be time to have White History Month.

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