Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 3-25-16 Edition

Local
‘Big Freedia’ Advocates
West Tampa Organization
For Human Rights
Making Plans For
Project LINK hosted reality television star, “Big Freedia-Queen of Bounce,” on February 22, 2016, at Howard W. Blake High School. He was one of the featured guest speakers for the agency’s Black History Month pro- gram, “The Dream of Dr. King For Human Rights” Com- munity Symposium.
Big Freedia came to Tampa to be an advocate for Human Rights.
Big Freedia (Freddie Ross) hosted a question and answer session on Human Rights along with famed guest speaker, Christopher King, the grandson of the late leg- endary blues god, B. B. King. (Photos by BRUNSON)
Dan Westbrook, Jerry Means, Big Freedia, Tina Young, Project LINK Executive Director; and Alex E. Miller.
Devondre Robertson, Peter McClarin, Daunte Harris, Cedric Brown, Demarcus Harris, David Dor and Imhotep Alkebuhan.
Big Freedia was in Tampa to advocate for Human Rights.
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
The only African American holiday that’s celebrated worldwide is Juneteenth.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemo- rating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galve- ston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Eman- cipation Proclamation, which had become official Jan- uary 1, 1863. The Emancipa- tion Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Ex- ecutive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the ar- rival of General Granger’s - regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and over- come the resistance.
The West Tampa Alliance (WTA) has started making preparations for the June event, and they are asking that any groups or organizations making plans for a Juneteenth celebration to join them.
HEEM BAISDEN
“Our plan is to extend the celebration past the weekend, and make it a weeklong cele- bration,” said Heem Bais- den, President of the WTA.
“It’s important that we make this event the biggest the city and Hillsborough County has ever experienced. That’s why we’ve started planning so early, and we would appreciate any help we can get.”
Baisden said the WTA would also appreciate it if any group, organization, or indi- vidual interested in being a part of the Juneteenth celebra- tion to either come by the WTA office at 1611 North Al- bany, or call (813) 516-9333.
“We think it would be bet- ter if we do a joint celebration instead of different groups doing their own thing. “Putting an event together this size takes a lot of work and an even stronger commitment from the people who want to be a part of the celebration.”
Madison
Jenkins attended the sympo- sium.
and Alphanette
Juneteenth Celebration
PAGE 6-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016