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Local
National Park Service And Fraternity To
Preserve Legacies Of African American
Leaders
Equality Florida Launches Groundbreaking Project
For tens of thousands of LGBTQ students across Florida, beginning the 2016- 2017 school year is, sadly, a re- turn to mistreatment, discrimination and even vio- lence.
Equality Florida has an- nounced the launching of a new, statewide initiative to shift the culture so that each of Florida’s 67 school districts adopts comprehensive and na- tionally recognized best prac- tices for meeting the needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans- gender and Questioning (LGBTQ) students and in
DE PALAZZO
doing so, build a model that can be replicated nationwide.
The program will be led by De Palazzo, a nationally re- spected anti-bias education trainer, who brings 25 years of
school district experience, and most recently, led LGBTQ Safe Schools programs in Broward County, which is considered one of the leading and most af- firming districts in the nation for LGBTQ safety, support, and resiliency.
The launching of this groundbreaking program comes weeks after the release of The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which found LGBQ youth con- tinue to face deeply disturbing and even life threatening chal- lenges.
COL. CHARLES YOUNG
WASHINGTON – The Na- tional Park Service (NPS) and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (OPPF), have signed an agree- ment to work together to pro- tect, preserve, and promote the NPS sites dedicated to the legacy of important African American figures in U. S. his- tory.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity is the first predominantly African American fraternal organiza- tion to be founded at a histori- cally Black university. The agreement is the first of its kind between the NPS and a na- tional African American organ- ization.
NPS Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Grand Basileus Antonio F. Knox, Sr., signed a memorandum of in- tent on September 15 to estab- lish future national partnership and fundraising activities to benefit the Charles Young Buf- falo Soldiers National Monu- ment and Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site. The agreement was signed in a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
“As America’s storyteller, the National Park Service is dedicated to sharing a more complete and diverse history of our nation as we enter a second century of stewardship,” Jarvis said.
“We cannot fulfill that mis- sion without the strong support of partner organizations that share our commitment and val- ues like Omega Psi Phi.”
“Linking our 854 chapters worldwide and thousands of Omega Men to the partnership with the National Park Service
DR. CARTER G. WOODSON
is only natural. It is natural be- cause we both share in preserv- ing the legacy of Col. Charles Young and Carter G. Wood- son: two Omega Men, as well as, the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers,” Knox said.
“We look forward to work- ing together as partners and being the best Friends organi- zation that the National Park Service can have.”
The Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument is dedicated to preserving Col. Young’s legacy as a diplomat, civil rights leader, soldier, and the first African American Na- tional Park Superintendent. The Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site tells the story of the man known as “the Father of Black History” as Dr. Woodson created the first scholarly narrative of African- American history.
Woodson and Young were both members of Omega Psi Phi, an international frater- nity founded in 1911 at Howard University. Their impact on the nation and their communities remains an integral part of the fraternity’s development of new members in its over 750 undergraduate and graduate chapters throughout the United States, Bermuda, Ba- hamas, Virgin Islands, South Korea, Japan, Liberia, Ger- many, and Kuwait. Over 250,000 men have been initi- ated into Omega Psi Phi.
Other notable members in- clude former National Parks Service Director Robert G. Stanton; Langston Hughes; Michael Jordan; and numerous presidents of colleges and universities.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-A