Page 14 - 6-5-15 Friday's Edition

Features
Talent Discovery Event
Juneteenth Celebrations Planned For West And East Tampa
To Be Held In Ybor City
Game Piece Entertain- ment in collaboration with Kingdom Transportation will be presenting a Face-Off Tal- ent Showcase on Friday, June 5th at Centro Asturiano, 1913 North Nebraska Av- enue.
Danielle Swinton of Game Piece Entertainment said this is an inaugural event, but the idea is to make this a quarterly event.
“Our goal is to discover talent. At this show, 10 artists will be performing in front of representatives from two record labels and a panel of judges made up of concert promoters.
“This is our summer kick- off event, and we’re doing this to give the teens an out- let. I’m hoping this will be an important part of helping to stem some of the violence.”
We Are Toonz, the in- ventors of the Nae Nae dance will headline the event.
Swinton said they are al- ready planning future events and all kids 13 and under will be admitted free if they are accompanied by an adult. Anyone who purchases a ticket in advance will auto-
DANIELLE SWINTON
matically be entered to win an Apple iWatch.
The artists in this show- case came from area high schools, and they will be per- forming hip hop and R&B, all vying for a cash prize of $1,000. There will be no co- medians or any spoken events as this is all musical.
The talent showcase kicks off at 6 p. m., and the public is asked to please come out and support this opportunity for young people to show what they have and take it to the next level.
“We are asking Tampa to come out and support this community event,” said Swinton.
For more information about this event, call (813) 516-0771.
This is a scene from a Juneteenth celebra- tion held in Austin, Texas in 1900.
HEEM BAISDEN
REV. W.G. DIXON
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commem- orating the end of slavery in the United States.
Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This news came 2-1/2 years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had become official January 1, 1863.
The Emancipation Proclamation had little im- pact on the Texans due to the
minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Ex- ecutive Order. However, with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of a Union regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
The West Tampa Alliance and C.O.A.C.H. Foundation will be hosting Juneteenth events in a citywide effort to not just bring the community together, but teach young people an important part of African American history.
Beginning June 13th, the West Tampa Alliance will be holding their Juneteenth cel- ebration with a lineup of speakers, entertainment, food, and a cultural walk through the history of West Tampa and Black historical landmarks all over the city.
West Tampa Alliance President, Heem Baisden, said they believe in unity and they want to bring people to- gether to improve the com- munity.
“Together we stand, and divided we fall. That’s why we believe in unity, and with that unity, we have a voice for Black Latinos, Hispanics and poor white people.
“Because we’re a not-for- profit structured community economic development, we believe West Tampa and other areas of the city can have a five-star community, a bank, motel, shopping mall, indoor/outdoor arena, and a center for the seniors.”
C.O.A.C.H. Foundation will present their Juneteenth celebration beginning June 20th from2p.m.until5p.m. at the College Hill Confer- ence Center, 1002 East Mar- tin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
A group of 10 local com- munity organizations will present the third annual Juneteenth and Father’s Day Celebration. The free event will honor our youth by seek-
ing their ideas on what should be done to help re- duce criminal activities, re- duce school dropouts, gain the respect of adults and cre- ate employment for the youth.
The guest speakers, pan- elists, and entertainers will consist of high school and college students, school dropouts, former juvenile of- fenders/gang members, and inmates from a local jail.
Each person will have a story to tell, and advise our invited law enforcement offi- cers, parents, teachers/edu- cators, elected officials, judges, religious, and com- munity based leaders about some of the solutions and how to solve some of our community problems, barri- ers and events that had an ef- fect on the lives of Black citizens.
C.O.A.C.H. Foundation founder, Rev. W.G. Dixon said as their special guests, they will have 20 youth from a juvenile center participate in the program.
“They will give testi- monies and tell what the major factors were that put them in the criminal justice system at an early age, and what other young people can do to avoid entering hat sys- tem.”
The supporters of this free event are: East Tampa Business and Civic Associa- tion, the Hillsborough County Black Caucus, C.OA.C.H. Foundation, Tampa-Hillsborough NAACP, Tampa Study Group, Federation of Fami- lies, Miracles Outreach, Cvib, and Rainbow PUSH.
Anyone who wants to be a part of the West Tampa cele- bration can call (813) 516- 9333. For the East Tampa celebration, call (813) 442- 7298.
The West Tampa Alliance will be releasing their sched- uled events for Juneteenth next week.
PAGE 2-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2015