As Elmont Online and Highlighting Success, Inc. prepared for this landmark Black History Month Celebration, the event’s co-sponsors recalled the celebration’s beginnings. Inspired by New York State’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ceremony in 2003, then Elmont School Board Trustee Aubrey Phillips envisioned a recognition ceremony in his hometown that would establish a vehicle to celebrate and perpetuate Black history and honor local people who not only embody the spirit of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History, but also contribute to the wellbeing and advancement of the broader community. The new celebration began in 2004 with spoken words and musical selections performed by students in the auditorium of The Clara H. Carlson School, and the origination of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Award. The tenth anniversary celebration encompassed its now traditional “Collaboration of Song and Spoken Word” and Awards Ceremony, as well as a buffet dinner, held in the Ruth S. Harley Center at Adelphi University.

In her welcoming remarks, 2013 Black History Month Committee Chairperson Allyson Phillips bonded with the audience, saying, “Today we celebrate a milestone: 10 years of coming together on this occasion of the Elmont Black History Month Celebration; 10 years of bearing witness to the contributions of our honorees and celebrating their achievements; 10 years of highlighting our elementary, high school and college students; 10 years of community collaboration; 10 years of telling our own story; 10 years with you, our life blood, our oxygen.”

BHM Round Table Calls Minority Communities to Action
Attendee suggests public education financing be identified as an “investment,” not an “expenditure”

In its Tenth Anniversary Black History Month Celebration, Elmont Online and Highlighting Success, Inc. presented a round table discussion that centered on hot-button issues uppermost on the minds of minority community residents. The current economic climate, coupled with attitudes among public officials in Mineola, Hauppauge, Albany and Washington, D.C., have brought a readiness to look for answers to persistent challenges and traditional policies.

The round table panel at the 2013 Black History Month Celebration engaged in an open discussion of three significant issues: Public Education Financing, Immigration and Health Policy. It was moderated by Dr. Marsha Darling, Director and Professor, the Center for African, Black and Caribbean Studies at Adelphi University.