JANUARY NEWSLETTER Moving Forward, Together |
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Happy Black History Month! |
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You’re Invited The Friend’s Guild of the Destin Library is hosting a special program for Black History Month. This will be a conversation with the Okaloosa Democratic Black Caucus. Learn about the history of the caucus and their role in our community. Join us! |
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Black Leaders Are Shaping History TODAY! |
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For Black History Month our Facebook page will feature Black Leaders whose recent accomplishments and impact will inspire many generations to come. Check out all of them by visiting our Facebook page throughout the month. Here are a few of our favorites! |
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On Jan. 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became the first Black, first South Asian American and first woman Vice President of the United States. |
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Harris, born in Oakland, California to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, spoke about her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, in her first speech as vice president-elect. Shyamala came to the U.S. in 1958 to study biochemistry. “When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn’t quite imagine this moment,” Harris said on Nov. 7. “But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.” |
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“So, I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black women, Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way for this moment tonight,” she said. |
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On the same day, at 22 years old, Amanda Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. |
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The inauguration of President Joe Biden featured politicians and entertainers with decades of experience under their belts. But the breakout star of the event was Amanda Gorman. Gorman recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” that called for Americans to “rebuild, reconcile, and recover” from deeply rooted divides and racial inequities, during a time of unprecedented illness, death, political strife and calls for racial justice across the country. |
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Gorman finished writing her poem shortly after the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol Building and drew inspiration from the speeches of American leaders during other historic times of division, including Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The young poet, author and activist grew up in Los Angeles and began writing as a way to cope with a speech impediment; by age 16 she was named the Youth Poet Laureate of LA, and at 19 she became the first National Youth Poet Laureate while studying sociology at Harvard. Source: CNBC.com |
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