Three-day program will celebrate African American History Month
By: Colin Marchand
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: News
In honor of African American History Month, SFA's history department will celebrate African American culture and history with the community in its first three-day program entitled "Lest We Forget: Preserving African American Culture and History."
The program, which will be held in Nacogdoches and Lufkin, will take place Thursday through Saturday. Other organizations assisting with events include the Nacogdoches American Heritage Project, Long's Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church of Lufkin and the East Texas Historical Association.
Events begin on at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Grand Ballroom in the BPSC. The evening will begin with traditional African American hymns sung by Long's Chapel choir, the Nacogdoches Total Praise Team and the Children of Promise of Grayland Baptist Church of Douglass, Texas.
"An evening of spirituals will be an enjoyable start to the program," Dr. Scott Sosebee, executive director of the East Texas Historical Association and professor at SFA, said. "Since the church has always been a means of support and natural extension of the African American culture, it is relevant and necessary to provide elements of Christian praise and worship."
Sosebee also said the program will conclude with a panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Court Carney, a history professor at SFA, entitled "Preserving African American History in Texas." Panel participants include Marion Upshaw of the Nacogdoches African American Heritage Project; Joe L. Atkins, a higher education civil rights pioneer; Theodore Lawe, curator of the A.C. McMillan African American Museum, Emory, Texas and Robert Edison, Director of the Social Studies Division, Dallas I.S.D.
"I feel this discussion will be the most interesting and have the most impact on the program because these people have dedicated their lives to the African American heritage either through their work or as living examples," Sosebee said. "Joe Atkins, for example, was a major driving force in de-segregating public universities in Texas, specifically North Texas State (which is now UNT)."
On Friday, Long's Chapel will host a "brown bag lunch" program entitled "Church and School: Forming an American Identity," which will be held in Lufkin from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lacey Chimney, chairman of the Steward Board at Longs' Chapel, will give a presentation entitled "Education on the African American Community," and Charity Rakestraw, an adjunct faculty member in SFA's history department, will present "United by Faith, Separated by Color: Black Churches, Community, and American Culture."
On Saturday, the program will conclude at 10 a.m. with a presentation entitled "African American Faith and Freedom: A Sankosa Journey." The presentation will be given by the Rev. Clarence E. Glover, Jr., executive director of Multicultural Education for Dallas Public Schools.
cmarchand@thepinelog.com
The program, which will be held in Nacogdoches and Lufkin, will take place Thursday through Saturday. Other organizations assisting with events include the Nacogdoches American Heritage Project, Long's Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church of Lufkin and the East Texas Historical Association.
Events begin on at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Grand Ballroom in the BPSC. The evening will begin with traditional African American hymns sung by Long's Chapel choir, the Nacogdoches Total Praise Team and the Children of Promise of Grayland Baptist Church of Douglass, Texas.
"An evening of spirituals will be an enjoyable start to the program," Dr. Scott Sosebee, executive director of the East Texas Historical Association and professor at SFA, said. "Since the church has always been a means of support and natural extension of the African American culture, it is relevant and necessary to provide elements of Christian praise and worship."
Sosebee also said the program will conclude with a panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Court Carney, a history professor at SFA, entitled "Preserving African American History in Texas." Panel participants include Marion Upshaw of the Nacogdoches African American Heritage Project; Joe L. Atkins, a higher education civil rights pioneer; Theodore Lawe, curator of the A.C. McMillan African American Museum, Emory, Texas and Robert Edison, Director of the Social Studies Division, Dallas I.S.D.
"I feel this discussion will be the most interesting and have the most impact on the program because these people have dedicated their lives to the African American heritage either through their work or as living examples," Sosebee said. "Joe Atkins, for example, was a major driving force in de-segregating public universities in Texas, specifically North Texas State (which is now UNT)."
On Friday, Long's Chapel will host a "brown bag lunch" program entitled "Church and School: Forming an American Identity," which will be held in Lufkin from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lacey Chimney, chairman of the Steward Board at Longs' Chapel, will give a presentation entitled "Education on the African American Community," and Charity Rakestraw, an adjunct faculty member in SFA's history department, will present "United by Faith, Separated by Color: Black Churches, Community, and American Culture."
On Saturday, the program will conclude at 10 a.m. with a presentation entitled "African American Faith and Freedom: A Sankosa Journey." The presentation will be given by the Rev. Clarence E. Glover, Jr., executive director of Multicultural Education for Dallas Public Schools.
cmarchand@thepinelog.com
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