Mayor Teri Johnston and the Key West City Commission proclaimed February as Black History Month during Thursday’s regular meeting.
“Black History Month is a time to reflect on the many contributions made by African Americans to the country and to Key West's economic, artistic, cultural, spiritual, educational, and political development,” reads the proclamation.
Mona Clark, Carmel Cox, and Doreen Mobley accepted the proclamation.
“Black history is a part of history,” said Clark. “And while this is Black History Month, we celebrate, we recognize, we acknowledge it 365 days of the year.”
She invited the community to join in a Black History program and dinner on February 10th from 6-8 p.m. at the Horace O’Bryant School. Tickets, she said, are $20 and benefit the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Program.
Black History Month grew out of the establishment, in 1926, of Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
“The City of Key West continues to work toward becoming a community that embodies the ‘One Human Family’ philosophy,” reads the proclamation, “where all citizens -- past, present, and future -- are respected and treated equally.”
In the photo: Commissioners Mary Lou Hoover and Lissette Carey, Mayor Teri Johnston, Vice Mayor Sam Kaufman, Carmel Cox; Mona Clark; Doreen Mobley; and Commissioner Billy Wardlow.