Black history on display this month
Black History Month, held in February each year, provides an opportunity for communities around the nation to spotlight the contributions black Americans have made to government, education, industry, technology and science, as well as culture and the arts.
Local resident Wayne Wolford has been a student of black culture and history for much of his life, and has worked to pass that rich history on to a new generation through his work with Young Men United and the Black History Club.
This year is especially important for these organizations since it is the beginning of the 18-month Warren County Bicentennial Celebration, and one of first events in the schedule is a presentation by the Black History Club to be held at the WCHS auditorium this Thursday, Feb. 28 at 10 a.m.
?Black History club founder Jeffery Martin will open up,? Wolford said. ?We?re going to have individuals portraying characters from history. The Crump Steppers will be performing. After that, the rhythm group I work with will be playing congos and bongos while the girls perform a dance routine. This part is a lot of fun because we try and get the audience involved. It?s around 45 minutes and should be an enjoyable program.?
?We?ll have about 100 seats roped off for the public,? Wolford added, noting the organization is proud to present one of the first official programs for the Bicentennial Celebration, since exploring history is one of the goals of the organization. As part of this, the Black History Club makes it possible for local students to visit sites of importance to black history.
?Usually we go to Birmingham one year, Memphis one year and Atlanta one year,? Wolford said. It?s a rotation. So if a student comes in the freshman year they?ll end up going to one place at least twice. There?s around 35 kids in the organization right now. We have different age groups, different colors.?
Another project the club is doing this year fits right in with the Bicentennial Celebration.
?We?ve got some interview forms and they?re going to go out in the community and pick somebody, an older person, and get some history from them. This is a unique project for us.?
Wolford has been involved in Young Men United, a mentoring organization for community youth, almost since its inception in November of 1998 in the basement of Nelson Ramsey?s home. Wolford joined in early 1999.
?We build character for life,? Wolford said. ?That?s the main thing. We work with kids quite a bit, but we really don?t turn anyone down. If there?s somebody out there who is suffering a hardship, we try to help them as much as possible.?
The club sponsors basketball, beauty pageants and black history events, as well as a Christmas Banquet and a toy drive for local children, as well as a variety of other activities. YMU also networks with a number of other community organizations to provide services and programs locally.
?We had the Christmas party at East End Drive Church of Christ fellowship hall,? Wolford said. ?We invited American Legion veterans, Post 208, to come, them and their families, to share Christmas dinner and celebrate with us. We had kids there. We had a little over 200 people. We furnished the food, toys. We really had a good time.?
The organization is also involved in presenting another very popular community event coming up soon, the annual Juneteenth celebration.
?I?d like to mention Juneteenth because we are now taking applications for booths,? Wolford said. ?Sales booths, food booths. We?d like to invite anybody who is interested to give us a call or get on our Web site.?
The Web site is at www.youngmenunited.com and provides contact information, a schedule of events and application forms.