Newspaper Page Text
6 - The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A Proclamation... continued from page 1
nized more as possessions
than people, African
Americans have come to
know the freedoms fought for
in establishing the United
States and gained through the
use of our founding principles
of freedom of speech, free
dom of the press, the right to
assembly, and due process of
law. The ideals of the
Founders became more real
and more true for every citi
zen as African Americans
pressed us to realize our frill
potential as a Nation and to
uphold those ideals for all
who enter into our borders
and embrace the notion that
we are all endowed with cer
tain unalienable rights.
Since Carter G.
Woodson first sought to illu
minate the African American
experience, each February we
pause to reflect on the contri
butions of this community to
our national identity. The his
tory is one of struggle for the
recognition of each person's
humanity as well as an influ
ence on the broader American
culture. African Americans
designed our beautiful Capital
City, gave us the melodic
rhythms of New Orleans Jazz,
issued new discoveries in sci
ence and medicine, and forced
us to examine ourselves in the
pages of classic literature.
This legacy has only added
luster to the brand of the
United States, which has
drawn immigrants to our
shores for centuries.
This year's theme, "The
Quest for Black Citizenship in
the Americas," is a chance to
examine the evolution of our
country and how African
Americans helped draw us
ever closer to becoming a
more perfect union.
The narrative of the
African American pursuit of
frill citizenship with all of the
rights and privileges afforded
others in this country is also
the story of a maturing young
Nation. The voices and exam
ples of the African American
people worked collectively to
remove the boulders of sys
temic racism and discrimina
tion that pervaded our laws
and our public consciousness
for decades. Through the
work of Frederick Douglass
and Flarriet Tubman, Booker
T. Washington and George
Washington Carver, Martin
Luther King and Thurgood
Marshall, the African
American community has
steadily made progress toward
the dreams within its grasp
and the promise of our more
Nation.
Meanwhile, the belief
that those dreams might one
day be realized by all of our
citizens gave African
American men and women the
same sense of duty and love of
country that led them to shed
blood in every war we have
ever fought, to invest hard-
earned resources in their com
munities with the hope of self
empowerment, and to pass the
ideals of this great land down
to their children and grand
children.
As we mark National
African American History
Month, we should take note of
this special moment in our
Nation's history and the actors
who worked so diligently to
deliver us to this place. One
such organization is the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People — the NAACP — which
this year will witness 100
years of service to the Nation
on February 12.
Now, Therefore, I,
Barack Obama, President of
the United States of America,
by virtue of the authority vest
ed in me by the Constitution
and the laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim
February 2009 as National
African American History
Month. I call upon public offi
cials, educators, librarians,
and all the people to observe
this month.
Oglethorpe
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LENDER
African American History Facts
by Savannah Secrets Tour
“Providing you with
History Tours ”
ggaspeakers®,yahoo, com
(912) 220-0170
President Cyrus G. Wiley
The first alumnus of
Savannah State University to
serve as President of the
institution was C. G. Wiley.
Wiley was the second presi
dent of Savannah State. He
succeeded Major Richard R.
Wright. President Wiley was
a native of Hilton Head
Island. Once he completed
the highest level of educa
tion that could be attained on
Hilton Head he was sent to
Savannah State to complete
his secondary and post-sec
ondary education. Wiley
would later serve as a Dean
at Morris Brown. A member
of the African Methodist
Episcopal faith Wiley was a
pastor at Big Bethel A.M.E.
in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mary McLeod Bethune
and Savannah
The Educator, Presidential
Advisor, and Co-founder of
Bethune-Cookman College
in Daytona, FL Mary
McLeod Bethune lived in
Savannah working as a
Social Worker. She resided
in West Savannah. She and
her husband, Albertus
Bethune, experienced the
birth of their only child in
Savannah. It was here that
she was influenced to go to
Florida and start a school.
Deacon March Haynes
Spy and Pilot of Freedom
A deacon of First African
Baptist Church of Savannah,
and Crossroad Baptist
Church now known as First
African Baptist Church of
Hilton Head Island, March
Haynes and his wife operat
ed a spy network in
Savannah during the Civil
War. They recruited others
to serve as spies leading
them into Savannah. They
provided information to the
Union Army stationed at Ft.
Pulaski reporting on confed
erate activities in the
Savannah area. Haynes,
also, operated a maritime
(water) “underground rail
road”. He was a riverboat
pilot and used his skills to
guide Africans to freedom to
Ft. Pulaski and eventually
Hilton Head Island, SC. He
confronted death on each
occasion but never turned
back in guiding his people to
freedom. On one occasion he
was wounded as he led a
group to freedom.
Black History Beginnings
The first arrival Africans in
this country was not in
Jamestown, VA in 1619 but
was in the area we know as
Georgia and South Carolina.
Those Africans are a part of
the Lucas Vasquez de
Allyon expedition. The
expedition goes through the
Sapelo Sound area in
Georgia, through the Liberty
County coast, across Hilton
Head Island, and the Pee Dee
River area in South Carolina.
The Africans eventually join
with Native Americans and
successuly fight for their
freedom. Africans are free in
this area prior to the Pilgrims
setting foot on Plymouth
Rock! The Africans are in
this area 1526 nearly 100
years before the Jamestown,
VA arrival.
Cumberland Island
Freedom Colony and
Merikans
During the War of 1812
Cumberland Island was an
island of emancipation.
Cumberland and Jekyll
Islands had become inde
pendent African freedom
colonies under the protection
of the British. Many
Africans escaped to
Cumberland from the main
land in Georgia to obtain
their freedom. After the war
they would leave
Cumberland Island with the
British. The men would
become a part of the British
Royal Marines eventually
settling in the “Company
Villages” in Trinidad in the
Caribbean. The descendants
of those Africans from here
(and the Virginia area) are
called “Merikans.”
Pre-K Applications... Continued from page 3
18, 2008 at the Pre-K sites.
Parents are invited to attend
the lottery at the sites. Parents
will receive written notifica
tion of acceptance or waiting
list status during the week of
March 23, 2009.
Applications will continue to
be accepted after the classes
are filled, but they will be
placed in a "waiting" folder in
the event that openings occur
in the Pre-k classes.
The Information desk at
208 Bull Street will also have
applications.
For more information,
contact Mrs. LaWanda
Ransom, Project Director,
Pre-Kindergarten at (912)
395-1154.
AASU... Continued from page 3
For additional informa
tion about the AASU African
American Read-In, contact
Kalenda Eaton at
Kalenda.Eaton@armstrong.e
du, or 912.344.3141.
A workshop,
“Economic Empowerment:
How to Get Your Money
Right,” will be held Monday,
February 16 at 6:30 p.m. in
Compass Point Clubhouse.
Dr. Craig Bythewood, a pro
fessor of finance at Florida
Southern University, will
offer personal financial
advice. Bythewood will
encourage members of his
audience to “find out things
the banks will not tell you”
and he will explain other
strategies to maximize finan
cial investments.
For more information
on this event email
Michael. S no wden@ arm-
strong.edu.
Gabe Arnold...
Continued from page 3
munity, SCCPSS is proud to
name Gabe Arnold
Superintendent’s Student of
the Month.
The Superintendent’s
Student of the Month pro
gram recognizes individual
students at the monthly
board meetings who have
excelled in the area of aca
demics, leadership, and com
munity service. Gabe was
recognized by Dr. Lockamy
and presented with an award
plaque and $100 savings
bond at the regular board
meeting on Wednesday,
February 4, 2009.
[VTWBE Networking Session
For Ihe Gotllev Station K-D Proposal Packages
l)2A-Sttow«rk
i)2B-.Aspliall Pa vtiifl/Curb A Gutter/Paventcnt Markings
CilbajK Building Co. and I tic PoJtjte Curp., on behalf of ihc Board of Public
tducuthm for the City of Sitsjnnah and the County of Chatham, requests the
attendance of all Minority and Women owned liusintiscs offering sen ices
related (o the Proposal Packages listed mLk>> e. specifically;
Clear &. <3mb
I landing
Excavation
Grading
Erosion Control
Site Utilities (Sewer/ Water)
Storm Drainage
Asphalt Pav in';
Curb & Gutter
Pavement Markings
February 12.2009
5:00 PM
Con Ed Human Resources Center
(3rd Floor)
714 Martin Luther king, Jr. Blvd.
Savannah. GA
If arc uiulik to Jillemt , |flense visit
(he fill low mg tVcHftte If) dint hUi:ul I he list
of pn L i|un!ini.‘il firms to vnnljcl
stnt.jii 111 at ie tceh.ci mi
This Nctw "irking Session will give you the
opputlunily lu meet with ihos? firm* who have
Ins'll preqaalifted to submit proposals fur tlu f
packages listed
Pruposuls for Pivqualified firms art 1
due Feh. 25. 2ihW by 2:00 P1M
Flense note. mldiflonul MWBt neiworking Session* vi ill
lie held fur Him Situ Work totaled Trades in the Upcoming weeks