Video: Celebrating Fathers!

The 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay, Inc. will host the 6th Annual Juneteenth Celebration at the Blaise Alfano Center (11606 McKinley Dr.) on Sunday, June 20th at 5 p.m. 

The event, themed "Celebrating Fathers", will creatively inform and educate the audience about Juneteenth, while offering an evening of smooth sounds by City Groove and a keynote from widely recognized professor, Dr. Donna Elam.  "The 100" will also honor some of Tampa's outstanding fathers with its annual "Herbert D. Carrington, Sr. Father of the Year" award.  This year's Father of the Year nominees are Kevin L. Johnson and Rowan Philp in the area of mentoring; Ed Johnson for economic development; Dr. Samuel L. Wright in education; and Dr. Lee B. Green in the category of health and wellness.

Tickets are $35 for adults; $20 for children.  For more information and tickets log on to www.100bmtb.org  or call (877)636-6687.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union Soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that all slaves were now free. Note that this was two and half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of Gen. Granger's regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome resistance.

The Tampa Bay chapter of the 100 Black Men of America decided in December 2004 to make Juneteenth one of its annual signature events.  Considering that Juneteenth falls on the same weekend of Father's day, the 100 found it appropriate to integrate these two special occasions into one event.  The Herbert D. Carrington, Sr. Father of the Year Award is given to the deserving father who the 100 feels exemplifies the role of father and good citizen in the community, in honor of the late Mr. Herbert D. Carrington, Sr. who passed away in his prime at the age of 107 in 2006.