Honoring black families whose legacies run deep

As we close out another Black History Month, we’ve seen a focus on the black family. At this year’s Not-SoWhite Oscars, black family fare like August Wilson’s “Fences” won Viola Davis a best supporting actress Oscar, and “Moonlight” won best picture.

Here in Boston, an awardworthy event was hosted by city councilors Ayanna Pressley, Tito Jackson and Andrea Campbell, most fittingly at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, honoring the importance of the black family, extended family and community.

Choosing 12 families to be honored from among hundreds of worthy families throughout the black community had to be a difficult task. But the good news is that there will be more families honored next year and beyond, as this will be an annual celebration and Feb. 22 will in perpetuity be Black Family Legacy Day in Boston.

Among this year’s family honorees were the AbdalKhallaqs, proprietors of A Nubian Notion and a strong small business anchor in Dudley Square for 50 years. The Bolling, Owens, King and Yancey families, for decades of public service. The Janeys, teachers and education activists. The Guscott and Cruz families — community developers and managers extraordinaire. The Bynoes, whose community building includes the work of the late John Bynoe and Edna Bynoe, who fought for and won improvements to Orchard Park, and Kevin, a principal at United Housing. The Redd family. The Millers, who gave us the 50-yearstrong Bay State Banner, and the Hicks family of Hicks Auto Body, a community staple.

Most interesting was the generational contrast between the honorees and the hosts — three millennial city councilors honoring their connections to family in their own experiences as public servants.

Pressley, raised by a strong mother, the spectacular Sandy Pressley, inherited the spirit of service from her mother, who worked for the Urban League. Pressley serves as the first AfricanAmerican woman elected to the City Council in its history.

Tito spoke lovingly of the Jackson family who “chose” him for adoption and how inspiring it was to grow up on Schuyler Street in Grove Hall, where, in addition to his role model and activist father, Kwaku Jackson, he knew doctors and lawyers and developers and political movers and shakers. Tito now holds the seat once held by one of those neighbors, my late husband, City Councilor Bruce Bolling.

One of the most poignant moments of the evening came from Campbell, the second African-American woman elected to the Council.

When introducing Yawu Miller, she paid tribute to his uncle, Mel Miller, for helping her see the strengths her father was able to give her, despite his involvement in the criminal world.

For the more than 100 who attended, this was a joyous celebration of the strength, resilience and enduring legacy of the black family.