Yuba-sutter celebrates Black History Month

Organizations to host variety of events

It’s Black History Month and Yuba-sutter native, Kyisha Barnett-smalling, is making sure that her community is included in the celebrating.

Barnett said she was motivated to organize a variety of events for Black History Month due to the lack of representation of African American culture in the area.

“Yuba-sutter is very diverse,” Barnett-smalling said. “Growing up here, I watched as everyone came out to support the Chinese New Year, Bok Kai parade, Sikh parade and Farmers and Peach Festival, but I can barely remember anything being done for Black History Month.”

She said she had to take her children to Sacramento and the Bay Area to see positive representation of the contributions African Americans have made to society.

Since then, Barnett-smalling has become the executive chairman for the Tri-counties African American Alliance, the president of the Black Student Union at Yuba College and a member of various other non-profit cultural groups around the area. She teamed up with organizations such as Sutter County Library, Sutter County Community Memorial Museum, Yuba Community College and Yuba Sutter Arts Council to make a variety of Black History Month events

possible.

“I just want to deliver a positive representation of our people in society so that our children know who they are versus being told who they are. We are so much more than the portrayals seen in society,” Barnett-smalling said.

She said that the upcoming events are a dream come true and she’s really looking forward to them.