Celebrate Black History Month
ORLANDO – Cheryl Denise Bannerman hands out business cards with packs of M&Ms candy from behind a table with her novels laid out on it. People mingle between her and other authors at the downtown Orlando Public Library. “Local events are really how you build relationships,” she said. “Once you connect in person and then they find you on social media, you can build off of that.”
Bannerman was part of the library’s Local Authors Festival: In Celebration of Black History Month. For many organizations, February provides chances for voices of the community to shine.
“We want everyone in our community to commemorate the contributions that African Americans have made to society,” said Deloris Batson, president of the Black History Committee of Orange County. Founded in 1994, the committee is a nonprofit organization that coordinates with Orange County on promotional events.
The committee also distributes as much as $50,000 in scholarships and aid annually. “We want to be sure our children are being educated appropriately,” said Batson. “We want to be sure that they come back to our community or, if they go to a different community, that they make a difference there.”
The signature event for the committee is the Black History Month Celebration Gala, which this year featured actor Geoffrey Owens as its keynote speaker. Owens, who rose to fame as Elvin on “The Cosby Show,” had a photo of him working at a Trader Joe’s grocery store go viral last year. “Here’s the inspirational story of a young man who couldn’t continue to fulfill his dream of acting so he had to do whatever it took to take care of his family,” said Batson. “He wasn’t ashamed to be working at Trader Joe’s. That’s why our theme this year is triumph.”
The gala took place Saturday at Orlando’s Rosen Plaza Hotel on International Drive and featured live entertainment from local band CeCe Teneal & Soul Kamotion.
Orange County libraries are also hosting informational events through the end of the month. Today, the Orlando Public Library (101 E. Central Blvd., downtown Orlando) will host the African American Read-In. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demmings will join other local black luminaries such as WESH 2 News anchor Jazmin Bailey, WWE NXT stars Monique Jenkins and Denzel Dejournette and more in sharing stories, songs and poetry from African American authors.
“We hold this event because African Americans authors are typically not well represented in literature,” said Erin Sullivan, public relations administrator for the Orange County Library System. “This is an attempt to showcase the talent that’s out there, past and present.”
The free read-in runs from 2-4 p.m. Information on that event and more can be found at ocls.info.