AFRO News returns to D.C. with High Tea
By AFRO Staff
The AFRO American Newspapers held their High Tea in the nation’s capital on Saturday, Sept. 7. Elected officials, community leaders and their guests mingled with tea attendees in their finest threads, hats
and shoes.
The event honored Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, Congresswoman Eleanour Holmes Norton, civic leader and professor Cora Masters Barry and former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt.
Those in attendance enjoyed food from B&B
II and entertainment from the Too Much Talent Band and singer Robert Brown.
The D.C. High Tea debuted in 2018. The inaugural event was put together by the late Edgar Brookins, a beloved member of the community and long-time AFRO circulation and general manager.
AFRO CEO and Publisher Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper (center) shares a moment with honorees of the 2024 tea, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (left) Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (second from left), Cora Masters Barry (second from right) and former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt.
Co-Founder and Vice President of Sisters 4 Sisters Network, Dr. Sharon J. Bullock (left), with Marian Thomas, Alicia Pryor and Gina Duncan.
Pinky Lee Taylor
Adeola Ariyo (left); Madia Brown; Ayris Scales; Ariana Scales; Alexis Squire and Tia Butler show off their high tea hats.
Eunice Omotoye (left) makes her rounds in the vendor section of the event, making a stop at the table of Dr. Aramide Adeyemi, CEO of Aramide, for jewelry.
Veronica Kelly (left) Kimberly Booker, Tallulah Anderson, Veronica Hutchinson, Cynthia Washington, Ivornette Lynch, Raymia Henderson and Theresa Hudnall
Lenora Howze (left), Denise Lawrence and Diane Hocker (front).
Clarice Torian (left) takes a moment with AFRO Board Member Rachael Murphy Humphrey and Carolyn Woodson.
Maia McCuiston (left), Treasure McClain and Lavern Chatman
Jozanne Douglas and Taeilorae Levell-Young
AFRO photos / Patricia McDougall
Shown here, LaTara Harris, CEO and president of Crittenton Services of Greater Washington. Harris was an excellent Mistress of Ceremonies for the 2024 AFRO High Tea in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Renee Allen, one of two women to serve as Mistress of Ceremony for the event, strikes a pose. Allen is founder of Global Conscious Initiative and a longtime supporter of the AFRO.
AFRO News team explores Montgomery County roots
By AFRO Staff
Members of the AFRO American Newspapers team made a journey to Montgomery County on Sept. 5 to explore the humble beginnings of the AFRO American Newspapers. The trip afforded members of the AFRO and Afro Charities teams an opportunity to connect the present generation of family members and staff with the foremothers and fathers who began the paper in the late 1890s.
According to information released by the Archives of Maryland, on Oct. 11, 1814 Enoch George Howard was born a slave. He was able to purchase freedom for himself in 1851. He followed that feat up then purchasing his wife, Harriet, from Samuel R. Gaither on Sept. 5, 1853. The pair had five children, and by the time of his death, Howard had purchased the home of his slave master and enough land to leave his children space to grow, invest and build. One of those children was Martha Howard, wife of John H. Murphy Sr. After selling her portion of the inherited land to her brother, Martha Howard invested $200 into her husband’s plan to create a newspaper. The seed money, roughly $7,000 in American currency today, ultimately helped birth the AFRO American Newspapers.
The AFRO team, by pure happenstance, ended up standing on the land once owned by the Howard family exactly 171 years to the date of Harriet Howard’s emancipation from slavery. The trip to the old Howard family land culminated in the Howard family cemetery, where Enoch Goerge and Harriet Howard are buried, along with their descendants.
AFRO Photos / James Fields, Stephen Hopkins
AFRO Staff come together on land once owned by the founding family in Montgomery County. Shown here from left to right: AFRO Staff Writer Megan Sayles; AFRO Director of Community and Public Relations Diane Hocker; AFRO Production Manager Denise Dorsey; AFRO Advertising and Accounts Receivable Specialist LaTasha Owens; AFRO Staff Writer Tashi McQueen; AFRO Staff Writer Ariyana Griffin; AFRO Managing Editor Alexis Taylor; AFRO CEO and Publisher Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper; AFRO Billing Specialist Chakia Brown; AFRO Executive Director and Advertising Manager Lenora Howze; AFRO Editorial Assistant Ama Brown; AFRO Finance Manager Bonnie Deanes; AFRO Director of Digital Solutions Dana Peck, and AFRO Director of Operations Andre Draper.
AFRO Publisher Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper (left) leads the company as a fourth generation family member, while Savannah Wood, who represents the family’s fifth generation, leads the newspaper’s sister company, Afro Charities.
The remains of the ancestral home of Greenway Howard, brother to AFRO founder and lead investor, Martha Howard, still stands to this day.
Diane Hocker (front, center), AFRO director of community and public relations, takes in the fresh air as AFRO Photographer James Fields chats with AFRO Staff Writer Megan Sayles (right). The graves of Enoch George Howard and his wife, Harriet Howard, are a constant reminder of how far Black people have come since being freed from the bonds of American slavery.
Deyane Moses holds a photo of Enoch George Howard, the patriarch of the Howard family for Oyinda Omoloja.
Members of the AFRO Charities team take a ride through the corn fields that separate properties once owned by the Howard family. Shown here: (back, left) Oyinda Omoloja, Nicoletta de la Brown, Coco de la Brown (dog), Savannah Wood, Bilphena Yahwon, Jasmine Clark, Deyane Moses (front).
Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper walks the path between two properties, once owned by the AFRO American Newspaper’s founding family, with her husband Andre Draper.
AFRO team members look upon the home of the slave owner that once held members of the Howard family in bondage. The home was eventually purchased by Enoch George Howard and passed down to the Howard children, including AFRO founder Martha Howard.
Shea Niemann (left) and Erik Ledbetter speak with team members about efforts to preserve the land once owned by the Howard family.
Erik Ledbetter delivers a riveting account of how E. George Howard and his wife, Harriet Howard, purchased themselves, their children and the home of their former master in efforts to improve their lot in life and set a path forward for descendants to come.