UPW - Urban Pro Weekly

UPW The Harlem Renaissance Black History Month Tribute To

A Celebration of Black America’s Historical Cultural Mecca

URBAN PRO WEEKLY

Zora Neale Hurston portrait byCarl Van Vechten, a patron of the Harlem Renaissance

FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022 • VOL. 10 NO. 13

JOHN WESLEY GILBERT The USA’s first Black Archeologist taught at Paine College

in the CLASSROOM

UrbanProWeekly -FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

2

District Spelling Bee Winners Named Students from Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School and Tobacco Road Elementary School are the top winners in the Richmond County School System Spelling Bee. Annie Zhang won the District Spelling Bee by spelling moorage. Zhang is an 8th grade student at Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School. Ra’Maan Cochran is the Elementary Spelling Bee

Winner and he won by spelling Richter Scale. Cochran is a 5th grade student at Tobacco Road Elementary School.

Cody Howard is the Middle Annie Zhang Cody Howard School Spelling Bee Runner Up. Howard is an 8th grade student Elementary School. at Freedom Park K-8. Nora Quiller is the Elementary Spelling Bee The Spelling Bee was held virtuRunner Up. Quiller is a 5th grade ally today. The Elementary Bee was student at Terrace Manor held at 8:45 a.m. The Middle School

Nora Quiller

Ra Maan Cochran

Bee was held at 11 a.m. and the District Bee was held at 1 p.m.

Winners will complete on February 26 in the Region 7 Virtual Spelling Bee beginning at 10 a.m.

2022 Martin Luther King Jr. TE DA Parade NAACP W NE Theme: “When We Fight, We Win” Dyess Park Community Center Sat, Feb. 26, 2022 @ 1:00 pm

Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022

UPW URBAN PRO WEEKLY

PUBLISHER Growing Augusta: Arts, Agriculture, & Agency LLC http://www.growingaugusta.co/UPW +1 (706) 751-2537 SALES & MARKETING http://www.growingaugusta.co/UPW +1 (762) 233-5299

CONTRIBUTORS K.L. Gordon Olivia Gaines Menia L. Chester Frederick Benjamin Sr. Layout/Design : UrbanProMedia

AIKEN, SC The Aiken Business Coalition, Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce, The Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce and the Aiken County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) recently unveiled plans for their new Aiken Business Coalition Entrepreneurship Program, a $425,000 Guaranteed Loan/Grant Training Program, funded by the City of Aiken and a partnership with Security Federal Bank.

This program will provide entrepreneurs and small business owners with the needed training and capital to succeed in an ever-changing business world and is funded through a portion of the City of Aiken’s allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act. The Aiken Business Coalition Entrepreneurship Program will offer in the city of Aiken a comprehensive, innovative approach to assist both new and existing entrepreneurs with the following: *Four weeks of training, and an additional six weeks of coaching and mentorship for new and existing small business owners and entrepreneurs. *The additional six weeks of coaching and mentorship are a critical component of the program to ensure that participants stay engaged, are taking actionable next steps, and have the support they need to succeed. *At the end of the program, guaranteed grants/loans will be provided

after all criteria are met within program guidelines. *Training components include Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Business Planning Basics, Business Structure 101, Bookkeeping & Recordkeeping, Business Insurance 101, Business Marketing/Branding 101, Growing Your Business and Obtaining Your First Customer, Credit Essentials, Reporting and Tracking cash flow, and Running a Successful Business.

Formed in 2017, GABCC is a histor-

ically Black chamber of commerce in the CSRA that supports minority-owned, women-owned, disadvantaged, and black-owned businesses.

The Chamber has been dedicated to advocating for its members and the community, specifically targeting economic growth and sustainability via workshops, technical assistance, and networking opportunities.

The Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce is one of only 105 out of approximately 7,000 five-star rated

chambers by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. The award-winning Aiken County Branch has a rich history of civil rights direct action. It operates under the premise that the three foundational tenets of a great community are Education, Public Safety, and Business and Commercial Relations. The Branch has been recognized as one of the top NAACP Branches in the nation.

3 UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

Open Entrepreneurship Training Program with guaranteed loan and grants launches in Aiken

UrbanProWeekly -FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

4

Small Business Forum

PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Denials are Increasing but Small Business Entrepreneurs can Appeal

BY RHODES PORTER The Small Business Administration (SBA) began the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness applications in 2020. SBA shortly after releasing the application that was processed by the loan servicing institutions the administration released the Loan Forgiveness Portal where PPP loan borrowers can request forgiveness directly.

Using the self service portal small business entrepreneurs are able to declare their use of the PPP loan proceeds were appropriately used for its intended purposes of payroll protection and ordinary business expenses.

Unfortunately, there has been an increase in denials for forgiveness.

Gladly, small business entrepreneurs can appeal the SBA decision to deny the forgiveness application. The entrepreneurs have thirty (30) calendar days to appeal the decision to deny by requesting a review with SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals

(OHA).

In the request for review the small business entrepreneur must address: Why the reason for the denial is false AND Statement of proof that the claim is in error The second point is important. The small business entrepreneur will have one chance to appeal to the judge’s review of the evidence of error. This is why good detailed record keeping is vital.

Appealing the denial of the SBA PPP Loan Forgiveness application decision is usually done in writing and can be done by the borrower; however, having an experienced attorney who is familiar with the process and language maybe the best line of defense in the appeal.

Rhodes Porter http://www.rhodesporter.com/

Wetpaint Party and Sale Celebrates Masters of the Arts Join us for a magical evening at Sacred Heart Cultural Center celebrating Masters of the Arts at the 2022 Wetpaint Party and Sale on February 26 at Sacred Heart Cultural Center, located at 1301 Greene St., Augusta, GA. Mingle with models dressed as famous artists and figures from famous paintings while sipping Van Gogh’s favorite drink, Absinthe. Our signature drink for the evening is “Death in the Afternoon,” a potent blend of absinthe and bubbly – it’s so delicious you may see the infamous Green Fairy!

Prepare for an evening highlight when a dancing figure in Jonathan Green’s re-created painting, Silver Slipper Club, steps out of the painting and joins our party. Enjoy music curated by DJ Eric Kinlaw and food by Chef Edward Mendoza of Cucina 503.

Admission is free for members of the Greater Augusta Arts Council.

To join online and attend the Art Party of the year, visit www.augustaarts.com/support. New members can also join at the door the night of the event.

Black History Month Tribute To

5

F

UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

The Harlem Renaissance A Celebration of The Arts In Black America’s Cultural Mecca

rom the early 1920s through the onset of the Great Depression and the 1930s, the New York City neighborhood of Harlem, occupying less than two square miles of northern Manhattan, became the mecca for African American creators — writers, artists, musicians, actors, dancers, etc — and spawned such a cultural surge in the black experience that its effects have lasted until this day. Harlem offered a kaleidoscope of literary, political, and hedonistic expression unmatched anywhere in the United States. This area became the birthplace of the New Negro Movement that was later named the Harlem Renaissance.

Such writers as Alain Locke, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Nella Larsen, Wallace Thurmond, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others helped to pioneer this literary and intellectual epoch.

“Blues”: Oil on canvas by Archibald Motley, Jr., 1929

By Miguel Covarrubias (1924): No artist captured the Harlem Renaissance as well.

The NORTHEASTERNERS Three charter members of the New York Chapter: Vivienne Scott Melville, Phyllis Taylor Means and Ethel Harris Tate, in their finery walking on 127th Street in Harlem.

theatre • literature • identity

UrbanProWeekly -FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

6

THE LAFAYETTE THEATRE, also known as the “House Beautiful” was located at 132nd Street and 7th Avenue. It was probably the first New York theater to desegregate and as early as 1912, African-American theatergoers were allowed to sit in orchestra seats instead of only the balcony.

The Lafayette Players, the resident stock company, played before almost exclusively African-American audiences in plays from popular white theater repertory as well as the classics. The theater seated 2,000 and presented such Broadway hits as Madame X and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The photo shows opening night of a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which had been arranged and staged by Orson Welles. This was a production of the Federal Theatre Project which was a part of the Works Project Administration. The overture was by James P. Johnson and such notable actors as Canada Lee and Rose McClendon were part of the program.

This production came to be known as the “Voodoo Macbeth” because of the various African elements employed in it.

Management changed several times and the theater was turned into a vaudeville house; later it became a movie theater and finally a Poster from a Lafayette Theatre production church.

Opening night of a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre during the Harlem Renaissance years.

The Writers of the Harlem Renaissance forged a new black identity

Ella Larsen, author Acclaimed Harlem Renaissance writer NELLA LARSEN (18911964). The author of the novels Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929), Larsen was the daughter of a seamstress from Denmark and a black laborer from the Danish West Indies -- now the U.S.

Virgin Islands -- who met in Chicago.

She visited Denmark as a child with her mother, and, after a year at Fisk University, later returned to Copenhagen, where she lived from 1908-12. She then studied nursing in New York and secured a job at Tuskegee University hospital in Alabama. Dismayed by the lack of professionalism at the facility, Larsen returned to New York and worked as a public health nurse. After her marriage to a prominent black physicist, she became a librarian.

Encouraged in her literary pursuits by a white, activist librarian who worked in Harlem, Larsen made the transi-

tion from nurse to librarian to celebrated writer in about six years. By the late 1920s, she had published two novels centered on the complexity of skin color that would be hailed as among the best offerings of the Harlem Renaissance.

Luminaries ranging from entertainer Ethel Waters to Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (then touring Manhattan) sang her praises.

In his widely read review of Larsen’s novel Passing , W.E.B. DuBois raved: “If the American Negro renaissance gives us many more books like this, we can soon with equanimity drop the word ‘Negro.’ Meantime, your job is clear. Buy the book.”

Langston Hughes (1901-1967) Born in Joplin, Missouri, Langston Hughes moved around a lot as a child until his family settled in Cleveland, Ohio. He wrote his first and most famous poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” soon after graduating from high school. While studying at Columbia University in New York City, he embraced Harlem culture, especially the popular jazz and blues music that he later incorporated so memorably into his work beginning with his first collection, The Weary Blues (1926). As the most influential and widely celebrated voice of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes also wrote essays, novels, short stories and plays, all of which centered and celebrated Black life and pride in African American heritage.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) After growing up in rural Alabama and Florida, Zora Neale Hurston attended Howard University and won a scholarship to Barnard College in 1925, which brought her into the heart of Harlem culture. A trained anthropologist who traveled to Haiti and Jamaica for research, Hurston gained attention in the 1930s for her collection of African American folktales, Of Mules and Men (1935) and her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, about the tumultuous life of a Black woman in the rural South. Though Hurston struggled to make a living as a writer during her lifetime, interest in her work revived after her death, when Their Eyes Were Watching God was celebrated as a literary classic and one of the greatest works of the Harlem Renaissance.

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) The Kentucky-born Countee Porter was unofficially adopted at age 15

by F.A. Cullen, minister of a leading Methodist church in Harlem. While

music • fine arts • research

7 UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

Shops on a typical Harlem block during the 1920s.

attending New York University, Countee Cullen began publishing his poems in The Crisis, the literary magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) co-founded by W.E.B. Du Bois, and elsewhere. He soon won a scholarship to Harvard, and won widespread acclaim for his debut poetry collection, Colors (1925). Unlike Hughes, Cullen was unapologetically influenced in his work by Romantic poets like John Keats.

Claude McKay (1889-1948) Born in Jamaica, Claude McKay came to the United States to attend college, but left school in 1914 and settled in Harlem. After publishing “If We Must Die,” one of his best-known poems, in 1919 he traveled in Europe and lived in London, returning to the United States in 1921. McKay’s collection Harlem Shadows (1922) established him as a major voice of the Harlem Renaissance and an influence on younger writers like Hughes. After his novel Home to Harlem (1928), about a young army deserter during World War I, became the first commercially successful novel by a Black writer, McKay followed up with two more novels, Banjo (1929) and Banana Bottom (1933). A supporter of communism in the 1920s, McKay traveled to the Soviet Union and lived in France. Later in his life, he converted

to Catholicism and settled in Chicago, where he worked as a teacher for Catholic organizations.

Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882-1961) A 1905 graduate of Cornell University, Jessie Redmon Fauset was working as a teacher when she began writing for The Crisis. In 1919, she moved to New York to become the magazine’s literary editor.

In addition to promoting the work of other important writers, Fauset continued to publish her own poetry and short fiction in the magazine, as well as four novels, including There is Confusion (1924) and Plum Bun (1929), which chronicled the lives and culture of the emerging Black middle class.

Jean Toomer (1894-1967) Born in Washington, D.C., Jean Toomer came from a family with both white and Black heritage, and his grandfather had been the first Black governor in the United States during Reconstruction.

After attending the City College of New York, Toomer wrote poetry and prose for several years, then moved to Georgia in 1921 to take a teaching job. The experience of returning to his family’s Southern roots inspired his novel Cane (1923), an experimental hybrid of fiction prose, dramatic dialogue and poetry that was hailed as an important example of literary modernism. Toomer embraced

The Landmark Building in Harlem Original Site of the 135th Street Branch Library and the Arthur A. Schomburg Collection.

Buildings to the left are the Nail & Parker apartments. [inset] Arturo (Arthur) Alfonso Schomburg (1874-1938), bibliophile, historian, writer, collector, curator the spiritual teachings of the influential philosopher George Gurdjieff, and taught workshops in Harlem and elsewhere. While he continued to write, his later work failed to find an audience. He later adopted the Quaker religion, and lived as a recluse in the years before his death.

“Gamin” by Augusta Savage: The sculpture is an important one in her portfolio because it highlighted her unique perception of black physical characteristics, moreso than any other artist. It was this sculpture that helped her to win the chance to study in Paris for one year.

UrbanProWeekly -FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

8

The Augusta Black history connection The First Black Archaeologist A Life of John Wesley Gilbert

by John W.I. Lee

Black Physicians in Augusta, Georgia, 1902–1952

by Leslie J. Pollard

An inspiring portrait of an overlooked pioneer in Black history and American archaeology The First Black Archaeologist reveals the untold story of a pioneering African American classical scholar, teacher, community leader, and missionary. Born into slavery in rural Georgia, John Wesley Gilbert (1863-1923) gained national prominence in the early 1900s, but his accomplishments are little known today.

Using evidence from archives across the U.S. and Europe, from contemporary publications, and from newly discovered documents, this book chronicles, for the first time, Gilbert›s remarkable journey.

As we follow Gilbert from the segregated public schools of Augusta, Georgia, to the lecture halls of Brown University, to his hiring as the first black faculty member of Augusta’s Paine Institute, and through his travels in Greece, western Europe, and the Belgian Congo, we learn about the development of African American intellectual and religious culture, and about the enormous achievements of an entire generation of black students and educators.

Gilbert was born to slaves

Segregated Doctoring:

in Hephzibah, Georgia, though he grew up in nearby Augusta. He was named after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.Until he left Georgia, Gilbert “spent half the year on the farm and the other half in the public schools of the city of Augusta.”

After finishing public school, Gilbert enrolled in the Augusta Institute (later the Atlanta Baptist Seminary, a predecessor of Morehouse College).

John W.I. Lee is Associate Professor of History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His previous publications include A Greek Army on the March (Cambridge University Press) and The Persian Empire (The Great Courses/The Teaching Company).

Between 1902 and 1952, Augusta, Georgia, attracted thirty-four black physicians. The earliest African American physicians began arriving in Augusta in the mid-1880s, when race relations were still evolving from the Reconstruction era. At that time, they were accorded privileges at the city’s black public hospital.

By 1902, racial attitudes had solidified, and black physicians were excluded from the African American hospital, a decision that endured for almost half a century.

Legalized segregation forged an inextricable link between medical care and racial discrimination and provided the social context for African American exploitation. Not only were black physicians denied access to public hospitals, but they had limited opportunities for continuing education and were excluded from the corridors of power within the medical profession.

They faced skeptics on both sides of the color line, albeit for different reasons, while competing with white physicians to provide medical care for the black community. They held the highest status in the black community and played a vital role in the community’s response to segregation through racial solidarity and institutional development.

Segregated Doctoring analyzes the structure of African American medical practice in

the context of segregation and its accompanying inequities. It serves as an important corrective to the neglected story of black Augusta physicians and is an important addition to available scholarly literature that explores the city’s rich medical history.

Dr. Leslie J. Pollard, retired Paine College history professor, is an Evans native and Paine college graduate.

He has been fascinated by the area’s medical history for years. He once said, “Augusta was kind of unique in the fact that it had a hospital for black patients that extended all the way back to the Antebellum period,” Pollard said. “If you were in most places in the South, and you had an accident, if you were sent to a white hospital, they put you in the basement. Sometimes, they even had blacks in a side room, and I’ve even read that there were even places like closets where they put a black patient.”

9

text UPW to (706) 528-6855

Get UPW delivered to your inbox OR your front door.

Subscribe at growingaugusta.co/upw

MLK PARADE DATE CHANGED NEW DATE IS SATURDAY, FEB . 26

UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

#gardencityjazz june 27 : july 25 code: UPW

UrbanProWeekly -FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

10

Latrell’s Simple & Tasty Rutabagas Live your best life! That is my motto. My name is Menia L. Chester, I am a chef and owner of Desserts

by Latrell and Southern Jazz and Sweets.

Let’s talk about root vegetables. Many of us are familiar with Russet potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots. Have you ever tasted rutabagas or roasted beets? Growing up, these vegetables were on our dinner table quite a bit but I just did not like them until recently. My palate has matured and I enjoy them now!

Did you know that rutabagas are a cross between Latrell’s Simple and Tasty Rutabagas Serves 4 Ingredients 3 medium rutabagas ¼ cup of butter or margarine Salt to taste

wild cabbage and turnips? They are good for you too! One cup of rutabaga contains almost 50% of your daily value of vitamin C. They’re also rich in fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, and magnesium and they are low in calories. When cooked properly, they have a slightly sweet flavor that pairs well with roasted chicken or baked fish. Have I convinced you to try them yet?

In my family, rutabagas are usually prepared with salt pork or ham hocks. This recipe is a simpler and healthier version that does not compromise the flavor of this amazing veggie.

Peel the rutabaga and place in a bowl of water.

Chop them into 1 inch cubes. Place in a saucepan and cover with water, butter. Lightly simmer until tender. Add salt if needed. Pour off any liquid then serve hot! Pairs well with other vegetables, chicken, fish or beef. Enjoy!

If you have questions, would like to see other

STUDIES IN BLACK HISTORY ****BEFORE SLAVERY *** SYLLABUS FEBRUARY 2022

ELDER BOB PATTEN, FACILITATOR

These studies are scheduled to last for one hour 5:30pm to 6:30pm each Thursday of February: To join the meetings, use this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6589669866?pwd=M2pnNjFmNmc2Tlcxd0VYRGdKcUpzQT09

WEEK ONE Explore the question: What is behind Black History Month? a study through the eyes of Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

WEEK TWO Africans in North America long before Columbus. A study through the eyes of Dr. Ivan Van Sertima.

WEEK THREE Kemet: a look at ancient Kemet, (aka Egypt), as seen through the eyes of Dr. Asa G. Hilliard.

WEEK FOUR The Hebrews circa start of the Common Era. As seen through the eyes of Dr. John Henrik Clarke.

recipes, or learn about events by Latrell, please visit my website or send me an email.

Website: www.southernjazzandsweets.com Email: southernjazzandsweets@gmail.com

Umoja Village Calendar

nesses! For more information, call face with representatives from The Black Historical Committee of local companies. UMOJA=UNITY: People Helping People Aiken, 803-642-7634.

Meet local employers if you’re looking for a job at The Aiken Standard Career Expo on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 3-7 p.m., Newberry Hall, located at 117 Newberry St. S.W. Come dressed to impress with résumés to get face to

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF RICHMOND COUNTY INVITATION TO BID Sealed proposals from Contractors will be received for the Additions to Sue Reynolds Elementary School Project by the County Board of Education of Richmond County at the address below until 3:00 p.m. local time, February 24, 2022, at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read. No extension of the bidding period will be made.

A Pre-Bid Conference will be held February 15, 2022 @ 11:00 p.m. local time at the Sue Reynolds Elementary School facility, 3840 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta, Georgia 30909; 706-855-2540.

Drawings and project manual on this work may be examined at the Department of Maintenance and Facilities, Richmond County Board of Education, 2956 Mike Padgett Hwy., Augusta, Georgia 30906.

Bidding documents may be obtained at the Office of the Architect: Hughes, Beattie, O’Neal, Law & Associates; 1201 Broad Street, Ste. 2A; Augusta, GA 30901. Applications for documents together with refundable deposit of $ 300.00 per set should be filed promptly with the Architect. Bidding material will be forwarded (shipping charges collect) as soon as possible. The full amount of deposit for one set will be refunded to each prime contractor who submits a bona fide bid upon return of such set in good condition within 10 days after date of opening bids. All other deposits will be refunded with deductions approximating cost of reproduction of documents upon return of same in good condition within 10 days after date of opening bid.

Contract, if awarded, will be on a lump sum basis. No bid may be withdrawn for a period of 35 days after time has been called on the date of opening.

Bid must be accompanied by a bid bond in an amount not less than 5% of the base bid. Personal checks, certified checks, letters of credit, etc., are not acceptable. The successful bidder will be required to furnish performance and payment bonds in an amount equal to 100% of the contract price.

The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive technicalities and informalities.

To promote local participation, a database of Sub-contractors, Suppliers, and Vendors has been developed by the Program Manager, GMK Associates. Contact Jeanine Usry with GMK Associates at (706) 826-1127 for location to review and obtain this database.

Bids shall be submitted and addressed to: Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw County Board of Education of Richmond County Administrative Office 864 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901 c/o: Mr. Bobby Smith, CPA, CFO

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR THE UMOJA VILLAGE BLACK HISTORY MONTH COMMUNITY CELEBRATION Thursday, Feb. 24th, 11AM-1PM at the Lessie B. Price Senior and Youth Center in Aiken, with guest speaker 2A Lower State Head Coach of the Year/Silver Bluff Head Coach De’Angelo Bryant along with special musical performances from Gospel recording artists Rudy Currence and Psalmist Thelma J. Robinson and much more. Free registration includes a full boxed lunch. No walk-ins at the event.

Must preregister on Eventbrite OR on www.umojavillage.com See attached flyer.

Amick Farms is hiring, $13.75$18.75 per hour. Apply on www. countonamickfarms.com *** ATTENTION ALL CHURCHES, ORGA NIZ ATIONS, A ND BUSINESSES, please use the Umoja Village Community Calendar as a planning tool and a marketing tool. This calendar is paid for by the Umoja Village organization and exists to help us work together so that our events and activities can be as effective as possible and to help alleviate dividing our intended audience due to multiple events planned on the same dates. You can use this calendar, on w w w.umojavillage.

Have A Suggestion For A Great Story?

Let us know about it.

Contact Us At growingaugusta.co/ upw

11 UrbanProWeekly - FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

The Black Historical Committee of A iken will hold its 22nd Annual Black History Parade on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2 p.m. This year’s theme will be: Excellence In Community Service: Honoring Betty Gyles.

Entr y fee is only

$20.00. Pick up applications at the Smith Hazel Recreation Center, 400 Kershaw Street in Aiken; or Brothers & Sisters of Aiken, 132 York Street in Aiken.

Together, let’s make this parade the best year ever and truly demonstrate unity. Attention all churches, youth groups, praise dancers, families, organizations, and busi-

UrbanProWeekly -FEBRUARY 14 - 27, 2022

12