Local News

Black Military Desegregation

      Black soldiers have served the US military since the Revolutionary War. Note: We have participated in every war the US has fought. The motivation to fight was for a new country that anchored itself on the motto “Freedom For All!” After 246 years our Union is still in pursuit of that mantra.  The website armymilitary.com reported that “Many African Americans were inspired by the Black soldiers from Haiti and Senegal fighting for France and earning respect, and hoped that they would receive the same recognition from their fellow Americans.” This sentiment took over a 100 years to gain any traction. […]

Local News

Black and Indigenous Sistrunk History – OURstories

      Starting in 1691, the colony of Virginia began the practice of regulating the legal identity of human beings based on genealogy. This included a ban on interracial marriage and government workers given the task of determining the ethnic/ racial identity of each resident based on the presence or absence of an African descended ancestor. Almost two centuries later, in 1865, a similar law was passed in Florida. […]

Local News

All Things New

     “The house we lived in was built on top of an old cemetery. Supernatural stuff was always happening in our home: sounds, cupboards banging, howling noises. My sister, Joyce, was constantly rebuking spirits and things would calm down.” […]

Local News

15th Annual Light Up MLK Celebration Returns to Annie Adderly Gillis Park

The City of Pompano Beach is thrilled to Light Up MLK at the newly refurbished Annie Adderly Gillis Park. The holiday celebration is returning with great fanfare to the beloved community space. The event takes place November 20, 2022, with festivities beginning at 5:30 pm and the official tree lighting ceremony occurring at 7 pm. Sounds of the holidays will ring throughout the neighborhood and will include a variety of local community-based performances. Enjoy food and beverages plus a variety of interactive holiday themed activities, and be sure to have your camera ready as Santa stops by for a visit! The event is free and open to the public. Learn more at www.pompanobeacharts.org. […]

Local News

Testa-lyin’ in the Black Church

       Ol’ Pete gives Super Cartwright some credit. She was told to make good with the Black community and what better way to kick off the effort than to cross the threshold of the Black church with a King James Bible in one hand and a charm with a Black Jesus on the cross in the other. Contrarily, the Street Committee is talking, critiquing, and seeing through Cartwright’s efforts as being short of genuine. No amount or “testa-lying” (and she did plenty) can make up for the attack on Blacks that she executed at the beginning of her superintendency. Black parishioners told Peter that they don’t want to be pacified or patronized. They are seeking real atonement that starts with an apology, something they doubt Cartwright would ever extend. The Super made some erroneous assumptions when she came to Broward and was led astray by some folk with personal agendas. Peter Traceit, the Street Detective, is told Cartwright must first understand and embrace for herself that she was targeted and used to exact other people’s vengeance, and then she must seek out those who she hurt and atone.  […]

Local News

Pieper Lewis, the Iowa teen who killed a man she claimed raped her and was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution to his family, has escaped from a juvenile detention facility. Lewis “walked away from the Fresh Start Women’s Center on Friday at 6:19 a.m. after cutting off her electronic monitoring tracking device,” officials said, recommending her probation be revoked. […]

Local News

A Call for Black Mentors

     Today at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County, 66 percent of the Little Brothers and Sisters we serve identify themselves as Black or Biracial. By comparison, only 26 percent of our volunteer mentors identify as Black or Biracial.  Currently, 56 percent of our wait list – or 462 children – are Black or Biracial. […]