Author: Carma Henry

Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

     The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), a league comprised of six HBCU football programs, will hold its 2025 Football Media Day on Tuesday, July 22, at M&T Bank Stadium – home of the National Football League’s (NFL)Baltimore Ravens. 

     In 2022, Janice Pettyjohn made headlines as the first woman hired full-time by the Howard University football program. Three years later, she has firmly established herself as a vital figure in the HBCU football program’s leadership. Pettyjohn now serves as Director of Player Personnel and On-Campus Recruiting. Her promotion highlights her expanding influence at Howard University, one of the most respected programs among HBCU institutions.

   The honor of visiting South Africa is one I will carry for the rest of my life. Boarding the plane in Fort Lauderdale and beginning the 16-hour flight, I anticipated a journey of culture and connection. But as we crossed the vast Atlantic Ocean, I found myself in profound reflection. I gazed out over the waters that once carried millions of African souls to unknown shores under horrific conditions, and I imagined the terror and heartbreak of that forced transatlantic journey. My ancestors were taken from a land that had everything they needed—community, wisdom, purpose—and cast into bondage in a foreign world. Now, generations later, I was returning—freely, proudly, and purposefully. I was going back not as a descendant of the enslaved, but as a leader committed to partnership, progress, and possibility.

       Through its cultural programs the City of Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department (PBCAD) works to celebrate the convergence of art, culture and history all year long. PBCAD has celebrated Juneteenth and Caribbean Heritage Month’s since June 2020 with a range of virtual and in person events ranging from story time and conversations to concerts and performance.

 Celebrating Freedom with special guests, performers and activities    BROWARD COUNTY, FL – Broward County Library (BCL) commemorates Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration honoring the official…