More than 40 students from the Diocese of Brooklyn and the New York Archdiocese were invited to Washington, D.C., Feb. 23 to visit different historical monuments that highlighted the African-American culture, including the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial and the National African American History and Culture Museum.
Washington’s newest attraction – the National Museum of African American History and Culture – welcomed its millionth visitor in February, not even six months after its official opening. For some of the young women from St. Joseph H.S., Downtown Brooklyn, the museum visit was their first experience outside of New York City and into a cultural exhibition of their African heritage.
Living a holy life is “the finest tribute we can give to our slave ancestors, to our parents, grandparents and great grandparents, who walked the gauntlet of segregation, discrimination and annihilation … in heroic Christian fashion,” Chicago Bishop Joseph N. Perry told attendees at a Black History Month Mass in Douglaston Feb. 19.
In its first four months, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has become one of the most popular attractions in Washington, as it welcomed nearly 750,000 visitors.
Eleven-year-old gymnast Arianna Asarian is this year’s grand-prize winner in Cablevision’s Black History Month essay contest. The fifth grader from Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Dyker Heights, aspires to win an Olympic gold medal one day – just like her role model Gabby Douglas.
In celebration of Black History Month, St. Mary, Star of the Sea parish, Far Rockaway, will have a special movie event on Sunday, Feb. 28.
“Let us give thanks for the opportunity for our two dioceses to celebrate our ancestry together for the first time in so many years,” said Darcel Whitten-Wilamowski.
Black Catholics have been part of the Church since Biblical times, said a visiting bishop as the diocese marked Black History Month.
The current situation in our country, especially in the City of New York, brings to mind the question of racial and class divide in our society. I am grateful to my brother Bishop Edward Braxton, of Belleville, Ill., for his reflection on “The Racial Divide in the United States: A Reflection for the World Day of Peace 2015.”
Jesuit Father Gregory Chisholm says local black Catholics must strengthen their families, churches and communities so that their light may shine more abundantly in Brooklyn and Queens.
