Rise Up! 2021: Praise, song and dance mark Black History Month in live-streamed event blueridgenow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from blueridgenow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Community invited to online Rise Up! free Black history celebration Feb. 25
Local African American singers as well as a speaker and dancer will celebrate Black History Month and hope to educate the public about their heritage during a Facebook Live event called “Rise Up!” on Thursday, Feb. 25.
The event is being held by The Black History Collective of Henderson County, NC and Agape World Outreach.
Agape World Outreach’s Praise Team will sing songs that have impacted Black history since the end of the Civil War, from the song “Oh Freedom!” to the modern gospel song “Total Praise.”
Praise Team members are YaShara Lynch, Compton Tucker, Charne Tucker, Tijuna Green and Linda Smith.
Because of restrictions on gatherings, the traditional breakfast held at Blue Ridge Community College was moved to a virtual format. The video is not live, and viewers are invited to watch from the comfort of their homes any time. The video is here.
Introduced by United Breakfast Chair Shirley Davidson, the program features opening and closing gospel songs by Odell D. Suber Jr., and sketches by Ronnie Pepper, who shared brief history sketches of important African-American businesses and institutions during separate but equal segregation. The video was made in a partnership with the Community Foundation of Henderson County.
Pepper s tour included the James Pilgrim Funeral Home, 836 Third Ave. West; the Landina Guest House, at 17 First Avenue West, which was listed in the Green Book African-American travelers used to find overnight lodging; the African-American section of Oakdale Cemetery; the site of the old Sixth Avenue School, which opened in 1916 and served all grade