The 15th annual African-American History Celebration of Youth: Remembering Our Heritage is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 in Grand Hall of the SAU Donald W. Reynolds Center.
The event is open to the public and admission is free.
This year’s celebration is again expected to be exciting, fun, educational and rewarding.
So far, 21 high school seniors from Magnolia and Nevada school will participate by briefly expressing their views on what black history means to them, how it has impacted their lives and what person (past or present) has impacted their lives the most.
The door remains open for other high school seniors (from any district) to participate.
The annual event is sponsored each year by Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Youth Department, SAU Office of Multiculturalism & Diversity, Albemarle Foundation, Columbia County Community Foundation, and CSNS Fashion & Men’s Wear.
The African-American History Celebration of Youth: Remembering Our Heritage is considered the largest African-American celebration involving youths in south Arkansas.
The program is conducted from start to finish mainly by junior and senior high students.
Hundreds of family, friends and others attend each year.
In 2005, the program was started as a platform for youths to reflect on their heritage, share talents and receive inspiring messages regarding education.
This year’s special young adult speaker will be Southern Arkansas University’s Adriana Valentine, a 21-year-old junior.
A native of Texas, Valentine graduated from College Station, Texas, High School, although her roots are in Texarkana, Texas.
After graduating, she first attended Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi where she later transferred to SAU. Valentine is a pre-med major and is minoring in psychology.
After graduation she plans to attend medical school where she will further her career as a surgeon specializing in plastics.
Along with attending SAU, Valentine is employed as a Patient Care Technician working 40 hours in Texarkana, Texas, to enhance her academic experience.
Although Valentine did not begin her journey in Mulerider country, she has found her footing with ease.
She is the current president of the SAU Student Government Association, and balances this with her studies.
Valentine, who is a full-time student enrolled in 18 course hours, maintains a 3.8 grade point average.
She says her commitment to serving others is epitomized by her volunteer work and community service projects.
This unique program has also become a way of helping teen-agers get over their fears of public speaking.
For the first three years (2005, 2006, 2007), the celebration was held at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Because of its immediate popularity, it moved to Columbia Baptist District Association Auditorium in 2008.
When that facility underwent renovation, the celebration joined forces in 2009 with the SAU Office of Multiculturalism & Diversity. It has been held in the Donald W. Reynolds Center for the past nine years.
“We are grateful to SAU and the local community foundations for their support in keeping this event going. We couldn’t do it with their help,” said Chris Gilliam, Bethlehem Youth Director and coordinator of the event.
Seniors who still wish to participate, can contact Gilliam at 299-0999.