Annual Black History Month celebration

Brookhaven Town supervisor Daniel J. Panico has announced that the Town of Brookhaven’s Black History Commission will host the 33rd annual Black History Night at Brookhaven Town Hall on Feb. 2, starting at 6 p.m. The theme of this year’s Black History Month Celebration is African Americans and the Arts. The evening’s program will include performances, art exhibits, a cultural food tasting, and the presentation of Academic Achievement Awards to Brookhaven’s top 51 African American high school seniors from 10 school districts who achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher.

About the Black History Commission

In 1991, a Black History Month Committee was formed in observance of Black History Month. Two years later, the then-Town Board established a permanent Black History Commission to provide continuity in planning and organizing a Black History Night celebration each February. The purpose of these celebrations is to acknowledge and honor the contributions of Black Americans, both nationally and locally, while fostering an appreciation for Black culture and heritage in our young people.

Recognizing that celebrating Black culture should not be limited to one specific month, in January 2014 the Town Board unanimously passed a resolution expanding and broadening the scope of the Black History Commission. This afforded the residents of Brookhaven the opportunity to attend the first ever Juneteenth event hosted by the Town on June 19, 2014, and has since become a new annual tradition.