February is Black History Month. Mission Commission will host a Special Coffee Hour Celebrating Black History on Sunday, February 26. On this special Sunday, Janice Thomas will sing during the 10:30 Worship Service. After the Worship Service, the Congregation is invited to the Fellowship Hall to hear our invited guest speaker, Ms. Gilda Rogers, Executive Director of T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank. She will speak on “American History is Black History”, something we don’t always learn in school.
Mission Commission will also profile each week during February one local notable African American who made significant contributions to our community and country.
On February 5, we will profile Timothy Thomas Fortune who was born on October 3, 1856, in Florida into slavery but freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. He attended Howard University and later became an influential Black journalist and editor of the New York Globe, New York Freeman, and New York Age. He was also a pioneer in the civil rights movement. One of the organizations that he co-founded, the National Afro-American League, was a precursor of the Niagara Falls Movement and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Fortune moved to Red Bank in 1901. His home became a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and is now the site of the T. Thomas Cultural Center. To learn more, go to https://www.tthomasfortuneculturalcenter.org/the-house
Next on February 12, we will feature Drs. James Parker, Sr. and Jr. Both father and son were medically trained at Howard University. Dr. James Sr., came to Red Bank in 1919, at the time of the influenza epidemic, and earned his medical reputation treating flu victims. He cared for his patients in their homes, as none of the local hospitals would accept an African-American doctor on their staff. Both father and son (born in Red Bank) tirelessly served the uninsured residents on the West Side of Red Bank for over 80 years. Drs. James Parker Boulevard is named after them. Also named after them and in honor of their legacy, the non-profit Parker Family Health Center now serves a much more diverse community in Red Bank and nearby areas. To learn more, go to https://www.parkerfamilyhealthcenter.org/legacy-index/
Finally, on February 19, we will highlight William James “Count” Basie, a native of Red Bank. Count Basie was the first African American to receive Grammy Awards. As a jazz icon, Basie is considered one of the greatest American bandleaders of all time. He was the arbiter of the big-band swing sound and his unique style of fusing blues and jazz established swing as a predominant music style. Basie changed the jazz landscape and shaped mid-20th century popular music, duly earning the title “King of Swing” as he made the world want to dance. In his honor, the original Reade’s Carlton Theater was renamed Count Basie Theater in November 1984 after his death in April. To learn more, go to https://countbasie.rutgers.edu/biography