African American Heritage Month Kick-off at City Hall

Thursday, March 11 - 17, 2010

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Mar 11, 2010 at 10:40 PM

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African American Heritage Month Kick-off at City Hall

Posted by youth, on 02-04-2010 23:49,

February 3, 2010
Honorable Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor, City Of Los Angeles
200 North Spring Street, Ste. 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa:

The purpose of my letter is to convey the very deep disappointment by many in
the African-American community regarding the manner in which the African-
American History Month Celebration was managed by your staff. The sense of
disrespect and disregard for individuals and organizations that represent the
very reason why we celebrate our history is inexcusable.

The planning process was supposed to be a collaboration of your staff and staff
from the Event Chair Danny Bakewell, Jr. and Our Authors Study Club. While
the planning involved all parties, the outcome was completely different than
what was discussed and agreed upon. It was also during this planning process
that your staff was unable to secure Jaime Foxx and Johnny Gill, at which point
Danny Bakewell's staff successfully secured both individuals.

Of grave concern is your Office of Protocol, which repeatedly resisted our
community's request for African Drummers and for the singing of the Negro
National Anthem for the opening ceremony of African American History
Month. It wasn't until Danny Bakewell, Jr. called your Office of Protocol and
reminded them that Aztec Warriors were used in the celebration of Latino
Heritage Month that your staff agreed to our request.

During the morning reception in which you entertained the honorees, Event
Chair Danny Bakewell, Jr., President and Executive Editor of the Los Angeles
Sentinel and Dr. Genevieve A. Shepherd, President of Our Authors Study Club
were excluded from the reception, even after numerous communications with
your staff that they should be included. This act of exclusion, even
unintentional, reflects a disregard and disrespect for individuals who were not
only responsible for Jaime Foxx and Johnny Gill's participation, but also have
been some of your str

Posted by Bryan Lee Tilford, on 02-08-2010 12:56,

I will agree that the ceremony was not organized very well. I am the artist that created the work on the cover of the 2010 Calendar and Cultural Guide. The information that I received was not clear as to what was going on. I missed the photo Op, because I was so far in the back of the Council Chambers, that when the Mayor asked for the artist to come forward, there were too many people in the way.By the time I got through the crowd, he had moved on. Then each Council member proceded to heap praise on the celebrities causing the program to be painfully long. I spoke to other artist that had work on display in the Calendar and many didn't receive a copy. I would think that they would reserve at least on copy for the Artist at the event.

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