Photo By Spc. Rochelle Prince-Krueger | Capt. Dendre Wright, assigned to 49th Movement Control Battalion, 3rd Sustainment...... read more read more
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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - “Black History Month is a time to raise awareness of the past and to acknowledge the barriers that have been broken since America was founded,” said Sgt. Taschanda Johnson, a participant in the observance assigned to 49th Movement Control Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade.
About 20 service members stationed at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait participated in an interactive, educational and entertaining African-American/Black History Month Observance, Feb. 28, hosted by 1st Sustainment Command (Theater).
“Black History Month, like all other observances are very positive parts of who we are,” said Sgt. Dshaun Howard, assigned to 3rd Sust. Bde., 1st TSC. “You don’t want to let you being deployed stop you from celebrating key moments in history.”
Howard, a New Madrid, Missouri, native, participated in the educational portion by portraying the current President of the United States, Barack Obama.
The observance started like many others, with the National Anthem and invocation, but the performances were what made this one unique. The Anointed Dance Team Ministry did a praise dance.
Then the 3rd Sust. Bde. Soldiers did a “Who am I” segment where they gave audience members some interesting facts about six influential Black Americans and the audience had to guess who they were before their names were revealed.
Once the six Soldiers exited the stage there were two more Soldiers from 3rd Sust. Bde. who played some live blues music as a transition and to calm the crowd down before Maj. Gen. Darrell K. Williams, the 1st TSC commander, took the stage as the honorary guest speaker.
“As an African American I am proud of my history and culture; and hope all of you are proud of whom you represent today,” said Williams. “Our diversity is and continues to be our strength; one of the cornerstones of our nation’s greatness is its ability to transcend mere race at least on some level to harness the very best of all our differences.”
Williams went on to tell his story which was very relatable to many Service Members and civilians in the audience. He spoke about carrying the hopes and dreams of generations of people to come, as he went on to pursue his degree and enter the Army.
“Part of my story is very similar to yours; it’s an American story,” said Williams, a native of West Palm Beach, Florida. “This is one of few countries in the world where a grandson of a sharecropper from Cairo, Georgia, can become a two-star general in the United States Army; and where the son of a single mother, of modest means, can become the President of the United States.”
The observance concluded with Capt. Dendre Wright, assigned to 49th MCB, singing “A change is gonna come”.
“The biggest takeaway from this observance is achievement in general; no matter the color of your skin everyone has contributed to the success of our society,” said Howard. “The color of one’s skin has not stopped people from achieving and becoming successful to positively impact lives around them.”
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2015 04:52 |
| Story ID: | 155998 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Hometown: | FORT LIBERTY, NC, US |
| Hometown: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Hometown: | NEW MADRID, MO, US |
| Hometown: | SAVANNAH, GA, US |
| Hometown: | WEST PALM BEACH, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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