APG celebrates black heritage

Photo By Lt. Col. Ryan Donald | Charles L. Gilmore, the APG Equal Employment Opportunity Representative, and retired Army veteran was the guest speaker for the Aberdeen Proving Ground African American/Black History Month observance, hosted by 20th CBRNE Command on Feb. 11. Gilmore talked about how negative racial experiences motivated him to keep fighting for what he wanted to achieve in life and to become a better person.  

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, UNITED STATES

02.11.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Angel Martinez-Navedo 

20th CBRNE Command

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – In celebration of Black History Month, Team APG, led by the 20th Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Command, hosted Hallowed Grounds: Sites of American Heritage and Memory at Stark Recreation Center and Southside Grill in Aberdeen Proving Ground on Feb. 11.

Charles L. Gilmore, the APG Equal Employment Opportunity Representative, and retired Army veteran was the guest speaker for the event. Gilmore talked about how negative racial experiences motivated him to keep fighting for what he wanted to achieve in life and to become a better person.

As part of the celebration, Maj. Dennis Cox, from the Army Test and Evaluation Command, celebrated the life of Fannie Lou Hamer with an illustrated presentation. Hamer was an American voting rights activist, civil rights leader, and philanthropist. She was instrumental in organizing Mississippi's Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Later, she became the vice-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Furthermore, those present at the event had the opportunity to listen to The Ruff House Band performing African-American favorites, and to degust a soul food spread which included chicken wings, collard greens, peach cobbler and sweet tea.

The celebration of Black History Month dates back to 1926 when Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, originally identified the second week of February as “Negro History Week” in order to assure the contributions made by African-Americans would never be forgotten. Woodson, also known as the Father of Black History, chose the second week in February because it was between the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two of the nation's leaders who fought for African-American equality.

• Date Taken: 02.11.2016
• Date Posted: 02.11.2016 16:05
• Story ID: 188645
• Location: ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, US