BUDA — Six years ago, the Buda Black History Celebration was started by now-Justice of the Peace Precinct 5 Sandra Bryant in an effort to bring the community together. The celebration features activities, such as arts and crafts, music and educational panels with local business owners and other community members.
This year, the event — which is usually held at Buda City Park, but is being moved to Buda City Hall, due to unpredictable weather — is being spearheaded by Buda City Council member LaVonia Horne-Williams.
According to Horne-Williams, the purpose of the event is to bring awareness.
“We often find ourselves in situations where we are limited on information or we're limited on our understanding of things,” said Horne-Williams. “In order for us to be able to work together as a community, we have to understand each other. We have to have some place that provides us information and education to allow us the opportunity to be more tolerant and more empathetic and just generally kind to our neighbors.”
The morning will begin with a panel discussion, which features five local women who have common ties in education, local government and entrepreneurship: Na’Cole Thompson, mayor pro tem for the city of Leander; Dr. Tamela Saldana, acting civil rights director for the city of Austin; Dinita Caldwell, executive director of Austin ISD's Economic Opportunity Office; Sherice Williams, contract administration manager for the Texas Department of Public Safety; and LaTonya Pegues, CEO of Boaz Enterprises, Unconscious Bias Training.
“The common factor is honoring the past while envisioning a better future,” said Horne-Williams.
There will also be music played by a local DJ and artists from Inspired Minds Art Center creating pieces in person.
In addition to entertainment, members of local city and county government have been invited to speak about topics important to both themselves and the community.
Finally, the event closes out with a screening of the movie “Devotion,” which is about the first Black aviator in U.S. Navy history, according to IMDB.
“I think Buda has done something that a lot of cities, who are our size, have not been able to accomplish and that's being able to have multi-generational, racial [and] ethnic events. Everybody comes out to celebrate these events,” emphasized Horne-Williams.
The Buda Black History Celebration will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 at Buda City Hall, located at 405 East Loop St. For more information about the event, visit www. facebook.com/BudaBHC.
