Save the Date: Celebrating Black Joy!
“Black Joy Now, Then, and Beyond,” sponsored by the Montevallo Legacy Project, will take place Sunday, February 8, at 4pm in the Presbyterian Church on Shelby Street. Featured speaker is native son Bishop Elvin B. Thompson, Pastor of Riverside Apostolic Church in Augusta, Georgia and founder, with his wife Valerie Thompson, of the Center for African American Memory. He will be joined by his sister, native daughter and joy warrior Joyce Jones.
The event will honor nine young “joy warriors,” winners of the Black History Month Youth Banner Design Contest coordinated last year by the MLP, with support from Main Street Montevallo, IMPACT Montevallo, and dentist Bobby Shunnarah. Students from elementary through high school shared their visions of the strength, pride, dignity, and joy of Montevallo’s African American community. As you walk down Main street, check out the banners installed by the city on the downtown lampposts. They brim with joy.
In keeping with the theme, the event will include joy songs led by Rev. Quincy Hall, Ordained Deacon at St. Andrews Episcopal Church. Quincy, who holds degrees from the University of Montevallo, will be remembered by many in town as a talented pianist and singer.
The celebration will conclude with refreshments, an opportunity to view close up the banner designs, and first look at Volume Four of Untold Stories of Black Montevallo. Join us!
“Black joy is a collection . . . of experiences that instill pride, love, and solidarity.”