Residents Invited To Black Heritage Event In Downtown Tampa

TAMPA, FL – Residents are invited to spend their lunch hour on Friday, Feb. 16, reflecting on the county’s rich black heritage.

Hillsborough County’s Black Heritage Celebration Committee will present the 24th Annual Black Heritage Celebration from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Joe Chillura Courthouse Square at the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Pierce Street in downtown Tampa.

In observance of national Black History Month, the celebration will highlight the African heritage and culture in Hillsborough County with music, dancing and acknowledgements.

Highlighting the event will be the presentation of the Maxine Douglas Legacy Award to Donald R. Odom, who served as deputy county attorney from 2005 until his retirement in 2012.

Odom also served as the first black assistant county attorney with the City of St. Petersburg, and the first black assistant district council member with the District V Office of the Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services.

The event also will include a poetry reading by Hillsborough County Poet Laureate James Tokley, music from the Hillsborough Community Choir, a cultural dance by the Seminole Charter High School, music from the Academy Prep Center of Tampa Choir and a presentation by Hillsborough County Head Start.

Image via James Tokley

Poet Laureate James Tokley