County celebrates Black history makers with performances, presentations

Jack Hogan, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·4 min read
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Feb. 23—It wasn't on his YouTube channel. It wasn't at a bar downtown. Nor was it in front of a sold-out Sky Stage crowd, which he's done before.

This time, Frederick-based hip-hop artist Asa Weeks, a first-generation American born to Liberian immigrants, brought his original songs and signature sound to Winchester Hall — the county seat for a nearly 275-year-old government that didn't have its first Black elected lawmaker in office until December.

"That just happened in this room," said Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater, after Weeks sat back down. "This is Black history in the making. That is what we were trying to do today."

Weeks' performance was part of the Black History in the Making ceremony that the Frederick County government hosted Thursday. It was the first year that officials have held a celebration with performances and presentations from several of "Frederick County's own history makers," Fitzwater said.

It was all the more powerful for the Black History Month celebration to take place where it did.

"Gaps exists because of the government," said Michael Hughes, the county's chief equity and inclusion officer. "We're gonna hold the government accountable to bridge those gaps, to do what is right."

Joining Weeks for his two-song set were guitarist Manu Alvarez and Stanford Thomas, who traveled from Florida to play the saxophone during the performance.

The ceremony included a rendition of poet and activist Amanda Gorman's 2020 presidential inauguration poem, "The Hill We Climb," from recent graduates of Udada Legacy — a local program for African American girls between the ages of 11 and 13 that recognizes and celebrates the transition to womanhood.

Protean Gibril, president of the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage (AARCH) Society, provided an update for when the organization's Heritage Center is expected to be complete. The construction phase of the museum, on East All Saints Street, is on track to be finished by the end of the year, she said.

The AARCH Society, Gibril said, has secured more than $500,000 of the estimated $750,000 the organization will need for construction.

"Black people in our community continue to make history today and that is the focus of this celebration," Fitzwater said. "We're here to lift up voices of the trailblazers in our midst and many are in this room and many are all throughout our community."

Among the history makers present was County Council Vice President Kavonté Duckett, the first Black person elected to serve in Winchester Hall. Duckett, a Democrat who also works as the director of the Alan P. Linton, Jr. Emergency Shelter for The Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs, was elected to his first term in November — several weeks before the county government began celebrating its 275th anniversary.

"The reality is, this is only the start," Duckett said. "I realize that I may be the first, but I continue to say that I will not be, I will not be, I will not be the last person of color to serve in this capacity."

As the first person of color on the County Council, Duckett is often the only person of color in the room at government meetings and functions. It can be uncomfortable, he said.

"But I love being uncomfortable. It is in those moments that I believe that change actually happens," he said.

Duckett highlighted a few other history makers during the ceremony, including Gary Rollins, a pillar in the African American community. Along with his wife, Denise, he operates Rollins Life Celebration Center — which Duckett said is the longest-standing African American business in Frederick County.

The councilman also spoke of Ruth and Bernard Brown, a "power couple" of 68 years who "paved the way for so, so many."

Ruth Brown — who worked as local teacher and coach and founded the Bernetta R. Brown Dance Troupe, named for her late daughter — died Tuesday at the age of 93.

She is survived by her husband, Bernard, who for more than 50 years was the exalted ruler of the Mountain City Elks Lodge No. 382.

There is a community center named for Bernard Brown on North Market Street in Frederick, and he is the chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Housing Authority of the City of Frederick.

"He's more than just a building. He is Frederick history," Duckett said. "They are Frederick history."

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan