The Voice of Southwest Louisiana June 2019 Issue

SWLA feature story
By Brenda Hill
Seven Days of Juneteenth
Freedom Festival -UPDATES-
Juneteenth is celebrated
to commemorate the
emancipation of the last
remaining slaves in a reluctant
community, when Maj. Gordon
Granger came to Galveston, Texas
and informed them that they
were freed two years earlier by
President Abraham Lincoln.
JayVon Muhammad, CEO, SWLA Center
for Health Services, says Our healing must
start with knowing our history and building
our pride so that we can feel good about
our black community and feel good about
unity. These are just foundations for work
that we would like to do in the future,
and we want to give back by creating an
environment that makes black people
prideful about their history. Sometimes
we don’t want to talk about that part of
our history when that is one of the most
powerful parts of our history.
Thursday, June 13 th is the opening
ceremony of the 7 days of Juneteenth
Freedom Festival to begin with dinner
and the first Black Excellence Freedom
Awards being held at the Magnolia
House Events located at 932 Enterprise
Blvd. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Recipients of the 2019 Black
Excellence Awards
2019 Black Excellence Award: Founder
Milton Bellard and Ulysses Gene
Thibodeaux
2019 Black Excellence Health Care Dr.
Raphael Branaco, Edwina Medearis and
Dr. Joseph Semien.
2019 Black Excellence Education,
William Mayo and Eunice Dent.
2019 Black Excellence Community
Service, Bridgette Thierry.
2019 Visionary Leadership, Reverend
Edward Jordon and Adrian Wallace.
2019 Black Excellence Music, Lawrence
Ardion.
2019 Black Excellence Justice, Genia
Coleman Lee and Derrick Kee.
Nominations for the awards were
submitted from all four parishes that SWLA
services.
Tickets for this special evening are
available at www.7dayfreedomfest.com.
Friday, June 14th – SWLA will support
Kiwanis Club of North Lake Charles
Juneteenth Celebration being held at
the Lake Charles Civic Center. Tickets
for the Kiwanis event can be purchased
on the Kiwanis Club of North Lake
Charles website. Immediately after the
Kiwanis Jam in June event we’ll party
at the ‘Juke Joint' at Boutte’s with a
live performance from Nebu Nezey.
This event can only be attended if
you have purchased an Underground
Railroad Pass! The Underground pass
gets you entrance to three (3) exciting
events for the week – the 2019 Black
Excellence Awards, the Juke Joint and
the Cotton Club.
Saturday June 15th 8:00 a.m. – 6:00
p.m. Free Dental Clinic, spearheaded by
Dr. Karlnelius Duhon with volunteer
dentists for those who can’t afford dental
care.
Starting at 10:00 a.m. – Freedom
Festival (community block party type of
environment) with vendors and music.
The Freedom Music festival also located
at the 2000 Opelousas Street location will
host an array of artists including: Jarius
Daigle and The Network, Jarvis Jacobs
and the Gents, Rusty Metoyer, Nebu
Nezey, Marcus Davis and Bre’, Robert
Saxey, Michael Davis, Darol King, Harold
Guillory and Members Only. The music
will start at 10 a.m. and end at 6 p.m.
The FREE Dental Clinic for the
community at SWLA Center for Health
Services will serve 125 ndividuals with
basic dental needs such as fillings,
cleanings or extractions. Only one
procedure per person will be fulfilled.
Details on how to receive one of the 125
spots will be posted on the SWLA Center
for Health Services Facebook page. Look
for the details starting June 5, 2019.
The Cotton Club at Zephyr’s in
downtown Lake Charles - Experience
the music and ambience of the Cotton
Club. Come dressed to impress! For this
special evening, food and libations have
been named to give respect to the many
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June 2019 WWW.THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 6 • Number 11