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P E R S P E C T I V E : D i s p a t c h f r o m t h e P h o t o E d i t o r
Council Marks Black History Month
BY DONNA ACETO
The New York City Council,
in a February 25 evening
event in Council Chambers,
honored Black History
Month by recognizing four leaders
in the African-American community
as well as presenting both young
dancers and comedy. The evening
was hosted the Council’s Black, Latino,
and Asian Caucus, its co-chairs I.
Daneek Miller of Queens and Ydanis
Rodriguez of Manhattan, and Chelsea’s
out gay Council Speaker Corey
Johnson.
The ceremony honored Robbie
Garrison, the co-chair of the Olde
Towne of Flushing Burial Ground
Conservancy, a group that preserves
a mid-19th century cemetery where
more than 1,000 New Yorkers, most
of them Black or Native American,
were interred; Butterfl ies by Blaq, a
non-profi t founded in 2012 that provides
wigs for children going through
medical hair loss; Kyle Bragg, the
president since last July of Service
Employees International Union, Local
32BJ, the nation’s largest union
for workers in building property services;
and Dawn Pinnock, the executive
deputy commissioner of the Department
of Citywide Administrative
Services.
Young Cydnee Buggs opened the
evening by singing the National Anthem
and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,”
also known as the Black National
Anthem. Young dancers from E.P.I.C.
Dance, an arts school in Jamaica,
Queens, also performed, as did a
comic troupe from NYLaughs.org, a
non-profi t that presents free comedy
in public spaces across New York.
DONNA ACETO
Young dancers from E.P.I.C. Dance in Jamaica, Queens.
DONNA ACETO
Cydnee Buggs sings, fl anked by Queens Councilmembers Adrienne E. Adams and I. Daneek Miller.
DONNA ACETO
Robbie Garrison, co-chair of the Olde Towne of Flushing
DONNA ACETO
Burial Ground Conservancy.
Dawn Pinnock, executive deputy commissioner of the
Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
DONNA ACETO
Erma Blackwell, founder of Butterfl ies by Blaq.
DONNA ACETO
32BJ president Kyle Bragg.
DONNA ACETO
Speaker Corey Johnson, one of the evening’s hosts,
greets Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
February 27 - March 11, 2 16 020 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
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