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Educators honored at Elgin's Black History Family Festival

The 12th edition of the Black History Family Festival will return to the Gail Borden Library in Elgin on Saturday, Feb. 4. This year's focus will be "Celebrating African Americans in Education."

The festival takes place from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

In keeping with the theme, nominations have been sought from the public for African-American teachers making an impact in the community. Twenty-eight teachers have been chosen.

"We had forms where people could nominate online; those who have been nominated have already received invitations," said Carl King of St. Charles, president Black History Family Festival board. "They'll receive just a small gift, a token of our appreciation and the community's appreciation of what they're doing."

New this year is a community panel with resources for parents and teens.

"They can address some of the situations and challenges that are part of the experience," King said.

The panel will includes a representative from Kane County who will advise participants on jobs, internships and schooling opportunities in the Fox Valley area, and a presentation on mental health options at home and at school, according to King.

King will be on hand to speak about a project through the Juvenile Justice Initiative concerning expungement, a legal avenue to seal and erase criminal history. The JJI is a statewide advocacy organization working to ensure justice for children and young adults in Illinois.

"It's a real help for young people that have blots on their record from their time in juvenile correctional facility so they don't go into the next period of their life with a record," he said. "That's one of the barriers, as you go into adulthood, that prohibits jobs and everything else."

"Project 2-3-1," a story of Elgin's African-American heritage, will be presented in film and exhibit form. "2-3-1" refers to the initial arrival and experience of African Americans in Elgin in 1862, when there were "two" boxcars full slaves, known as contraband, which were segregated onto a "three"-block area in Elgin, "one" city.

"(Executive Producer) Ernie Broadnax is narrating the film and he takes people on a tour of the old settlement neighborhood; and then the next part is bringing you up to date, about how much further we need to go in terms of discrimination and equality for everyone," said Elgin History Museum Director Elizabeth Marston.

The film is the recipient of several awards at national, state and local levels, but Marston feels the impact of the story is expanded when the exhibit is presented alongside it.

"The impact of seeing the film and also seeing the exhibit really cements it into people's memory as opposed to just seeing the exhibit," said Marston.

Students from the Chicago West Community Music Center will perform.

"Their performance is really robust so we're really excited about hosting these talented students and highlighting their program," said Gail Borden Library's community engagement liaison Danielle Henson of Elgin.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Vincent Gaddis, an author and professor of history and director of the Global Studies program at Benedictine University in Lisle, who will be speaking on "The Black American Experience in Education," post-Civil War to today.

Event partners are Elgin Area School District

U-46, Elgin Community College and the Elgin History Museum, according to Henson.

"ECC provides support with student recognitions and any kind of sources for African American students in the high school this year and every year," Henson said.

Henson pointed out that this year will be the first without the founder of the event, Dr. Phyllis Folarin, a former U-46 educator and ECC board member who retired last year.

"The original intention was Dr. Phyllis Folarin's vision," she said.

  Dr. Vincent Gaddis, a professor at Benedictine University, will give the keynote speech at the 12th annual Black History Family Festival at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin. RICK WEST/rwest@dailyherald.com
Volunteer Alexis Romero, 16, of Lake in the Hills, helps Durryiah McFadden, 4, of Elgin, make a bead bracelet at the eighth annual Black History Family Festival at the Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin. Daily Herald File Photo

If you go

What: 12th annual Black History Family Festival

When: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4

Where: Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin.

Admission: free

Visit: <a href="www.bhffelgin.org">www.bhffelgin.org</a> or <a href="www.gailborden.info">www.gailborden.info</a>.

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