Local

observances of Black History Month will culminate

this Friday evening at the Fayette County Library

in a gala celebrating diversity and every

citizen's ethnic origins.

The

second annual Blended Heritage Celebration is

themed "All the Colors of the Race."

"We

want this to be a celebration of the legacy of

humanity," said Chris Snell, director of the

county's library and coordinator of the event.

"It's all about you," she added, noting

that everyone shares common roots stemming from

love. "This is about black history, and your

history," she continued. "Gala attire

is requested!"

The

celebration begins at 7 p.m. and features a

"Parade of Colors," which includes

native Fayette countians, native Americans and

transplants from South Africa, Africa, Paris and

Spain.

All

the arts will be represented with celebrations of

song, music, poetry, dance and storytelling.

Special guests include Dr. Ferrol Sams, author;

Chung-Rang Park and Raymond Lindholm,

violinists; Donna Maye, dancer and actress;

Barbara Sullivan, dancer; and David Hobson,

Ph.D., professional storyteller.

The

Blended Heritage Celebration is sponsored by the

Fayette County Library, Friends of the Fayette

County Library and the library board. It will be

taped by a crew from Georgia Public Television.

School

children in Fayette County have been focusing on

outstanding African-American individuals and

groups noted for their contributions and

achievements in their social studies programs,

according to Glenn Walker, the school district's

social studies coordinator.

Based

on the grade

level's curriculum, Walker ex-

plained that in third grade, stu-

dents would focus on out-

standing African Americans who are also from

Georgia. Fourth graders study early American

history, so their notable African Americans would

be from that period. The same is true at the high

school level where students taking American

history would likely come to the turn of the

century at this time of year and study the impact

that men like W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T.

Washington made on the nation.

Seniors

in U.S. government classes would likely be

studying the civil rights movement this month.

"I've

been pleased," Walker said of the teachers'

efforts to incorporate lessons relating to

African-American history into the curriculum.

Americans

first began to recognize black history in 1926,

with "Negro History Week." Carter G.

Woodson, an African American from Kentucky who

left the coal mines at age 20 to go to high

school and eventually earn a Ph.D. from Harvard,

was the first to write black Americans into the

nation's history.

In

1915, he founded what is now called the

Association for the Study of Afro-American Life

and History and in 1926, published the Journal of

Negro History.

February

was chosen as the month to celebrate

African-American achievement and history because

of the numerous events which occurred during that

month. The birthdays of Frederick Douglass and

Abraham Lincoln are celebrated the second week of

February, on the 23rd. W.E.B. DuBois cofounded

the NAACP Feb. 3. The 15th Amendment passed

during February, giving blacks the right to vote,

and during February, America witnessed the

Woolworth lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro,

N.C. and the shooting of Malcolm X.

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