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City Councilor Dyess to lead Black History Month ceremony
New London -- City Council President Pro Temp Reona Dyess will lead a ceremony kicking off Black History Month events in the city with the raising of the Pan African flag at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 1, on the steps of City Hall.
Dyess will open the ceremony with brief remarks and Mayor Michael Passero also will speak. Members of the City Council will be invited to address the gathering in honor of the occasion, and City of New London Poet Laureate Josh Brown will recite a poem.
Adwoa Bandele-Asante will lead the singing of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ as two city youths raise the Pan African flag. ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ was written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson of Jacksonville, Fla., in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and is often referred to as the Black National Anthem.
The Pan African flag consists of three equal horizontal bands of red, black and green and is meant as a symbol of Black unity worldwide.