Photos by Stephanie Snyder
Over 100 event-goers flocked to downtown Phoenix’s Civic Space Park Sunday afternoon to celebrate Black History Month by listening to local performers and guest speakers.
Organized by the Civic Space Park Collaboration (CSPC), the celebration honored African-American culture and history, both past and present.
Malissa Geer, head of community engagement at ASU’s College of Public Programs, is a part of CSPC. She said a true collaboration, involving the Lincoln Family Downtown YMCA, ASU, Downtown Phoenix Partnership and community volunteers organized the event.
“No single organization could put this together,” Geer said. “Everyone was involved, and the whole event could not have come together without the community and passionate volunteers.”
Michelle Ponce, another organizer, said the event was rescheduled from its planned date the previous Friday due to sub-freezing temperatures, so they missed out on the First Fridays traffic.
“One hundred is impressive, also considering over two-thirds actually came to the event from other areas — probably only around one-third actually live in Central Phoenix,” Ponce said.
The event did not fall under an umbrella Black History Month organization, which according to Geer, meant there was no corporate sponsorship — and this is actually beneficial.
“No sponsorship means we don’t depend on a budget,” she said. “Budgets come and go, but what we have are relationships.”
Some of this year’s performances included three of South Phoenix’s “elders” — known as Sil, Miss Betty and Baba. The three spoke about their experiences with segregation, integration and the differences between Phoenix and the rest of the country.
Many ASU graduates were among those performing and organizing the event, as well as members of ASU’s Black Graduate Student Association.
Contact the reporter at cassandra.strauss@asu.edu
Contact the photographer at slsnyder@asu.edu
