Welcome everyone to.....
The 23rd Annual Virginia Black History Month Gala
Get ready for one of Virginia's most anticipated events of the year in black excellence and culture! See historical speakers, scholarship presentations, a broom jumping ceremony, a youth orchestra, 360 videos, family portraits, and over 30 vendors!
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The 23rd Annual Virginia Black History Month Gala
Greetings from the Virginia Black History Month Association (VaBHMA)! We are excited that you decided to join us. Next year's Virginia Black History Month Gala will be hosted over two (2) days.
Here is the plan for next year! Over two days, the VaBHMA will host a Hybrid Gala (at the Hotel & Online) celebration. The gala will be held from Friday, 24 February 2023 to Saturday 25 February 2023.
The event will be held at the beautiful Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
The organization will provide two ways to attend the event.
-First by physically attending the event inside the ballroom.
-Second by coming to the hotel, staying overnight, and eating/watching the event in your hotel room or online at home.
- On the first day, we will host our Black Health Fair which will involve numerous vendors on health and wellness. We will also host several hybrid discussions on managing relationships. We will lead a discussion at the hotel which will also be hosted live and online for everyone to participate. The fair and panel discussion is open to everyone and free to the public.
- The second day would be the gala along with the activities associated with our event each year. The gala would also provide entertainment from some of the nation's most talented youth. You will experience the broom-jumping ceremony which dates back to the early years of slavery. We will surprise one couple at the gala and tell the story of how they met. We will call them forward and have a local Pastor to perform a brief wedding ceremony and have the couple to "jump the broom." We will award the winners of our scholarships and Children's Writing Contest. We will then culminate the evening with our keynote speaker, actor, singer, and producer "Leon," and recognize our Guest of Honor Dr. Betty Kilby Fisher Baldwin.
The 2023 National Theme: Black Resistance
African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms, especially the racial terrorism of lynching, racial pogroms, and police killings since our arrival upon these shores. These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified self-determined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction. The 1950s and 1970s in the United States was defined by actions such as sit-ins, boycotts, walk outs, strikes by Black people and white allies in the fight for justice against discrimination in all sectors of society from employment to education to housing. Black people have had to consistently push the United States to live up to its ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all. Systematic oppression has sought to negate much of the dreams of our giants, like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, and our freedom fighters, like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Septima Clark, and Fannie Lou Hamer fought to realize. Black people have sought ways to nurture and protect Black lives, and for autonomy of their physical and intellectual bodies through armed resistance, voluntary emigration, nonviolence, education, literature, sports, media, and legislation/politics. Black led institutions and affiliations have lobbied, litigated, legislated, protested, and achieved success.
Purchase Your 2023 Gala Tickets Here
TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE! Click below to secure your seating or table for the 2023 Black History Month Gala! Consider purchasing our VIP ticket which includes a picture with the keynote speaker, access to our VIP Social, a dual entree meal (Chicken and Beef), and VIP Seating.