Lehigh Valley Black News Network

Thank You to Our Sponsors and Readers: Celebrating 25 Years Together!

As 2024 comes to a close, we at the Lehigh Valley Black News Network have so much to celebrate and it’s all thanks to you. This coming year marks our 25th Anniversary, a milestone we’ve reached because of the unwavering support of our sponsors, readers, and community. Together, we’ve built a legacy of connection, empowerment, and storytelling that has stood the test of time.

To our sponsors, your generosity has been the cornerstone of our success. Your commitment to our mission has allowed us to shine a light on the voices, achievements, and issues that matter most. We are deeply grateful for your partnership and the faith you’ve placed in us to make an impact.

To our readers, thank you for being the driving force behind everything we do. Your loyalty, engagement, and enthusiasm inspire us every day. Over the past 25 years, your support has shaped this platform into a trusted source of news and a space where our community’s stories can thrive.

As we celebrate this incredible milestone, we are also filled with the spirit of the season. From all of us at the Lehigh Valley Black News Network, Happy Holidays! May this time of year bring you joy, warmth, and time with those you hold dear.

We look forward to continuing our journey together in 2025 and beyond, building on our legacy and making the next 25 years even more impactful. Thank you for being an essential part of our story.

With heartfelt gratitude and holiday cheer,

Kevin Easterling- CEO Black Heritage Association of the Lehigh Valley

'Sand Ni—er’: Allentown Councilwoman Allegedly Tells Black City Clerk ‘F--k You’ After Years of Racist Abuse Sparks Lawsuit

By Jill Jordan Sieder | Published on: December 15, 2024 Atlanta Black Star

A Black woman who serves as deputy city clerk for Allentown, Pennsylvania, is suing the city for permitting a racially hostile workplace environment, which she says has included racial slurs and other demeaning comments by city officials directed at her and other Black employees and citizens for years.

In her complaint filed in federal court last week, Tawanna Whitehead alleges that during her 15-year tenure, she has been subjected to “myriad racially hostile incidents” that violate state and federal civil rights law.

They include an incident in 2015 when “a high-ranking City official allegedly used the term ‘Sand Ni—er’ multiple times” in her presence, then repeated the racial slur again in the presence of the city council president and her current supervisor Michael Hanlon, the city clerk.

Got MEDICARE Questions? Call Derrick @ MEDICARE LIFE 484-221-9200

View my website here:

Office Location: 18 West Race Street Catasauqua PA 18032

Open Enrollment Period:

October 15th 2024 to December 7th 2024

My MEDICARE LIFE gives you a second chance to make sure that you have a plan that fits your health and budget needs.

Call me for a free no obligation review.

Derrick Brickhouse 484-221-9200

St. James A.M.E Zion Church Comedy Show, Saturday November 16th

Genesius Theatre is seeking performers for RAISIN AUDITIONS: Sunday, November 17th from 6:00pm to 9:45pm:

Genesius Theatre is seeking Black and African-American actor/singers to portray roles in RAISIN, the Tony-Award-winning musical adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Auditions are by appointment on Sunday, November 17. The show performs the first two weeks of May 2025 in Reading Pennsylvania

THE SEARCH IS ON FOR OUR NEXT PRODUCTIONS! GENESIUS THEATRE – THIS 2025

PRESENTS "Raisin"

RAISIN AUDITIONS: November 17th from 6pm to 9:45pm, 15 minute time slots

Sign up for your audition here, and make sure to fill out all necessary fields. We will need a picture of you in a jpg, jpeg, or png. Please come prepared. We will have an accompanist available. Please make note of the show dates as well.

Show dates: Raisin - May 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Sunday shows are at 3pm, all others are at 7:30pm

For any questions about auditions, email us at genesiusauditions1971@gmail.com

Genesius Theatre is a 501c3 nonprofit community theatre in Reading, Pennsylvania. All roles are unpaid.

Easton Red Rover Sweat Hoodies: Black Heritage Association L.V. Fundraiser November 2024

For all of your insurance needs, please reach out to Moise (mo iz)!

Touchstone Theatre Festival UnBound: Dance, Music, Theatre & Art Wed, October 2nd to Sun, October 6th

Free Ice Cream Social: Saturday September 28th 12pm to 4pm @ St James A.M.E Zion Church, @ 410 W. Union Street Allentown PA

Harris / Trump Debate Community Watch

Diana Ross @ WIND CREEK Event Center Bethlehem PA on Friday October 18 2024

Cornel West can’t be on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot, court decides

BY MARC LEVY
Updated 8:51 PM EDT, August 21, 2024

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Democrats have won legal challenges keeping the left-wing Party for Socialism and Liberation off the battleground state’s presidential ballot, at least for now, while a lawyer with deep Republican Party ties is working to help independent candidate Cornel West get on it.

The court cases are among a raft of partisan legal maneuvering around third-party candidates seeking to get on Pennsylvania’s ballot, including a pending challenge by Democrats to the filing in Pennsylvania by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A Commonwealth Court judge agreed with two Democratic Party-aligned challenges on Tuesday, ruling that the paperwork filed by the Party for Socialism and Liberation was fatally flawed and ordering the party’s presidential candidate, Claudia De la Cruz, off Pennsylvania’s Nov. 5 ballot.

Black Wall Street Networking Dinner Wednesday August 21st @ 6:30pm

Sign up for a chance to win free MusikFest tickets!"

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Presents the “The Color Purple,” July 17 to August 4th 2024

https://pashakespeare.org/shows/the-color-purple/

July 17 to August 4 | Main Stage

The epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker comes to life in an emotional tour de force musical infused with a soul-stirring score of jazz, gospel, ragtime, and blues. Set against the backdrop of the American South in the early 20th century, the story follows the transformative journey of Celie, a young African American woman who courageously navigates a life marked by abuse, separation, and discrimination to discover the strength to break free from oppression and find her own voice. From the hauntingly beautiful “I’m Here” to the exuberant celebration of “The Color Purple,” this sensational Tony Award-winning musical is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of love. · Ages 13+

Running Time: 2 hours and 35 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission

Content advisory and trigger warning: contains violence, abuse, strong language, mature themes and situations.

To win 2 Free Tickets to The Color Purple at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival send an email to info@lvbnn.com In the subject heading write 'I need 2 tickets to for The Color Purple.'

View Ticket Options

Juneteenth: Teaching Outside the Textbook: June 11, 2024 Zinn Education Project- Teaching People's History

Background on Juneteenth

Here are key points from scholars Greg Carr, Christopher Wilson, and Clint Smith on the history beyond the traditional textbook narrative about Juneteenth.

Black Troops Spreading the Word with Every Marching Foot

By Howard University professor Greg Carr, transcribed from a Teach the Black Freedom Struggle Online Class

While General Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation off that veranda in Galveston, there were at least nine regiments of the United States Colored Troops marking their way through Texas, the last of the 10 states in the Confederacy to give up. Black troops, some of those same Black troops that have captured Richmond, those Black troops were now in Texas. So while Granger makes the formal announcement on June 19th, and a year later to the day, Black folks start celebrating Juneteenth formally, those Black troops are spreading the word with every marching foot as they come across the South.

June 19th is the official day marking these emancipation celebrations as it formally comes into the African awareness in Texas. But the dates are usually linked to whenever people found out they were free, which is why in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Arkansas, in Oklahoma, you might see an August date or July date. This is described in O Freedom: Afro-American Emancipation Celebrations by William Wiggins. What we see in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, is also connected to the Caribbean, described in Howard University professor Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie’s book on Emancipation Day celebrations called Rites of August First: Emancipation Day in the Black Atlantic World. There is also Decoration Day.

We think about the roots of what become Memorial Day, the idea of honoring our ancestors who made the ultimate sacrifice, by placing flowers on their graves and you see that coming out of South Carolina. There’s a very good book called Conjuring Freedom that talks about that South Carolina regiment of Colored Troops and the beautiful Ed Dwight monument on the South Carolina State House grounds.

Celebrate 19 Days of Juneteenth in Allentown!

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

City of Allentown 19 Days of JuneTeenth 2024

The City of Allentown is still accepting Food, Merchandise, Art and Resource Vendors. Visit the City of Allentown JuneTeenth Celebration 2024

The City of Allentown is still accepting Food, Merchandise,

Art and Resource Vendors.

To register as a vendor, please visit the City of Allentown JuneTeenth 2024 Celebration page here:

https://lnkd.in/ekEHpAng

Or Call Ryan Griffiths @ 610-437-7750