<\/p>\n
The COACH Foundation of Tampa, founded by Rev. Willie Dixon, in partnership with Historic Bethel AME Church\u2014 the oldest African American church in St. Petersburg\u2014will host a special commemorative and celebratory Sunday service marking the 100th anniversary of Black History Month on Sunday, Feb. 1 at the Historic Bethel AME Church, 912 3rd Ave N, St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
The service honors the centennial of Negro History Week, established in February 1926 by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, which later evolved into Black History Month. The occasion will feature a guest message from DeMark Liggins, national president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)\u2014the civil rights organization founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n
The theme is \u201cA Century of Sacred Resistance: Faith, Freedom & the Future.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Held within the historic sanctuary of Bethel AME Church, the program will reflect on a century of Black history rooted in faith, resilience, and collective action, while also offering a call forward for continued civic engagement and moral leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlack History Month was born in the Black church\u2014 as an act of truth-telling and self-determination,\u201d said Dixon. \u201cThis gathering honors that sacred legacy while challenging us to carry the work forward with clarity, courage, and conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Founded more than a century ago, Historic Bethel AME Church has served as a spiritual and cultural cornerstone for Black life in St. Petersburg, bearing witness to generations of struggle, progress, and community leadership.<\/p>\n
As the current steward of Dr. King\u2019s organizational legacy, Liggins brings a national perspective to this historic moment, connecting the origins of Black History Month to the unfinished work of justice and equality today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The COACH Foundation of Tampa, founded by Rev. Willie Dixon, in partnership with Historic Bethel AME Church\u2014 the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[67142,67141,48241,67143,1209,61138,1739,24765,67140,202,204,203,199,201,200,4571],"class_list":{"0":"post-137602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-african-diaspora","9":"tag-black-church","10":"tag-black-history-month","11":"tag-civil-rights-movement","12":"tag-culture","13":"tag-culture-of-the-united-states","14":"tag-religion","15":"tag-society-of-the-united-states","16":"tag-southern-christian-leadership-conference","17":"tag-st-pete","18":"tag-st-pete-headlines","19":"tag-st-pete-news","20":"tag-st-petersburg","21":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","22":"tag-st-petersburg-news","23":"tag-united-states"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}