ALBANY, N.Y. \u2013 The New York State Department of Veterans\u2019 Services will host a special Black History Month virtual program, \u201cThe Weight & The Witness: Honoring Black Veterans Through Story, Poetry, and Living Memory,\u201d on Friday, Feb. 6 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
This reflective and powerful program will honor the legacy, resilience and lived experiences of Black Service Members across generations through film, spoken word, artistic expression and dialogue. The special event is free.<\/p>\n
The event will be moderated by Special Assistant for Community Engagement at the New York State Department of Veterans\u2019 Services Dr. Lessie Branch. Branch is an award-winning scholar, author and advocate. \u201cThe Weight & The Witness\u201d centers the voices and stories of those whose service has too often gone unseen, yet whose contributions have profoundly shaped our nation.<\/p>\n
Albany City Mayor Dorcey Applyrs, will be a featured guest speaker during the program, joining department leadership and community voices in reflecting on the enduring impact of black service members and the importance of remembrance, equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlack History Month is a time not only to remember history, but to bear witness to lived experience,\u201d New York State Department of Veterans\u2019 Services Commissioner Viviana M. DeCohen said. \u201cThis program honors Black Service Members whose courage, sacrifice, and stories deserve to be uplifted, preserved, and shared. At DVS, we remain committed to serving All Who Served and ensuring that every story matters and every voice is heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is about truth, dignity, and recognition,\u201d Executive Deputy Commissioner Joel Evans said. \u201cBy honoring Black Service Members through story and memory, we strengthen our collective understanding of service and reaffirm our responsibility to ensure equity, access, and belonging for all who served.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBearing witness is an act of respect and an act of justice,\u201d Branch said. \u201cThis gathering invites us to listen deeply, honor legacy, and carry forward the stories of Black Service Members whose lives and service continue to positively shape our communities and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Register: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/dvsevents.<\/p>\n
All are welcome to attend DVS\u2019s Black History Month program as New Yorkers come together to honor service, legacy, and living memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBANY, N.Y. \u2013 The New York State Department of Veterans\u2019 Services will host a special Black History Month…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,267,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-118952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}