{"id":122351,"date":"2026-02-04T06:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T06:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122351\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T06:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T06:40:23","slug":"black-history-month-2026-kicks-off-to-a-standing-room-only-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122351\/","title":{"rendered":"Black History Month 2026 kicks off to a standing room only crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Forget right and left \u2026 remember right from wrong\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opening remarks at Monday\u2019s ceremony included commentary from Hon. Matthew D\u2019Emic, administrative judge for the Supreme Court, Criminal Matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been to every one of these opening ceremonies for the past 28 years, and I love it for two reasons,\u201d D\u2019Emic said. \u201cFirst, we pray together, and second, we sing together. That brings joy. It also gives us the opportunity to forget right and left but to remember right from wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hon. Genine Edwards, administrative judge for the Supreme Court, Civil Matters, also spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we stand here today and honor 100 years of Black History Month celebrations, we stand on the shoulders of individuals whose resilience shaped this nation and whose pursuit of justice continues to guide our work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edwards emphasized that progress is never accidental; it is built on courage, sacrifice and an unshakable belief in what is possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice is not an abstract idea,\u201d Edwards continued. \u201cIt is something people feel, experience and depend upon, and that makes our roles as judges, lawyers and court employees part of a much larger legacy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Black history is American history\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez addressed the crowd in an unscripted trip to the podium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzalez called the opening ceremony for Black History Month one of his favorite court events. He also pointed out that Brooklyn had historic decreases in violent crime last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fair to report that 2025 was the safest year in Brooklyn\u2019s history,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had the fewest number of shootings, homicides, and that\u2019s all tremendous progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>From left: Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Brooklyn Bar Association President Christina Golkin and Hon. Genine Edwards. Brooklyn Eagle photo by Mario Belluomo<\/p>\n

Comments were also made by presidents of various New York City bar associations, including the Brooklyn Bar Association, Brooklyn Women\u2019s Bar Association, Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the Kings County Criminal Bar Association.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deputy Borough President Rev. Kim Council, the keynote speaker of the event, stole the show with a powerful, emotional and inspiring 20-minute speech that touched upon unimaginable trials and tribulations faced by African Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are commemorating 100 years of celebrating the history of a group of people who were stolen from the shores of Africa and sold as commodities,\u201d Council said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government needs to be held accountable for the policies that, for years, have created this culture in our country that thrives off of one group of people taking advantage of another group.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council also spoke to the current leadership in the White House. \u201cOnly in America, in our judicial system, could a self-proclaimed billionaire \u2014 a white man convicted of 34 felonies and who was on trial for 57 more felonies \u2014 be elected to the highest position in our country.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Council said Black history is American history, and \u201cit is imperative to remind people and constantly retell our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Forget right and left \u2026 remember right from wrong\u2019\u00a0 Opening remarks at Monday\u2019s ceremony included commentary from Hon.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[35604,98,100,99,14768,3308,5533,6448,53557,53558,6451,9,24,63,4116],"class_list":{"0":"post-122351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-black-history-month","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-courts-and-law","13":"tag-daily-bulletin","14":"tag-eric-gonzalez","15":"tag-genine-edwards","16":"tag-kim-council","17":"tag-kings-county-courts-black-history-month-committee","18":"tag-matthew-demic-matthew-demic","19":"tag-new-york","20":"tag-new-york-city","21":"tag-nyc","22":"tag-wayne-daren-schneiderman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122351","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=122351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}