It was an evening of culture, fellowship, networking and fun for the four hundred guests who descended on the Milwaukee County Zoo’s Peck Pavilion for the recent ‘I Am Juneteenth’ Freedom Ball. During the event, seven community invidividuals received the ‘Because of Them We Can’ awards for their contributions to Black Milwaukee in a number of areas, from community activism, business, and cultural contributions.
This year’s awardees were (pictured above in no particular order with Northcott Neighborhood House Executive Director Tony A. Kearney, Sr.): Brew City Corvette Club, Bria Grant, Torre Johnson, Doug Kelley, Tamara Hogans, Yvonne Kemp, and Tadashi Roberts.
Two other awards were also presented. The Community Service Award went to Eli Bliffert. The Father of the Year Award was presented to Fred Collier. Ball attendees also had to opportunity to see the ‘I Am Juneteenth’ moble marking truck.
The truck will be all over the community and city for the next several days leading up to Juneteenth, to let people know the Festival is coming and to join the community in celebrating the day the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas learned they were free. The 2023 ‘I Am Juneteenth’ scholarship winners were also introduced.
—Photos by Yvonne Kemp. Above photo by Martinez Milton
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