The City of Kingston is planning an event to celebrate Black History Month. The event, titled Honoring the Dream: From Our Ancestors to Us, will be held on Thursday, February 29, at 6pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

The event will showcase the Bard Conservatory Jazz Ensemble, which will perform compositions from the civil rights era.

Michael Sussman, a civil rights attorney and member of the Bar of the State of New York, will give a talk. Sussman has argued over 300 cases in the federal Circuit Courts.

Anthony Dandridge, SUNY New Paltz Black History professor and executive director of the A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center in Downtown Kingston, will lead an honors ceremony in memory of national and local trailblazers. The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

“We are proud to host this special event at City Hall, and to honor those who have left a legacy of greatness as a part of Black History Month in Kingston,” said Mayor Steve Noble. “I want to thank the Department of Arts & Cultural Affairs and our partners, as we gather to celebrate the achievements of Black Americans and Black Kingstonians. We hope you will join us for this special conclusion of the month’s festivities.”

“As our nation's Poet Laureate once wrote, ‘We will not march back to what was. We move to what shall be, a country that is bruised, but whole. Benevolent, but bold. Fierce and free.’ I am proud to work with the City of Kingston honoring the freedom fighters who have gone on before us,” said Ulster County Chief Diversity Officer Esi Lewis. “We are our ancestors' wildest dreams and just as they did, we must work hard to ensure that our families, our descendants, our communities will have far better lives.”

The event is part of the City of Kingston's efforts to celebrate Black History Month. The event is being produced in partnership with Ulster County, the A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center, and the Bard Conservatory.