The city of Cleveland commemorated Black History Month on February 2, 2015 by recognizing the past and honoring future leaders. The celebration kicked-off with an invitation-only luncheon and featured LaRese Pur-nell, CFO and COO of the Word Church, accompanied by News Channel 5 Anchor Danita Harris, Chef Eric Wells, and Cleveland Cava-liers emcee Ahmaad Crump among others. “Cleveland’s Future: We are in Good Hands,” was the theme chosen to highlight, share and learn about the many endeav-ors, accomplishments and future plans of the Cleveland African American commu-nity. The month of activities will focus on media, sports, arts and entertainment, as well as education and health. The month will round out with a salute to former Con-gresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.
Christopher Sawyer, a Sign & Display student at the Cleveland Job Corps, had the pleasure of performing the Black National Anthem at the city of Cleveland kick-off luncheon. Mr. Sawyer began singing in the children’s choir at his family’s church “Kingdom International” when he was in elementary school. “I’ve been singing since I was about 1 year old according to my family. Music has always been my outlet and I have enjoyed making it into my craft,” expressed Mr. Sawyer. Upon graduating from the Cleveland Job Corps Center, Mr. Sawyer plans to attend Cen-tral State to major in Graphic Design and Music as well as join the CSU band. Mr. Sawyer was accompanied by Center Director William Houston, Business Commu-nity Liaison Michael Taylor and Corporate Media Relations Rose Houston.