Youth celebrate African American heritage

in words and pictures

DINGMANS FERRY, PA — The Delaware Township Democratic Club hosted the first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebratory Tea on January 20. It featured an African American Orators contest and an African American Poster Contest.

The participants in the African American Orators competition made their presentations before an appreciative audience of 55 individuals from across Pike County and beyond. The first-place prize of $100 in the competition was presented to Diondra Martin for her stirring rendition of poetry by Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, and the second place prize of $50 was presented to Al-Tarik Johnson for his reenactment of a fiery speech by Malcolm X.

Honorable mention went to Tricia Forgit, Alyssa Tomaskovic and Josh Peacock, all students at Delaware Valley High School. The judges noted that only a couple of points separated the first-place winner from the rest of the field.

Teacher Tom Burns was instrumental in assisting competition coordinator Vienna Tomesheski with the organization of the competition. Presentations were judged on a range of criteria by Rep. John Siptroth’s chief of staff, Stephen Washington, and Delaware Township Supervisor Ileana Hernandez. The prizes were provided by the Delaware Township Democratic Club and the Vivian Louise Anderson Glenn Memorial Foundation.

The poster contest was designed as a celebration of the contributions of African Americans to science and technology. Participants from younger grades created posters and presented a narrative describing the contributions of the subjects they had chosen.

First prize of $50, for her rendering of Daniel Hale Williams, the first surgeon ever to perform successful open-heart surgery in 1893, was awarded to Yakira Mirabito. Second prize of $25 went to Andrea Hernandez, whose poster celebrated Garrett Morgan, the inventor of a plethora of everyday gadgets that we now take for granted: stop light, underwater breathing apparatus, gas mask and zig-zag sewing machine.

Honorable mentions and awards of $10 each were presented to Shannon Wagner, who also chose Garrett Morgan; Fatima Ibrahim, who chose Madam C.J. Walker, the first female millionaire, who developed hair care products for women of color; and Karilyn Klag, who celebrated Lewis Howard Latimer, inventor of the carbon filament, without which Thomas Edison could not have developed the light bulb.

Their work will be on display at the Delaware Township Municipal Building throughout February, Black History Month. Prizes were awarded at the Dingman Delaware Middle School on Friday, January 25. Lisa Sakoutis, art teacher, encouraged and provided support to the students in the completion of their posters.

The Delaware Township Democratic Committee intends to repeat the event next year.