{"id":18536,"date":"2026-02-13T00:25:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=18536"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:25:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:25:38","slug":"the-pan-african-flag-is-raised-as-black-history-month-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/13\/the-pan-african-flag-is-raised-as-black-history-month-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pan African Flag Is Raised as Black History Month Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Truth Staff<\/em><\/p>\n

County and City Officials joined members of the Community Solidarity Response Network on Tuesday, February 3, to kick off the local celebration of Black History Month with a flag raising ceremony at One Government Center. The black, red and green Pan African flag was raised by community members as several dozen onlookers observed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key aspect of the Pan African flag is the belief that people of African descent have common interests and should work together for progress to uplift, empower and unite those of the African diaspora in the [United States of America],\u201d said Rev. Willie Perryman of the Lucas County Commissioners Office of Engagement just before the flag was raised by Jodie Summers of the CSRN.<\/p>\n

The brief outdoor ceremony in the frigid early February weather was followed by a meeting in the Lucas County Commissioners chambers and a more elaborate presentation of speakers paying tribute to Black History Month.<\/p>\n

All three commissioners \u2013 Lisa Sobecki, Pete Gerken and Anita Lopez \u2013 spoke to the attendees about their reasons for recognizing and honoring Black history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about the struggle,\u201d said Gerken, who spoke not only of past struggles but made a connection between what has happened in the past to difficulties people are facing today, such as with the chaos ICE has created.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am appalled by this immigration issue, this struggle goes back 400 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Vanice Williams, president of Toledo City Council, brought her own spoken word to the event, reflecting on her struggles as a Black woman. She said in part:<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Black woman is breaking chains and building Underground railroads to save a nation \u2026 Being a Black woman is opening the casket to show the world my son was brutally beat because he was born to a Black woman \u2026 Being a Black woman is sitting down on a bus where I want to because I am tired of being moved to the back \u2026 Being a Black woman is going to space because I said I would \u2026 Being a Black woman is running for president and losing to a bag of Cheetos because I am a Black woman and y\u2019all ain\u2019t ready for that \u2026 Being a black woman in America \u2026 whew that ish is hard but God knew who needed to be a Black woman \u2013 that Black woman is me \u2026 Happy Black History Month!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Community Solidarity Response Network does not start a meeting without seeking the approval of an elder, explained CSRN spokesman and cofounder Bro. Washington Muhammad. Therefore, he called upon Terry Crosby to provide that approval. Crosby, a former star athlete on the Toledo High School level, a standout on the college basketball level, an international professional hoopster and currently a community advocate for Taylor Auto Group, gave that approval and also spoke about the importance of Black History Month.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack History Month is not just about the past, it is about the promise of our future,\u201d said Crosby. Explaining the colors of the Pan African flag, Crosby noted that \u201cthe black is for the people, the red is for the sacrifices of the past, the green is for the hope and prosperity we continue to build.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand on the shoulders of those who endured, who dreamed, who refused to give up so that we could stand here today \u2026 when we honor history, we strengthen our community,\u201d Crosby added. \u201cThere is nothing we cannot achieve together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muhammad then informed the audience that the flag raising ceremony is now six years old, a concept that CSRN brought to reality only with the help of others in the community, particularly Commissioner Gerken and the Toledo NAACP, under the leadership of Rev. Perryman at that time<\/p>\n

\u201cYou find out who your friends are when you are trying to do something important,\u201d Muhammad said.<\/p>\n

Poet, illustrator, author Jodie Summers presented his spoken word.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to people? Where did we all go? We don\u2019t have conversation anymore,\u201d opened Summers as he began his report on a journey through these troubled times.<\/p>\n

Summers also noted that Toledo – Lucas County area is the only place in the United states where the Pan African flag is officially raised at the government seat to pay homage to Black History Month.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Truth Staff County and City Officials joined members of the Community Solidarity Response Network on Tuesday, February 3, to kick off the local celebration of Black History Month with a flag raising ceremony at One Government Center. The black, red and green Pan African flag was raised by community members as several dozen onlookers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,17],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[334],"class_list":["post-18536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18541,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18536\/revisions\/18541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18536"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=18536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}