Lakeview residents gathered at the Lakeview Public Library last Saturday for a Black History Month celebration led by the Nassau County Guardians. The event was organized by the library and the Guardians, to bring people together.
“I’m a Lakeview resident for 58 years, and I believe in bringing back to our community,” said Lynn Singleton, treasure of the Guardians, who estimated that she has organized the event for eight years. “It is very important to me, because the community comes out, they get to meet Black officers — the officers from Nassau County Police Department — and it’s informative, educational for the children. We just make it a nice event for everybody.”
The Nassau County Guardians Association is dedicated to encouraging the African-American community to be the conscience of the criminal justice system. It is a fraternal organization whose members work with county law enforcement agencies.
“We try to have a very good tie with the community, as much as we possibly can, and we try to build that,” Guardians President Brendan Gibbs said. The association conducts workshops on what to do when stopped by police throughout the county, along with hosting fundraisers and offering scholarships. “We have a very deep-rooted sense of pride in our community, our African-American roots, our heritage,” Gibbs added, “and we would like to continue that tradition of trying to bring our community closer.”
The celebration began with a prayer by Chaplain Monica Booker-Brooks, a public safety officer with the Nassau County Police Department, who said, “This day is a celebration of Black history, honoring our ancestors, who have paved the way for us today, so that we can be an example for the future to come.”
The Hempstead Select Choir, led by Rachel Harrison Blackburn, sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is often referred to as the Black national anthem, as well as the gospel standard “This Little Light of Mine” and the South African freedom song “We are Marching in the Light of God.”
A highlight of the event was a poetry reading by the Town of Hempstead’s first poet laureate, Lindamichelle Baron. She was also named village griot by the Village of Hempstead, where she is a resident. Griot is a West African term for a storyteller, poet or oral historian. Baron, a professor at York College, CUNY, and has been writing poetry since she was 5. Baron has published several collections of her work.
Baron, who encourages young people to pursue teaching, invited the crowd to participate in the reading of her poem “The Drums.”
“As we honor our history, we have to honor our now, because we are our history,” she said.
Baron also read her poems “Don’t Drink the Kool Aid,” “Better Me,” “I’m the Man,” and a two-part work, “You Talking to Me?” and “Yes, I’m Talking to You.”
Throughout the reading, she shared stories from her life, reflected on her experiences of growing, learning and teaching, and clearly captivated the crowd.
“I love engaging with the audience, and feeling the energy and where they’re coming from, and feeding into that,” Baron said. “They were so responsive. They got everything. I loved it. That’s what made me better.”
