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Black History Month in Pasadena is starting off Thursday with the
The Black History Breakfast.
Organized by the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Phoenix Society of Pasadena Black Professional Firefighters, and Pasadena Black Municipal Employees Association (PBMEA), the event, which will be held at the Pasadena Senior Center at 85 E. Holly St., aims to recognize the accomplishments of African-Americans who shape society.
This event features pancakes made by the Pasadena Firefighters Association, entertainment and raffles. Former longtime Pasadena Water and Power General Manager Phyllis Currie is the keynote speaker for the event.
Black History Breakfast began a little over 25 years ago as a luncheon inside of the Pasadena Police Department. It was started by Police Officer Simone Alexander.
“[She] had a passion and desire to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of African American instrumental in shaping the City of Pasadena, specifically the police department,” said Rodney Wallace, past president of NOBLE San Gabriel Valley Chapter and retired Pasadena police lieutenant.
Wallace said the event was held back then to gather police department and community department heads over lunch.
“We had a soul food lunch. And we would expose ourselves to real history, real African American history, traditions, accomplishments, and the struggles.”
“In fact, throughout the entire month of February we had African art adorning the walls in the police department. We had a black inventions museum inside the police department. So it was almost like a mini black history museum. The police department had become kind of a mini black history museum,” Wallace recalled.
The luncheon later outgrew and gave way to a breakfast and a collaboration between the NOBLE, PBMEA and other institutions.
This year’s theme for the Black History Breakfast is “Celebrating Black Employee Excellence, Honoring Trailblazer’s Past, Present, and Future.”
At the event, attendees will honor the first black officers who have served residents of Pasadena and helped shape the city.
”We are going to really be talking about some of the first, as it relates to working for the city – first black police officer, first black chief, first black police officer.”
“We want to make sure that people know who some of these first were. That’s basically what we’re going to be doing during that breakfast.”
At the event, organizers will recognize new Police Chief Eugene Harris and new Water and Power General Manager Sidney Jackson. The late Councilmember John J. Kennedy will be honored during the event, according to Wallace.
Wallace stressed the importance of retelling the stories of Black people who struggled with adversity to the next generation.
“The stories of our accomplishments, the stories of our struggles, the stories of where we have been and where we are now, and what we can achieve, must be told accurately for our young people,” Wallace said. “Knowledge of our culture must be understood not only by ourselves, but also by other folks, because we don’t live in a vacuum.”
“The story has to keep on being told and not only through the words, but also through our actions, through the things that we do on a regular basis,” he added.
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