The Cookeville-Putnam County NAACP hosting a Juneteenth celebration at Dogwood Park Friday to highlight Black history and address health disparities.
Cookeville-Putnam County NAACP Branch President Thomas Savage said the event features a gospel hour to showcase the roots of the Black community. Savage said the event will also focus on specific health issues for Black people.
“We’ll have the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, who advocate for healthcare for the least of these. Health groups there who are addressing Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, diabetes, those things seem to be ravaging the Black community and really a lot of communities here in the United States.”
Savage said the organization intends to provide resources that help residents address diseases and live longer, as well as continue their emphasis on voter registration. Savage also said he and the organization want to inform people of their voting rights, in an effort to thwart what he says is voter suppression and intimidation at the polls.
“The NAACP hasn’t had a good day unless we do voter registration and give information about how it will be when you go and cast your vote,” Savage said. “So, we want to make sure that we give everyone all the information, because there has been some rule changes for sure. And, we don’t want people to be intimidated when they get in line to vote.”
Savage said the holiday provides an opportunity for reflection on the past and a chance to catch the community up on the history of the date.
“It’s the true holiday for Black Americans in the United States,” Savage said. “And General (Ulysses) Grant sent out people to spread the good news that, ‘Hey, you’re not a slave anymore. You are free,’ you know. And so, there was a large group of people, especially in the state of Texas, that were still slaves two years after Emancipation Proclamation. And so, and on that day, June 19th, they got the news. And so, that’s why we celebrate.”
Savage said the NAACP is also partnering with Helping Hands to collect non-perishable items at the Democratic Party headquarters. Savage said the organization is non-partisan and would consider similar partnerships with any group that shares their values or helps their fellow man.
“We have Democrats and independents and Republicans in the NAACP,” Savage said. “We’ve never, ever been extended a hand of fellowship that I know of by the Republican Party per se. I have a lot of good friends that are Republicans and that share the values of the NAACP. But it so happens that Helping Hands and Democratic Party said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this, would you guys want to participate with us?’ And we said yes.”
Savage said the organization is currently focused on the impacts of redistricting in Tennessee and how it affects representation for people of color. Savage said the dilution of urban areas makes it more difficult for officials to speak on specific issues like maternal health and jobs within the Black community.
“The remedy for it all is that we help ourselves by taking our souls to the polls, network with people who don’t look like us, and there’s many people who share the values who think that this redistricting is wrong, a legion of people who so happen to be white,” Savage said. “And we just ask them to collaborate with us and to change things to where we have people from our community who know our issues and are willing to represent us.”