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crowd comprised of the executive board and guests of the Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society sits around a large table. The group of 20 or so people hashes out all of the crucial details of an upcoming, with all the lively banter of a big family get-together. “They’ll want to freshen up, so we need to provide a hotel room. It’s in the contract, anyway,” says one member. “There’s a real nice bathroom down the hall,” says another. "It’s big. I’ll show them." It’s this delicate symbiosis between serious work and energetic positivity that best describes the atmosphere that the Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society (NNBCAS) creates and thrives in. Yet George Hardaway, the current NNBCAS president and one of the original members, remembers its modest beginnings. “There were nine of us founding members,” he said. “We started this society because there was a tremendous lack of appreciation and respect for the cultural significance of different racial and ethnic groups to American culture. ... It was 1988 and we were all at Angie Taylor’s house, sitting around her mother’s table,
The Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society hosts a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King
and began to put together this structure. Then, just a year later in 1989, we were incorporated as a nonprofit organization.” Now in its 27th year, NNBCAS continues its goal of informing Northern Nevadans and accomplishments in disciplines like music, literature, art, and dance by individuals of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, but with a strong emphasis on African-Americans. The first step that NNBCAS has taken in achieving this mission was reaching out to bridge the gap between the organization and its intended audience. Since its inception, NNBCAS has established an all-inclusive connection with Northern Nevada residents. From giving presentations about African-American history to rural communities in the surrounding area, to participating in panels at the University of Nevada, Reno, the group provides a wealth of opportunities to meet, interact and learn about NNBCAS’s purpose. The biggest NNBCAS open event for the public is the annual Juneteenth festival. The word Juneteenth is a combination of June and nineteenth, which signifies the date in 1865 that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas. For over 20 years, NNBCAS has marked this anniversary with a free summer celebration that includes food and activities. NNBCAS participates in many philanthropic efforts, such as donating dozens of pairs of shoes to the Children’s Cabinet, as well as fundraising efforts that aid various causes, like funding for young scholars to participate in tours of historically black colleges and universities. “It’s important for people to understand the importance of African-American history,” says member Gloria Bennett Jackson. “But it’s so important for the youth to know that, and that it is part of this community—and that they can be a part of it as well.” In a state with one of the lowest graduation rates in the country, NNBCAS emphasizes education with enthusiasm. The society hosts initiatives to encourage and ensure the success of students in the area, providing incentives like roller skating parties to kids with good GPAs, tutoring at a local Boys and Girls Club, and working with the National Guard to fund monetary prizes for the elementary through college-level students who win their annual essay contest. “We know that students look different and they start out at different points, go through different processes, and we want to make sure that everybody has the opportunity for an equitable outcome so that they can be successful,” says Tiffany Young, NNBCAS board Jr. member, who's also the equity and diversity coordinator for the Washoe County School District. While the relationship between academic success and raising the level of BY ANNA HART
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JANUARY 15, 2015
