The Black Family Reunion Celebration (also written about as the National Black Family Reunion and, most recently, The Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion Celebration) is a two- to three-day cultural event, held annually the third weekend of August, to "reinforce the historic strengths and traditional values of the Black family." It is coordinated by the
National Council of Negro Women
The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the f ...
.
History
The Black Family Reunion was first established by civil rights leader
Dorothy Height
Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is cr ...
in 1989 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Historically, the Black Family Reunion has also taken place on the
National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
(as recently as 2011) and in other cities across the United States.
The observance can be said to be a response to
charged social politics in the United States during the 1980s regarding African-American family structure and domestic life, such as that demonstrated by
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...
' 1986 CBS documentary ''
The Vanishing Family: Crisis in Black America'', among other publications. The stated mission of the Reunion is a "cultural week and event which brings consumers, corporations, and communities together to focus on the historic strengths and values of the Black Family" and to "showcase" and "reinforce" the "historic morals of the Black family."
The 24th annual Black Family Reunion Celebration held its first day's activities on the National Mall near the Washington Monument on September 12, 2009, the same day as the
Taxpayer March on Washington
The Taxpayer March on Washington (also known as the 9/12 Tea Party) was a Tea Party protest march from Freedom Plaza to the United States Capitol held on September 12, 2009, in Washington, D.C. The event coincided with similar protests organized i ...
, fueling controversy over attendance figures.
The 2020 reunion was held largely online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a one-day "call to action" held in
Sawyer Point Park.
Representation in art
In 1994, the
National Black McDonald's Operators Association commissioned prolific D.C.-based artist
Byron Peck to paint a Reunion-themed mural on 14th street in Washington. He employed three students and three artist assistants and based the work on a friend's family photos representing multiple generations. Construction in the area threatened to obscure the mural in 2012.
See also
*
Dorothy Height
Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is cr ...
*
National Council of Negro Women
The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the f ...
*
National Museum of African American History
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...
*
African-American family structure
The family structure of African Americans has long been a matter of national public policy interest. A 1965 report by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, known as ''The Moynihan Report'', examined the link between black poverty and family structure. It hyp ...
References
External links
Official site
{{AfricanAmerican-stub
African-American culture
Family in the United States
African-American gender relations
African-American events
National Council of Negro Women