History In The Making!
I
have some awesome news to share! September is Sickle Cell Awareness month all
over the country! This year the Civil
Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL has agreed to dedicate a gallery to Sickle
Cell Disease (SCD) and it will be the first ever art exhibit, along with a
video of those living with the disease to be placed in the Institute. The video will be shown during the opening
reception that will also play and loop in the gallery for the life of the
exhibit; along with informational panels about SCD. Just to give you a little history Birmingham,
AL is the birthplace, cradle, and home of the Civil Rights Movement and we
celebrated the movement’s 50th Anniversary last year. Well, the Civil Rights Institute is across
the street from where the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church
and also across the street from the area (now Kelly Ingram Park) where dogs
attacked black protestors and water hoses were sprayed by firemen onto black
protestors. So, having an art exhibit
(with artwork created by the sickle cell community) is huge in my eyes! People come from all over the world to take a
tour of the Civil Rights Institute, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and Kelly
Ingram Park. I say all of this because
it just remarkable that artwork will be placed in a gallery from people living
with SCD who live all over the country and the best part is it will hang through
December.
Please
mark your calendar to attend the opening of the exhibit along with a program
and reception that will take place on September 4, 2014 at 6pm at the Civil
Rights Institute and it will kick off the events in Birmingham, AL for Sickle
Cell Awareness Month. The works will be
a depiction of what it feels like to live with SCD on a daily basis. Sickle Cell Disease is an often forgotten
brown people’s disease, leaving those who live it to suffer in silence. This exhibit will be an eye opener, a mind
blower, and give the public some indication of how serious this disease affects
people of color. Those living with SCD often
do not have a voice sitting around the tables of the large African American
social, political, or civic organizations; when this disease alters the lives
of fellow brothers and sisters. Why is
SCD not the topic of conversation when it comes to which health issues or
diseases will be the focus health initiative for these organizations in which
we belong? The Civil Rights Institute
has decided that SCD needs attention and needs to be dealt with on a global
level. For the Civil Rights Institute to
humbly accept the offer by displaying this disease in its rawest form, the
arts, will show that this disease too often interrupts the lives of those
living with SCD.
Birmingham,
AL has accepted the torch to carry for the country on its back in the past as
it pertains to civil rights, just as the Civil Rights Institute has decided to
accept the torch for the first leg of this race, as those living with SCD still
fight for civil rights. I salute the
Civil Rights Institute and pray others will humbly help to run this race with
and for those living with Sickle Cell Disease.
Many of us living with SCD may lose some daily battles with SCD, but we
refuse to be defeated by the war that rages within! So I challenge you to run this race with me
and so many like me who live with SCD, and encourage others to place this
disease at the top of the agenda during the month of September because there is
power in numbers.
No,
I don’t want you to dump ice water over your head, eat some ridiculous food,
put on some red lipstick, take a walk, attend a gala, or run a marathon. I would like you to become educated about a
disease that has been put on the back burner for far too long! I challenge you and will continue to
challenge you to help those of us living with the disease by making it priority
this year and for years to come; by giving this disease some of your energy,
time, and dollars so that those of us living with SCD will stop suffering in
silence and crying in the dark! I hold
this torch today in Birmingham, AL as a black woman who has lived 40 years with
a disease that no one seems to care about until it’s time for a walk or put on
a pretty dress or tuxedo for a gala; that helps me in no way! I challenge you to help me hold up this torch
so the flame will continue to burn for all to see that people who look like me
and you with brown skin have been suffering all alone for too long. We need you to make us a priority, the people
living with the disease! Are you up for
the challenge? I don’t go away easily,
so I will hold this torch hoping and praying for people with compassion will
help me as I push SCD to the forefront of diseases in serious need of help.
Also
mark your calendar for September 18, 2014 at 6pm to join us for an evening of
entertainment, networking, and sickle cell awareness at Villagio's Restaurant
in Ross Bridge. Enjoy tunes, including
her new single "I'm Done" by Sharon Collins Adley, Comedian Bennie
Mac, and spoken word artist yours truly, Tina Kay. Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite or
at the door. Lastly, we are so excited
about the Second Annual "Arts For Life" Festival in Avondale Park
where several organizations and high schools compete to determine who can
donate the most blood, register the most people for the national bone marrow
registry and donate funds. We are so
excited about this fun, family friendly festival for the entire family and
community as all art forms take the stage during the day as we save lives. Mark your calendars for September 20, 2014
from 11am-6pm. It’s not too late to
enter your organization into the competition nor is it too late to be a
sponsor. Please email me at
tkay2006@gmail.com for more information regarding this article or any of the
events. Thanks in advance for your
support!
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