Baltimore County, MD Hello Baltimore County, 6 Jul 2016

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From YouTube: African-American Cultural Festival

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Enjoy Baltimore County’s 20th annual African American Cultural Festival this September 17th in Towson.

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Welcome to hello, baltimore county., I'm ellen kobler..

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This september 17th will mark the 20th anniversary.

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Of the baltimore county, african-american cultural festival.,.

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Here to share what's happening at this year's event, are the festival, founder, delegate and speaker pro tem adrienne jones.

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And festival committee vice president cynthia dejesus.

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Ladies,, thank you for joining us.

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Thank you for inviting us.

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Delegate jones, 20 years ago, you had the vision of this festival.

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Tell us why you did it and how you feel it's gone for the past two decades.

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For one thing,, I can't believe it's been 20 years,.

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But initially, when I founded the festival, along with several others,.

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We realized that baltimore county had a rich african-american community.

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Throughout baltimore county.

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and a lot of people didn't know about it., and the purpose of the festival was to highlight the positives.

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Within the african-american community.

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through the media, oftentimes, you hear the negatives,, but there's good things.. We have a rich history in terms of the arts, education.

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Anything that's really positive about our community and we decided to do it in the seat of baltimore county, towson,.

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Where people come for other matters,.

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But we also wanted them to share the growth.

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And how well the african-american community was doing.

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During that time and it expanded to 20th year, today.

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And it has been very successful and growing each year.

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Cynthia,, let's start with the fun stuff.

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entertainment, food --. What can people expect at this year's festival?.

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Well,, starting at 9:00,, we will have--.

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Opening up the education village. for the past four years, ellen,, we have had-- and our keynote speaker is in the education village.

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The first year was dr. freeman hrabowski, who was president of university of maryland baltimore county.

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The second year we had the honorable elijah cummings., the third year we had dr. dallas dance.

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So this year we are doing the first lady's initiative,.

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#62Milliongirls.

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and,, we are just so excited about the presentation. This year.

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Hasn't been confirmed,, but we will have someone there representing that.

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And that starts at 9:00.. The second part will be the scholarships.

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The scholarships, we award scholarships to five students.

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In baltimore county every year.

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and these students will be presented their scholarships at that time.

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And there are also photos of them and a little brief excerpt.

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From their essay and a souvenir journal.

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Very good., so the proceeds from the festival go to a good, cause.

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oh, absolutely.. What can people expect in the way of, oh,? I don't know, munchies and there's concerts and things?.

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Well, we have three other stages of entertainment,.

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Which usually showcase local entertainment in baltimore, county.

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I am so pleased to say we have a plethora of local entertainment.

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That will be showcased on that stage.. We have food vendors with whatever your appetite is,, you know, national,, international food, or local food,.

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We have several food vendors. and our marketplace,, my goodness,.

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You have a plethora also of people that have all kinds of wonderful things.

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To sell to the community.

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Vendors with beautiful clothing and jewelry.

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Absolutely, and most of these vendors are local.

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So we're really giving back to our own community.

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very nice., delegate jones, history is also showcased at the festival.

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What's happening this year with that?

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yes,, that is one of their popular exhibits.

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Because people who come there are very much interested.

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No matter what your race, in terms of their history.

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And louis diggs,, the historian, that's well known in baltimore county.

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And beyond has a extensive display.

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He has-- of various historical communities in baltimore, county.

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There's about 40 of them., I came from one.

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and he also has the buffalo soldiers who have--.

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He has a traveling exhibit that people can see.

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And anything in the african-american history that you think about is there.

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the negro baseball, and it's just something that people--.

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They always want to go there in terms of the programs that we have.

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So you can see actual items from, you know, centuries, decades past and how people lived. yeah.

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Cynthia, tell us about the education village and what you'll have this year.

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Well, this year in our education, village,.

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In the past year-- we have a partnership with the baltimore county, public schools.

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And they send busses to the area schools to pick up the children.

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They arrive there by 9:00., we kick it off with a free continental breakfast..

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We have vendors and organizations that donate educational tools in the educational village.

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Reading tools, tablets, and we have free book giveaways,.

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We have a partnership with the american federation of teachers and other community organizations..

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We start out with a wonderful keynote speaker this year.

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From the #62milliongirls.

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Very nice., and you also have a children's champion zone where there can cut loose a little bit?.

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Absolutely, and that's been,, that's been showcased.

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By different organizations,, so we're excited about that.

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Coming back really strong, this year., okay, and delegate jones, health and wellness is something.

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You can check off your list at the festival. Too?

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tell us about that.

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Yes, and anyone who wants to come,, we have information from the private sector to the state and the county.

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You can get free screenings., we'll have information which is sort of--.

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What is needed--, what is en vogue, now,.

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Which is the zika,, the zika virus.

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Yeah, the zika virus. yeah,, so the information regarding that.

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So people can get blood pressure, screenings--.

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Blood pressure screenings-- busy people that don't have time during the week., it will be one place that they can go.

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And the various sponsors will be handing out free products.

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Very nice. all right, and I'm hearing something about a hero shero. This year.

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Right., what is that, cynthia? hero? Sheros, we've been doing that for the past three years, in partnership with the usaa, double a,.

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And we recognize military past,, present, and current.

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Military men and women from each of the branches of the military.

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And we recognize them by providing them with certificates and various things..

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It's just a wonderful thing that we do.

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Very nice., delegate johnson, in the minute, or so we have left,, give us your pitch here, your commercial for why anybody and everybody wants to come out on september 17th.

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It's a free, event,, free parking,. It's a family, event.

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We're one of the few festivals that does not sell.

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Or have sponsorship as far as alcohol.

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Okay,, so it's very family friendly., very family friendly, and it has something for whatever.

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Your taste in terms of food,, vendors,, music,.

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We'll have a national act, but you can't-- shhhh!, you can't say it.

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Can't say-- we're taping this, the contract's not yet been signed.. We're very pleased with this national artist.

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Very good, and people can go online to your website to find out.

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By what date do you think it might be announced??

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Do you have any idea? soon.

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All right,, so maybe early july.

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And cynthia, anything quick, you want to add?.

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Well, this year's theme for the festival is "hallowed ground of baltimore county.", all right,, very nice.

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And we'll reflect back with louis diggs,.

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Recognizing those 40 historical sites in baltimore.

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Fantastic,, it sounds like a wonderful day.

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Thank you so much.

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We're looking for sponsors, too. sponsors and volunteers.

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-very good,, very good.,.

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And thank you for watching hello, baltimore county., don't forget,! You can find out more about the baltimore county, african-american cultural festival,,.

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Including the entertainment schedule at aaculturalfestival.com.

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And we encourage you to connect with baltimore county government on facebook and twitter., we'll see you next time.

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