Northeast Louisiana Delta African-American Heritage Museum in Monroe, Louisiana, will be the setting for an event to uplift to inform and to entertain the whole family.

The scheduled activities are geared to persons of early childhood, middle and late childhood, pre-teens, teens, young and “seasoned” adults, as well as, senior citizens.

Individuals and youth groups of the Miss-Lou are invited to participate in this guaranteed-to-be enjoyable event.

The youths are to showcase their talent by emulating, in part, Black achievements, observance of the 51st anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination (April 4, 1968) and some other performances worthy of note.

Performances will include speaking, singing, puppetry shows, instrumental playing, poem reading, dramatizing and liturgical dancing.

Well-renowned “Xtreme Praise Ministries” from Alexandria, Louisiana, which is a program in and of itself, accepted and confirmed its appearance.

Well-known local speakers, singers, liturgical dancers-also known as praise dancers-have accepted our invitation and have confirmed, also.

The concept of preserving and sharing the “Black Experience” — its culture, contributions and ancestry — was envisioned by the late Nancy Johnson of Monroe, Louisiana.

She felt that a physical setting, designed to house and include information relevant to the 15 Northeast Louisiana parishes, predominately and counties in Mississippi, along with encompassing all the other Louisiana parishes and places beyond, would best serve the mission’s goals and objectives.

Cooperation and hard work among many individuals and agencies — particularly local and regional elected officials spearheaded by retired Sen. Charles D. Jones (then Concordia Parish’s Senatorial District legislator) resulted in Johnson’s vision coming to fruition.

After Johnson’s demise in the middle 1990s, the “torch was passed” to Lorraine Slacks, who as executive director, led a valiant effort to build upon the foundation that had been established.

Several presidents served with Slacks, including myself, Josephine Sanders-Webster of Vidalia, (Concordia Parish).

We regretfully acknowledge the transition of Slacks in September 2018.

The Board’s new Executive Director is Ross Slacks, Lorraine Slacks’ son who served diligently as Museum Board Representative for 10 years.

Presently, the Executive Board consists of 19 members. The Advisory Board is being revamped, with four approved applicants to date.

The Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum is an institution dedicated to the research, identification, selection, acquisition and preservation of visual art forms, historical documents, and artifacts that relate to the life and culture of African Americans.

The collections of the museum, combined with related activities, will assist all people in understanding the African American Experience. The museum will serve the entire state, with emphasis placed on the Northeast Louisiana Parishes of Richland, Morehouse, LaSalle, Caldwell, Madison, East Carroll, West Carroll, Tensas, Franklin, Catahoula, Lincoln, Concordia, Union, Jackson and Ouachita.

The family event will be 4 p.m. Saturday, and we hope to have the Northeast Louisiana Delta African-American Heritage Museum, 1051 Chennault Park Drive, Monroe, Louisiana, filled up with patrons, friends and families.

The event is free and open to the public. Donations will be accepted.

For more information call 601-870-8733 or 318-235-7090 or 318-512-2200.

Refreshments will be served.

Josephine Sanders-Webster of Vidalia is a board member of the the Northeast Louisiana Delta African-American Heritage Museum.