This Tuesday, March 10, Councilman Al Vann will bring together the communities of the 36th Council District to celebrate New York State’s 6th Harriet Tubman Day. The annual event assembles school children, community leaders and individual residents of the district in honoring the life, spirit and work of Harriet Tubman. Each year, the community is also privileged to host two of Harriet Tubman’s great grand nieces as part of the celebration.
This year’s Harriet Tubman Day celebration will be an extraordinary event. Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence Magazine and Founder of the National Cares Mentoring Movement, will deliver the Keynote Address, and New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson will be the Guest Speaker. There will also be a performance by the Brooklyn Steppers, who recently performed at the historic Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington, DC.
Harriet Tubman Day was established by law in 2003 as a New York State holiday to be held on March 10th, the anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s death in 1913. The bill establishing the holiday was co-sponsored by Assemblyman Arthur Eve and State Senator Michael Nozzolio, with 42 members of the New York State Legislature signing on. The bill was signed into law on August 27, 2003 by then Governor George E. Pataki.