Inside BFSA
Your information source for BFSA - Summer 2021 (June/July)
Events
8/27-8/28 – Summer Salute Festival – Hopkinsville
8/27-8/28 – Kenlake Hot August Blues Festival – Hardin
9/3-9/4* – Ice Cream Festival – Murray
9/4-9/6 – Grand Rivers Labor Day Weekend Arts and Crafts Festival – Grand Rivers
9/6* – Labor Day Celebration – Paducah
9/11 – Paducah Dragon Boat Festival – Paducah
It's "Official"
Juneteenth Is Now A Federal Holiday! The US will now officially recognize Juneteenth. President Joe Biden signed a bill on June 17, 2021, passed by the Senate and House, June 15th and 16th respectively - with no opposing vote in the Senate and only minor Republican dissent in the House.
- Last year in 2020 corporate giants Twitter, Square, Nike, Lyft, Quicken Loans and the NFL lead a growing trend of companies, large and small, making Juneteenth a day off for their employees.
- Most federal employees for 2021 will observe the holiday on Friday, June 18th, since the holiday falls on a Saturday.
- Additional companies recognizing Juneteenth with either PTO or holiday pay include Best Buy, Target, Starbucks, Allstate, Google, T-Mobile, Mastercard, Zillow, Yelp, and Altria.
- "All Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history.”
-President Biden - “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."
-Desmond Tutu
ABOUT JUNETEENTH:
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.
In Kentucky, August 8th is considered the date that this commemoration is recognized. Paducah, Kentucky hosts an annual August 8th celebration.
Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics, and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement, and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long overdue. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities, and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.
Biden also praised the efforts of Opal Lee, 94, an activist who at the age of 89 walked from her home in Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to get Juneteenth named a national holiday. Biden referred to her as “a grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.”
The last federally created holiday was MLK Day. The last time Congress created a federal holiday was in 1983, when lawmakers designated the third Monday in January as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in honor of the slain civil-rights leader. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. The bill also established the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to oversee observance of the holiday, and Coretta Scott King, King's wife, was made a member of this commission for life by President George H. W. Bush in May 1989.
State-level passage
Although the federal holiday honoring King was signed into law in 1983 and took effect three years later, not every U.S. state chose to observe the January holiday at the state level[3] until 1991, when the New Hampshire legislature created "Civil Rights Day" and abolished its April "Fast Day". In 1999, New Hampshire became the last state to name a holiday after King, which they first celebrated in January 2000 – the first nationwide celebration of the day with this name. On May 2, 2000, South Carolina governor Jim Hodges signed a bill to make King's birthday an official state holiday. South Carolina was the last state to recognize the day as a paid holiday for all state employees. Before the bill, employees could choose between celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day or one of three Confederate holidays.
Black movies on NETFLIX
Connect with students
Join a book club. Lead a workshop. Become a mentor.
Please connect with Stephen Keene skeene@murraystate.edu, 809-3242.
The purpose of the Student Support Services Program (SSS) is to increase the number of disadvantaged low-income college students, first-generation college students, and college students with disabilities in the United States who successfully complete a program of study at the postsecondary level.
Open this summer to BFSA Participation
Book Club will be held via ZOOM on Mondays beginning June 7, 2021 - August 2, 2021 6 pm - 6:45 pm
Getting to Know You!
Get to Know You
Want more information? Contact:
Kim Newbern: knewbern@murraystate.edu
Azia Rouse: arouse2@murraystate.edu
Ready to share all about you? One quick click!
More on Financial Wellness
Consider MENTORING!
Quick Campus Tour: Faces, Places and Spaces
Mary Elaine Horn
Coordinator - Fort Campbell Campus
Dr. Alicia Carthell
Assistant Professor
English & Philosophy
Angela Guyton
Administrative Assistant II.
Jones College of Science, Engineering & Technology
Dr. LeRon Harrison
Dr. Oluwabunmi Dada
Dr. Esther Malm
Dr. Debbie Owens
Dr. Barbara Washington
Dr. Bella Ezumah
Dr. Joshua Easterling
Mr. Raymond Sims
Tony Jones
Dr. Marquese Carter
Carruth Kitrell
George Duvall
Renita Avery
Kim Newbern
Stephen Keene
Upward Bound II
Ivy Anderson
Kendrick Quisenberry
Dr. Donald Adongo
Justin Parks
General Manager, Athletics
Shane Nichols
Assistant Coach
Men's Basketball
Casey Long
Assistant Coach
Men's Basketball
Ronrico White
Director of Player Development
Athletics
Jauwan Scaife
Assistant Women's Basketball Coach
Athletics
Chris Cunningham
Special Teams Coordinator
Athletics
Darius Hart
Assistant Coach, Football
Athletics
Frederick Walker
Assistant Coach, Football
Athletics
Dr. Firm Faith Watson
Faculty Development Center Director
University Libraries
Dr. Omer Yayenie
Professor
Math Department
Dr. Brian Clardy
Associate Professor
History Department
Camisha Duffy
Executive Director of the Office of IDEA
Institutional Title IX Coordinator
Lecturer, Organizational Communication & Leadership
serving as the institutional Chief Diversity OfficerDr. Jessica Evans
Director of Assessment & Accreditation
College of Education and Human Services
Regina Hudspeth
Lecturer
Organizational Communication & Leadership
Dedrick Brooks
Buffy Blanton
Tiffany Emerson
Academic Coordinator
Talent Search
Dr. S. G. Carthell
Teresa Palmer
Associate Director
Student Financial Aid
Robert "Bobby" Daniels
Coordinator of Housing Maintenance
Housing & Residence Life
Azia Rouse
Sarah Jones
Ada Bailey
Dr. Cleon Hendricks
Kaitlyn Black
Adrian Benton
Office of Recruitment
Lester Buckner
Laboratory Technician
Breathitt Veterinary Center
Glendale Olive
Central Receiving
Retirees
Doris Saunders
Dr. Janis Murphy*
Dr. Seid Hassan
Retirees in the News!
About BFSA
Email: msu.idea@murraystate.edu
Website: www.murraystate.edu/bfsa
Location: 103 Wells Hall, Murray, KY 42071
Phone: 270-809-3155