SPECIAL DAY: (From left) Justices Lawrence Knipel and Deborah Dowling
presented Dr. John Flateau with his Distinguished Service Award. Judges
sang together during the Black History Month kick-off celebration at
Kings County Supreme Court. Photos by Caroline Ourso
COURIER L 28 IFE, FEB. 15–21, 2019 M BR B G
BY JULIANNE CUBA
History is now.
Brooklyn justices ushered
in Black History Month with
a ceremony at Kings County
Supreme Court, which drew a
more diverse crowd than ever
since they began the kick-off
celebrations two decades ago.
“There was a record number
of judges of all color,” said
Justice Sylvia Ash. “Each year
we get a larger turnout.”
Each year, the jurists
choose a theme for the opening
ceremony based on current
events. And their 21st-annual
event centered around “The
Great Migration,” recognizing
both black Americans’ move
from the southern to northern
United States to escape segregation
and Jim Crow laws over
the last century, and the treks
residents of war-torn countries
make to the U.S. today, Ash
said.
“We base themes on current
events, and there’s a lot of talk
about immigration,” she said.
Attendees began the Feb. 1
festivities with spirited renditions
of the National Anthem
and the Black National Anthem,
before Brooklyn Board
of Elections Commissioner Dr.
John Flateau — who is also a
professor at Crown Heights’s
historically black Medgar
Evers College — addressed the
crowd as the keynote speaker
at the event, where he also received
an award for distinguished
service.
Flateau spoke eloquently
and made important connections
between migration then
and now, said Ash.
“Dr. Flateau was a very
captivating speaker, being a
professor he has a wealth of
knowledge of black history and
migration,” she said. “He was
able to impart that knowledge
to a captivated audience.”
The kick-off event marked
the fi rst of many Black History
Month celebrations at the local
courts, including a health
and wellness seminar on Feb.
14, and a closing ceremony on
Feb. 28, when the jurists will
become judges of a different
sort during a celebratory fashion
show.
Culture in the court!