From staff reports
FRANKLIN, TN — The 20th Annual Black-Tie Event starting Williamson County’s celebration of Black History Month is Saturday with a performance by a renowned singer-song writer of Christian and gospel music.
Jon Reddick composes lyrics that speak about redemption and hope in a way that inspires people across cultural lines and feeds a “generational hunger for healing,” the African American Heritage Society of Williamson County announced.
Tickets for the 90-minute virtual program — it starts at 6 p.m. Feb. 6 — cost $25 per person and are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aahs-virtual-black-tie-tickets-131958295815.
“As we focus on our quest for unity and equality, Pastor Reddick’s performance will be uplifting and an opportunity to feel an expression of this hope, and faith, which is much needed today,” AAHS President Alma Mclemore said.
The annual fundraiser supports the society’s McLemore House Museum and the society’s mission to chronicle the lives and contributions that African Americans have made by preserving and protecting African Americans’ heritage and history in Williamson County.
The society named Damani and Ife Keene as honorary chairs for the event. Damani Keene is a descendant of the Mariah Reddick family, an enslaved family at the antebellum Carnton Plantation in Franklin. The Scruggs family will be recognized as the 2021 Pioneer Family, a designation given to families whose roots have been traced to the 1850s and earlier.
Previous Black Tie Events were held at the Embassy Suites in Cool Springs where attendance has exceeded 700 and tickets cost $50 each.
This year, Black Tie Event participants may order meals provided by Soul Food by Suzette’s Catering and Moe Better BBQ & Fish. Contact Stacey Watson at (615) 483-3889 or email her at stacey@staceywatson.org to place a meal order or online at mclemorehouse.org. Meals may be picked up Friday.
Donations to AAHS are tax-deductible and may be made online at mclemorehouse.org. or by checks made payable to African American Heritage Society, and mailed to P. O. Box 1053, Franklin, TN. 37065.
