The Florida panhandle community of Pensacola is the birth home of Daniel Chappie James, Jr., the fir

As the Waterford Crystal disney vacation packages Ball descended down the flagpole in Times Square I was struck disney vacation packages by the finality of it all 2011 is no more, never to be experienced again. While the events of the global New Year s celebrations are characteristically disney vacation packages a time to look ahead, I was thinking to myself, wow another year gone, I m getting old just kidding on that one. What will recorded history tell us about 2011? What will be remembered 10, 20 or even 50 years from now as significant additions to our culture, heritage and the advancement disney vacation packages of mankind. The beauty of living in an age of instant disney vacation packages information and massive creativity is the ability to record and share our collective disney vacation packages love of history and culture vicariously using heritage tourism as the eyes and ears to our past. For those destinations with great heritage tourism products the coming years should offer a windfall of opportunity like never before as we reach several important milestones in American history. Fifty years ago America was in the throes of the Civil Rights Movement. The heroes and heroines of this era have written disney vacation packages their last chapter in our history books and will forever be remembered for their contribution to the greater disney vacation packages good Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, the Little Rock Nine, Rosa Parks, President John F. Kennedy and others. Several seminal anniversary events of the Civil Rights era are upon us from Dr. King s August 1963 I Have a Dream speech, to the heart wrenching death of four little girls at an Alabama church, to the passage of both the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. The sesquicentennial anniversary (150 years) of the Civil War is upon us as well. On January 27, 1862, President Lincoln issued a war order authorizing the Union to launch a unified aggressive action against the Confederacy a war that would forever alter the lives of the American populace. But culture and heritage are more than movements, wars and protests. A quick trip to Harlem and the Apollo Theater reminds us all of the cultural and literary contributions of a community. Our heritage includes the musing, orations and words of authors like Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and Frederick Douglas. What about Marian Anderson s watershed performance in front of the Lincoln Memorial disney vacation packages in 1939 or the inventions of George Washington Carver? We have music festivals such as Essence, parades, plays, historically Black college football games, business disney vacation packages leaders, movies such as the recently released Red Tails inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen. Collectively this is what heritage and heritage tourism is all about. We celebrate the music of Louis Armstrong, the spectacular skills disney vacation packages and the willingness to challenge authority embodied in the persona of Muhammad Ali, whose act of defiance defined a generation. I would have loved to interview all those mentioned here. Last year when I wrote this story I referenced an old African Proverb that seems more appropriate now. Return to old watering holes for more than water, disney vacation packages friends disney vacation packages and dreams are there to meet you. I for one am thankful we have heritage tourism to capture the past and catapult us ahead. Research has consistently shown African-American disney vacation packages s spend more on heritage tourism than any single group, but the country as a whole has experienced a renaissance in recent years. People from all walks of life are seeking cross-cultural heritage disney vacation packages tourism experiences. disney vacation packages Even international travelers to our shores want in. As we start to celebrate, commemorate or commiserate on the anniversaries before us, below are several destinations poised disney vacation packages to cash in on the opportunities that lie ahead.
COLUMBIA, SC The African-American History Monument disney vacation packages is the first of its kind tribute to African-Americans that s actually located on state grounds anywhere in the U.S. Sculptor Ed Dwight modeled the monument after an African village disney vacation packages built in the round. disney vacation packages A map of the continent disney vacation packages mounted disney vacation packages in granite shows the original disney vacation packages homeland of enslaved disney vacation packages Africans. The monument picks up the story of Africans from the Middle Passage to arrival in nearby Charleston and follows the history, hardship and achievement of African slaves and their descendants from arrival on these distant lands to plantation life through the Civil War to Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement and the evolution to present day America. An estimated 40 percent of all people of African descent can trace their lineage back to the port of Charleston making this museum disney vacation packages unique on the American landscape. A trip to the Mann-Simons Site is a look back at the plight disney vacation packages of Africans. Many believe if you were a slave in the South you were destined to remain a slave for life. While that was certainly true for most, some managed to live at least a portion disney vacation packages of their lives in freedom.
Historians believe the Mann-Simons Cottage was probably built as a one-room house around disney vacation packages 1825 and evolved over the years to accommodate changing family needs. disney vacation packages A native Charlestonian, Celia Mann was born into slavery in 1799. It is unknown how she gained her freedom, but legend has it she walked from Charleston to Columbia (over 100 miles) where she earned a living as a free-black midwife. Evidence disney vacation packages places Mann with the cottage around 1844. The house would remain in the family until 1970 and is now a historic disney vacation packages site and museum. disney vacation packages These are just two of the many locales throughout the city with deep African roots. For a more cultural experience Benedict College and its famous performing arts program features a gospel choir, concert choir and the Harold Odom Dance Theater Mann-Simons Site all capture the African-American experience as it was truly meant to be. FLORIDA disney vacation packages The 12th Annual Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival held January 12 20, 2012, is a celebration of African-American culture and heritage. The theme of this year s 10-day festival Keeping the Dream Alive Something for Everyone features live jazz, a 5K-walk, heritage movie night, battle of the bands and so much more. And for some high-energy entertainment the Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival kicks off its annual celebration on June 9, at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
Check out the Black History and Art Museum located disney vacation packages inside Paradise Missionary Baptist Church in the heart of Tampa s Central Avenue District once called The Scrubs for photographs, documents and artifacts chronicling the black experience. Other places of note in Tampa include the North Franklin Street disney vacation packages Historic District, The Jackson House and the St. Peter Claver School. The tropical disney vacation packages paradise better known as Miami has lured African-American visitors disney vacation packages and settlers for decades. Black Americans helped build this city and there are several historical sites of significance for those interested in African-American heritage starting with Virginia Key Beach. On August 1, 1945 Dade County officials designated this beach for the exclusive use of Negroes. Back then the beach was only accessible by boat from a dock on the Miami River. The beach included a concession stand, bathhouse and an octagon shaped carousel house with three picnic pavilions and a 70-ft. wood tunnel for miniature trains, which still stands today. In 1944, the Navy conducted Negro training here since Blacks could not be trained on other beaches.
Virginia Key Beach, located on one of the many islands around Miami is currently being restored. In 2002, this beach was listed on the National disney vacation packages Registry of Historic Places. Coconut Grove, a small enclave just outside of Miami is an area first settled by Black Bahamians in 1892. E.W.F. Stirrup, a Black pioneer, owned much of what is today Coconut Grove and Coral Gables and his home still stands on Charles Avenue along with the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park cemetery. D.A. Dorsey is widely recognized as one of Miami s most famous early Black residents and it s first Black millionaire. His home stands today in the Overtown section of Miami. Dorsey organized the region s first Black bank, and served as chairman of the Colored Advisory disney vacation packages Committee of the Dade County School Board and as a registrar for Black men during World War I. The Haitian Heritage Museum in Little Haiti is a must see stop. One of the exhibits is a series of artist renditions of life before and immediately after the 2010 earthquake.
Other places of note in Miami are the Hampton House, Black Archives History and Research disney vacation packages Foundation of South Florida, Lincoln Memorial Park, The Lyric Theater and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park part of the Underground Railroad for escaped slaves making their way to the Bahamas. Miami has proven a top spot for African-American entertainers. The city plays host to the African Black Film Festival disney vacation packages held each June. To assist travelers looking for the African-American experience, disney vacation packages the city has put together the Miami Black Visitor Guide. You can order the guide online at or access it by category disney vacation packages on the Internet.
The Florida panhandle community of Pensacola is the birth home of Daniel Chappie James, Jr., the first Black four-star general in U.S. military history. Shortly after his retirement in the late 1970s many were recruiting James to run for Lt. Governor of the state of Florida disney vacation packages before he died of a heart attack. The private residence where James was born still stands and a marker honoring him is located in the city s Memorial Garden on Martin Luther King Boulevard. The Julee Cottage Museum in Pensacola is a simple disney vacation packages wood-frame building built around 1804. It s the city s only surviving sidewalk to street construction. It belonged to Julee Patton a free woman of color who purchased the freedom of fellow enslaved Blacks and now serves as a Black history disney vacation packages museum. Like today, Orlando was home to a group of highly educated people of color who leveraged that education to advance the cause of others. Dr. William Monroe Wells, one of Orlando s first Black physicians, came to the area in 1917. In 1926, Wells was issued a permit and began construction on the Well s Built Hotel to lodge patrons during the days of segregation. The adjacent South Street Casino attra