More than 50 local nonprofit organizations, including the African American Heritage and Culture Center, will participate in the annual Giving Tuesday event at the New Bern Farmers Market.
Giving Tuesday, often described as a global day of giving or a global generosity movement, is held each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It was created in 2012 to inspire people to do good and support organizations making a difference in the community.
The African American Heritage and Culture Center began as a nonprofit in 2019, but plans for the organization formed in 2017, said Rosanne Wilson, president of the nonprofit’s board of directors.
The organization’s mission is to actively present the historic impact and progression of African American heritage and culture in eastern North Carolina.
“We’re not simply preserving the past, but bringing it to life today, tomorrow and in the future,” Wilson said. “I think of telling stories and honoring our ancestors, celebrating the strength and the creativity and resilience that defines African American life.”
The African American Heritage and Culture Center achieves its mission by hosting art exhibits, heritage celebrations, music performances and seminars.
They also created an online oral history library that tells the story of African American families, businesses, schools and leaders, Wilson said.
In January, the organization unveiled two civil rights trail markers to commemorate events that occurred at Oscar’s Mortuary and St. Peter’s AME Zion Church almost 60 years ago.
On Jan. 24, 1965, members of the Ku Klux Klan terrorized members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People by placing dynamite under the cars of two attendees during a meeting at St. Peter’s AME Zion Church.
About an hour after the bombing, dynamite also exploded at Oscar’s Mortuary, destroying the driveway, garage door and breaking windows in the ambulance garage, Wilson said.
The trail marker at Oscar’s Mortuary also serves as a way to honor Oscar Dove, a civil rights activist who owned the mortuary.
Wilson said the project was part of the organization’s ongoing effort to remember the civil rights era in New Bern.
“Everybody hears about Martin Luther King, but little towns like New Bern certainly did a lot for integrating places,” Wilson said. “We have had three interviews with folks who were involved in marching or sitting in at places here in New Bern where Black folks weren’t allowed to go.”
Wilson said the organization is working on editing those interviews so they can be uploaded to the African American Heritage and Culture Center’s website.
Although the organization has yet to secure its own building for operations, a partnership with St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, at 604 Johnson St. in New Bern, has helped it find a home.
The African American Heritage and Culture Center has an agreement with the church to operate out of its undercroft.
Wilson said it’s a good partnership, because like many other churches, St. Cyprian’s’ congregation has dwindled.
“We thought that if we could work with them and be in the building and have programs in the building, that would have people come and learn more about St. Cyprian’s,” she said.
She said the church also has its own deep history as one of the oldest Black Episcopal parishes in North Carolina.
Additionally, it was one of the only Black churches that didn’t burn down in New Bern’s Great Fire of 1922.
After the fire, the church opened its doors to those who were in need of medical care, because African Americans couldn’t go to the hospital for treatment.
Through their partnership, the African American Heritage and Culture Center also helps St. Cyprian’s tell its story during New Bern’s annual GhostWalk.
The church is also transformed into a makeshift art gallery during New Bern’s annual Arts in April celebration, where Black artists can display and sell their work.
To encourage more involvement within the organization, Wilson said they recently began offering a general membership, allowing anyone to become a member.
She said this gives people an opportunity to be part of the organization’s mission as volunteers.
This year will be the African American Heritage and Culture Center’s third time participating in New Bern’s Giving Tuesday event.
“Part of what I enjoyed about Giving Tuesday was walking around and talking to members of other organizations and meeting new people,” she said. “I think that will be easier to do in the new location.”
For the past five years, Giving Tuesday was celebrated in New Bern at Union Point Park, where organizations would set up booths to amplify their missions and collect donations.
This year, the organizing committee, New Bern Giv3, wanted to refresh the celebration, said Erin Langley, New Bern Giv3 committee chair.
About 53 nonprofits will set up at the New Bern Farmers Market, 421 S. Front St., on Dec. 2 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. This year’s Giving Tuesday theme is Home for the Holidays.
“Instead of it being a resource fair, it will be more social and networking-focused, where people can have those conversations with nonprofits, hear their mission, learn their stories and connect with them,” Langley said.
Langley said they’re also trying to lean into the holiday feel.
A giving tree will be set up, with an ornament from each nonprofit that lists three non-monetary needs — one that can be met by an individual, one by a family and one by a business.
“That down-home holiday, the warm fuzzy feelings, the connection, all of the things that you would associate with the holiday season of giving thankfulness and just camaraderie and being around your friends and your family, that’s the kind of spirit that we really want to create this year,” Langley said.
There will also be food available for purchase from Preacher’s BBQ Food Truck and live music from local artists, including The Bonafides.
Residents can also participate in Giving Tuesday and support local nonprofits in various ways.
Those who have the means to do so can provide monetary donations or see what volunteer opportunities are available in the community.
“If you are in a position where giving your time or giving your skills and talents is your option, that makes a huge impact,” Langley said. “Connect with a nonprofit on Giving Tuesday, sign up to volunteer or just simply learn more about who they are and what they’re doing.
“And of course, come on out to the event on Giving Tuesday and connect with over 50 nonprofits.”