June 14, 2024
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION African-American News&Issues
“Addressing Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”
Vol. 29, Issue 22
FREE
We the People We need to start holding each other accountable. - Roy Douglas Malonson
Al Edwards THE FATHER OF JUNETEENTH By: Juneteenth USA L to R: Brian Scott, Dr. Marc Martinez, Melissa Alvarez, Onry Lopez, Benita Gonzales, Luz Morales, Covetta Blanks, Ashly Morales, Rodney Henry, Alison Bishop, Aaron Bishop, Allen Bishop, Greg Morales, Arturo Alonso, Nick Forero, Liz Whitley, Logan Whitley, Dr. Steve Liparulo, David Vazquez, Raymond Bourgeois, Mirza Vazquez
ST. PETER CATHOLIC - A CAREER AND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL By: Shelley McKinley Ed.D.
St. Peter Catholic High School, located at 6220 La Salette St., is the first Catholic Career and Technical Education (CTE) high school in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The original Pre-K – 8th grade school at the site closed in 2019. It reopened at the start of the 2023 – 2024 school year as a CTE high school to fill an identified need that was missing in the portfolio of Catholic schools in the Houston area. Ninth grade students started at the St. Dominic Center and moved into their newly renovated school building in February 2024.
The school features four pathways which include Business, Construction Management, Education, and Information Technology (IT). Ninth grade students follow a general course load and declare their pathway at the end of the ninth-grade year. Students will also attend Mass monthly at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church next door to the school, with some students in the role of altar servers. “The school offers a private Catholic opportunity and features small classes,” said Tim Scalzitti, Director of Advancement. School on pg. 3
State Representative, Hon. Albert Ely Edwards was born in Houston, Texas on March 19, 1937. Edwards is the sixth child out of the sixteen children born to Reverend E. L. Edwards, Sr. and Josephine Radford Edwards. He graduated from Phyllis Wheatley High School, and attended Texas Southern University, earning his B.A. degree in 1966. At the age of forty-one, Edwards entered politics and was elected to the Texas State Legislature from Houston’s House District 146. His first major goal was to ensure the establishment of a holiday that recognized the emancipation of slavery. In 1979, legislation recognizing Juneteenth Day, initiated by Edwards, passed the Texas State Legislature and was signed into law. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is an annual holiday in fourteen states of the United States. Celebrated on June 19th, it commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in
Juneteenth on pg. 7