BY PAULA SINANDE

On the occasion of its inaugural Black History Celebration luncheon held Sunday in a local restaurant here in Boynton Beach, Florida, the Palm Beach County Democratic Black Caucus, headed by its president, Tennille Decoste, honored the Rev. Al Sharpton, an influential African American leader and well-known television personality.

The reverend, who could not attend the event in person, received the Alcee Hastings and John Lewis Trailblazer Award.

In his address by Zoom to the 100 people in attendance, Sharpton stated: “We’ve come too far from where we started from. Be strong. Stand up and you stay up.” Among other honorees, one could note West Palm Beach State Sen. Bobby Powell; U.S. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick who won a special election this year to fill the seat left vacant in Florida’s 20th congressional district after the death of Alcee Hastings; Palm Beach County Commissioner Mack Bernard; and Boynton Beach’s first Black female firefighter, Latosha Clemons.

The reverend noted that it is an act of providence that Monday, April 4th, the 54th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., coincides with the expected confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first African American woman Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The event stands as a sort of warm-up session in anticipation for the upcoming mid-term elections that Democrats fear could cause them to lose the small majority they now have in Congress.