# African American History Observance features art, music, trailblazers

/ Published Feb. 23, 2024
RICHMOND, Va., 
Team members from Defense Logistics Agency Aviation recognized the contributions of African Americans during an observance honoring National African American History Month Celebration Feb. 20 on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.

This year’s theme for the observance is “African Americans and the Arts,” and the event featured retired Army Col. Christine Knighton as the guest speaker and retired Army Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg as a special guest, along with Vanice Toler and Triniti Cunningham, Richmond-area vocalists who performed several musical selections.  The event was coordinated by Aviation’s Equal Employment and Diversity Office in conjunction with the Engineering Directorate.

Several DLA Aviation employees participated in the event: Patricia Dandridge, Small Business Program, performed the National Anthem; Donna Campbell provided the invocation and benediction; and Natalie Skelton, DLA Aviation Public Affairs, exhibited two art pieces, one featuring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and one featuring an African queen. The Army Women’s Museum team also set up a display featuring Black women in the service.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Sean Tyler, DLA Aviation commander, introduced Knighton to the DLA team.

“She’s a trailblazer whose achievements as an Army aviator and leader paved the way for others in the field,” he said. “She has not only the distinction of being the second Black female officer ever to earn her pilot wings at Fort Rucker, (Alabama), now Fort Novosel, but she also went on to become the Army’s very first woman to lead a tactical combat arms battalion.”

Establishing an observance for African Americans was vital to recognize their enduring significance, said Knighton, and this year’s theme celebrates the many contributions of writers, musicians, actors and more.

“(This observance) serves as a platform for education, a platform for empowerment and a platform for social change,” she said. “African American artists have been charged to preserve history and preserve unity. The theme is meant to celebrate and honor the richness of the past and present, and to look forward to what the future will bring.

“African American art is a testament to the creativity and ingenuity of the people that have a lived experience that is woven into every brush stroke and into every lyric,” Knighton continued.“From the shores of Africa to the streets of Harlem and Atlanta, African American artists have used their craft to preserve history, to challenge social norms and to inspire change.”

Knighton and Gregg were recognized and thanked by Tyler for their participation in the event. After Knighton’s speech, Toler sang “Goodness of God” by CeCe Winans, and Cunningham performed “Stand Up” by Cynthia Erivo. The duo then finished the observance with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” inviting the audience to sing along.

After the event, Knighton and Gregg held a meet and greet with DLA employees. Gregg is one of the two namesakes to the recently redesignated Fort Gregg-Adams. As an Army logistician, Gregg achieved several ‘firsts’ in his career, including the Army’s first Black officer in the rank of lieutenant general and the Army’s first Black Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. Knighton said she has a special memory of the other namesake of Fort Gregg-Adams when she served as an escort for Lt. Col. Charity Adams during the 2004 opening of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.