October 17, 2012 Dear Friends: Subject: Take the Pledge Day This week, I signed the nation's first proclamation declaring Friday, October 19, Defy the Lie and Embrace the TruthSM Pledge Day in Tuskegee, Alabama, the capital of Black self-reliance. In signing the proclamation, I asked every African American in our great City to make a personal commitment to emotional wellness - to doing the work necessary to free ourselves and our children from the burden of the lie of Black inferiority and the emotional legacies of enslavement and racism - by taking the Pledge on October 19th or any day thereafter. The Pledge to Defy the Lie of Black Inferiority and Embrace the Truth of Black Humanity is designed to fuel a movement that I sincerely believe will, in due course, transform the Black community in the United States and around the world. I ask you to join me and the citizens of Tuskegee in taking the Pledge and urging your family and friends to do the same. Let's work together to encourage a critical mass of Black people to sign the Pledge by 2019 - the 400th anniversary of the forced arrival of Africans in Jamestown colony. It is well past time for us and our children to be completely free. Sincerely, Omar Neal Mayor Vice Chair of the Board of Advisors of Community Healing Network, Inc.
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