Rev. Justin Brown delivers a special message at the first annual Black Policy Day - Eastern Panhandle Experience in Corner Connections on Aug. 15. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

CHARLES TOWN — A crowd of 75 local residents gathered together in Corner Connections on Aug. 15, for the first annual Black Policy Day – Eastern Panhandle Experience.

Organized by Teresa Holmes, the event was intentionally held right before the start of the 31st Annual Jefferson County African American Culture & Heritage Festival that evening. It will continue, in the future, to be held as a kickoff event for the festival weekend.

“We had a much better turnout than we had anticipated, with a lot of people already asking us what’s next,” Holmes said, mentioning they sold out of tickets and had nearly double the attendance they had originally planned for. “It’s amazing. It’s exciting — we didn’t expect this.”

Holmes noted that Black Policy Day – Eastern Panhandle Experience is now under the umbrella of her 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Boots on the Ground Youth Leadership Academy. It will be the first in a series of events her organization is developing, focused on political and social activism. The next event will be a Voters Impact Initiative in Viola Devonshire Park on Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. Plans are currently in the works to hold a third event at the end of the year, in Inwood.

This first event was inspired by Black Policy Day in Charleston, to which Holmes has taken local middle school and high school students every February, for the past two years. It celebrated its fifth year on Feb. 24. While at this year’s event, Holmes was encouraged to develop a similar event in the Eastern Panhandle, to encourage local residents to become involved in direct engagement and advocacy.

A crowd of 75 local residents gathered together in Corner Connections for the first annual Black Policy Day - Eastern Panhandle Experience on Aug. 15. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“At the last Black Policy Day, one of its founders said, ‘We need Black Policy Day to extend into the regions of West Virginia, and we think that in the Eastern Panhandle, with your leadership, is where we need to start,'” Holmes, who lives in Shepherdstown, said. “So, I committed to doing that.”

Holmes organized an impressive lineup of guest speakers, including the president of ACLU of West Virginia, the founders of Black Policy Day, Crystal Good — Affrilachian poet and the founder of the Black By God news organization, West Virginia Economic Justice Project Program Associate Kenny Matthews and local social justice leaders like Rev. Justin Brown.

“I’m so thankful for initiatives like Black Policy Day, that help us understand why we cannot just sit back and be idle,” Brown, who serves as the pastor of Hope City Church in Martinsburg, said. “We can’t just depend on the next door neighbor to do it. We have to put ourselves into the game.”

To learn more, follow Boots on the Ground’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/bootsonthegroundyouthleadership/.