Events held across Chicago area to celebrate 1st day of Black History Month

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Events were held across the Chicago area Saturday to celebrate the first day of Black History Month.

Beginning February 1, schools, museums and communities across the nation marked the start of a month of celebrations.

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In Aurora, professional and community advocates gathered for the "100 Black Women Empowerment Breakfast." The event was meant to celebrate Black leaders.

Over at the The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in West Pullman on Chicago's South Side, local Girl Scouts honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by hosting a day of community service. They packed hats and gloves as part of a clothing drive to distribute to local schools, libraries, and churches.

At the James R. Jordan Boys and Girls Club on the Near West Side, the annual Black Child Book Fair brought community members together to promote literacy and Black authors of all ages.

A 5-year-old girl, Zola Collins, showed ABC7 book she wrote with her father.

"This one is about me and daddy's walk with God," Collins said.

Organizers said the books featured in the fair are meant to make Black children feel seen and heard.

"I wrote and published my first children's book 'I Can Do Anything,' and after taking it to different book fairs, I got supportive responses from African-American parents and social workers that it was difficult for them to find books with Black children in them," said Darryl Harvey, author and director of the Black Child Book Fair.

The fair has appeared in more than 15 cities, and organizers plan to continue to expand its audience during Black History month.

"Teaching young women just to be proud of the skin they are in and know who they are, and letting people know that we come from different backgrounds," Austin resident Charman Dortch said.