The Hispanic Outreach Leadership Association of the Lakeway Area (HOLA Lakeway) is a grassroots community-based organization dedicated to meeting the basic needs and improving the quality of life of the growing Hispanic community in the Lakeway Area. The organization began in 2014 as a small organization committed to helping create a positive integration of the Hispanic/Latino in the Lakeway area.
30th ANNUAL KUUMBA FESTIVAL
Friday-Sunday June 28-30, 2019
JUNE 28 DOWNTOWN MARKET SQUARE
JUNE 29TH AND 30TH MORNINGSIDE PARK
Knoxville, TN
PRIDE FESTIVAL
Knox Pridefest 2019 is an open (and free) celebration of music, celebration and speakers focused on promoting Equality and Inclusion of ALL people. This year it will be held at the same venue as last year, the Mary Costa lawn next to Knoxville Coliseum in downtown Knoxville on June 22nd, 2018 from 12pm-8pm. The Pride parade is at 10:30 am.
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Hosted by Morristown’s Task Force on Diversity
Sponsored also by the Citizen Tribune and Hamblen County Department of Education
When: Monday, January 21, 2019 from 7 AM – 9 AM
Where: First United Methodist Church,101 East 1st North Street, Morristown, Tennessee 37814
Morristown’s Task Force on Diversity will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Breakfast being held on Monday, January 21, 2019 at First United Methodist Church in Morristown. This annual breakfast provides Hamblen County and surrounding areas an opportunity to remember and honor the life and legacy of Dr. King. The Keynote Speaker this year is Clara Ester, an eye witness to the assassination of Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee.

Clara Ester was a young woman on that fateful day in April,1968. Clara heard a noise and when she turned, she saw Dr. King fall. Instinctively, she rushed forward.
In a lecture to the Chautauqua Society on August 15, 2018, Ms. Ester, a retired deaconess of the United Methodist Church, spoke eloquently about the lessons of that day and how it has inspired a lifetime of work.
–The Chautauquan Daily, August 16, 2018
Students in Hamblen County have participated in the annual essay contest sponsored by the Citizen Tribune. Winners of the essay contest in four categories will receive awards at the breakfast. Three Community Awards will be also be presented:
the 2019 Community Award in Community Building
the 2019 Community Award for Advancing Cultural Awareness
the 2019 Community Award for Service and Advocacy.
Descriptions of these awards may be found on the MTFD website at www. morristown-diversity.org.
Breakfast is being catered by Little City Catering/Jersey Girl. The breakfast buffet opens at 7am. The program begins promptly at 7:30am. Tickets are $20 per adult; $10 per student and $10 per Veteran.
Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling Walters State Community College at 423-585-6806 or by calling the Rose Center at 423-581-4330. If available, tickets may also be purchased at the door.
Welcome
Very simply, we are a volunteer organization that seeks to build unity within our community through activities, projects, partnerships and collaborations which lift up and celebrate diversity, inclusion and appreciation, and respect for our differences.
We welcome your interest and invite you to contact us if you would like to join our efforts.
The organization was established in 2008 by then city mayor, Barbara “Sami” Barile as the Mayor’s Task Force on Diversity. In 2010 we became part of the Rose Center family of organizations and changed our name to Morristown Task Force on Diversity. We are now a 501(c )(3) Public foundation.
Although we are not operated by city government, we continue to maintain significant connection with that entity and see our work within the context of building awareness and relationships within our community as public service and commitment to justice. We believe this is best done by celebrating the gifts that the diversity of our population provides.
Opening ourselves to learn about others and be able to celebrate differences is especially important for our population and history.
Our Mission:
To acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of our community and to promote acceptance and understanding among its residents.
Our Vision:
To make Morristown a city where all individuals are equally valued solely “by the content of their character,” and are welcomed and celebrated for the uniqueness they contribute to the community.
Our Slogan:
Promoting unity within the community
Diversity In Morristown
The ethnic basis of Morristown, the county seat of Hamblen County, is that 80% of our population traces its heritage to Europe, primarily Scotland, Ireland and England. 16% of our population is Spanish-speaking with origins in the Southern Hemisphere. 4% of the population counts its heritage as primarily African-American.
Interestingly, one hundred forty years ago, Hamblen County had a significant number of free, black landowners. And, our community remembers with both nostalgia and some pride, those years when Morristown College, a historic and important black college, was vibrant and active. The college was founded in 1881 by the national Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The school was renamed Knoxville College-Morristown in 1989 and closed in 1994.
A cooperative plan by the city and developers is in the works to convert Judson’s Hill, the old Morristown College campus, into a combined use area for different kinds of housing, shops and a community center. The plan is to find ways of preserving and incorporating the heritage of Morristown College into the plan.
All of this is to say that relationships between all people of color and white residents in Hamblen County have been complex. Black residents of Morristown knew and experienced the same prejudice and denial of civil rights that is part of our nation’s history. At the same time, planted in this region, was both a lifestyle and an institution that created opportunity and trained its students for success and position in the larger society. It was, quite literally, a light shining from a hill – Judson’s Hill.
The rapid growth of the Spanish-speaking population in Hamblen County has brought some of the same incorporation issues that can be found in other parts of the country. Likewise, our community is enriched and broadened in learning about the different cultural features of one another.
The economic bases of our community until the late 1940’s were twofold. They were farming (especially tobacco growing) and small, family-owned businesses. Light industrial manufacturing began to arrive after WWII.
The greatest growth happened in the 1970’s and 1980’s as international businesses began establishing manufacturing plants here. Now, seventeen different countries are represented in our industrial base. When one goes to the grocery store, one hears different languages and sees products from around the world. Our health system is populated by professionals who come from around the world.
With such a significant portion of our population having roots outside our community, it would be easy to assume that there are few issues of inclusion in our community. But as elsewhere, there are faces and voices that are not heard often in governance, leadership or decision making. As elsewhere, there are some who can celebrate the differences in people and others who cannot.
We believe that recognizing the culture and differences of our people creates a mechanism for greater understanding and appreciation. Finding ways to gather and learn about others lowers the level of fear and suspicion and adds both depth and breadth to our community.
Sometimes, confrontation about issues related to intolerance is essential. However, we believe that in the longer term, celebrating our gifts, our histories, our experiences and our cultures opens pathways to long-lasting cooperation and the kind of deep respect that benefit all.
So…this Task Force is composed of a group of people who see building relationships, cultural awareness and diversity as adding value and strength to our community. We are a stronger, fairer, more cooperative and healthier community when we can work and play and learn together.