Phoenix ,Az – The Metro Phoenix area is the focus of the country as they host the NCAA Men’s
Final Four Basketball Championship. As it has been customary for the NCAA to give back to the
local communities that are in the host cities, a local community was selected be the recipient of a $300,000 grant to upgrade and improve a historic park.
Eastlake Park has been a key location for the African American community in the downtown
Phoenix area since 1890. The park, which was purchased by the city in 1914 served as a hub
for all African American events. Once the news of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation made its way to Arizona, African Americans celebrated by calling it “Jubilee”.
Located at 1549 East Jefferson Street in Phoenix, Eastlake Park hosted the unveiling of a mural honoring African American leaders that made a major impact in the area. Arizona Informant Co-founder the Honorable Cloves C. Campbell , Sr. was among those individuals memorialized on the wall outside of the park gymnasium. Campbell was raised in the Eastlack area in the early 1940’s along with his 8 brothers and sisters. He went on to graduate from college, served in the military and was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 1962. He was later elected to the Arizona State Senate. Campbell was the first Black State Senator in Arizona history . He founded the Arizona Informant newspaper with his brother Dr. Charles Campbell, in 1971. Campbell was inducted into the Black Press Gallery of Distinguished Publishers at Howard University in 2011.
Other community pioneers highlighted on the mural are: Dr. Lincoln Ragsdale Sr., Virgil Berry
Sr., George Greathouse, Hon. Calvin C. Goode , Elizabeth White , Helen K. Mason , Dr. Warren
H. Stewart ,Dr. Benjamin Thomas Sr, ,Bishop Alexis Thomas , and Dr. Morrison Warren Sr. The
mural was created by local artist and muralist Giovannie Dixon. You can view his work at
www.justcreatedit.com.
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