Williamson Mayor Darrin McCormick signed a proclamation Wednesday declaring February “Black History Month 2009.”

The proclamation states the time is to “pay tribute to our great Civil Rights and NAACP leaders of the past, the present and the future.”

Included in the proclamation this year is a reference to the Inauguration of “Barack H. Obama as the 44 and first African-American President of these United States of America.”

This year marks the 100 anniversary of the NAACP. The Web site reports the headquarters, based in Baltimore, Md., “along with its 1,700 units nationwide, will host celebrations and observances throughout the year ending on February 12, 2010, that highlight the significant role the organization has played in leading social change in America.”

The celebration of Black History Month begins locally Feb. 2 as the Williamson Branch NAACP and youth council in conjunction with Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College and the Williamson Public Library will sponsor a series of programs each Monday during the month at 5 p.m.

The introduction to the series is a special presentation for the twentieth National African-American Read-In, with other programs to follow on Feb. 9, 16 and 23.

The annual Black History Month program on Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. at the Logan Street First Baptist Church will include guest speaker Sylvester Myers, President and CEO of SC Myers & Associates. Myers owns and founded the business in Washington, D.C. in 1988 after retiring from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Myers authored the book “Coal Fields to Oil Fields and Beyond: A Life in Pursuit of All I Could Be.”

Harmony Week will kick off with the program. NAACP local Program Chairman Willene Moore said for over a decade the Williamson Branch NAACP and Youth Council and SWVCTC have collaborated to sponsor a series of activities and events.

Among the events will be the exhibition of student’s work throughout the area displayed at Southside Mall Feb. 16 – 27.

Moore said the public is invited to attend all events during Black History Month and Harmony Week.