Local group announces month-ending schedule
(BAINBRIDGE)—With Black History Month (BHM) now over the half way mark, locally-based Phoenix Affaire Group©️ is poised to wrap a proverbial black ribbon around the month with a flurry of activity and events set for the final days of February. The group’s 24th Annual BHM Phoenix Affaire©️RISE! Week©️Celebration will run February 22–March 1st.
The kick off for a weeklong Sunday-to-Sunday schedule of events starts on Sunday, Feb. 22 with an eyebrow-raising Southern cuisine gospel brunch being called “Jesus & Jazz”, a gospel-jazz music fusion with a side order of black history lessons about the historical intertwining of these two music genres in black culture. The gospel brunch starts at 12 noon at the historic Old Post Office event venue on the Square in downtown Bainbridge. Tickets are $10, advance; $15, door.
“I’d venture to say that most people don’t usually connect the dots of gospel and jazz but the roots of both music genres run deep in the African-American culture dating back to the start of the 20th century”, explains Rahn d. Fudge, Executive Producer of the BHM Phoenix Affaire©️RISE! Week©️Celebration and a 1979 Bainbridge High School graduate who currently resides in San Francisco, Calif. Fudge is collaborating with local jazz enthusiast and artist promoter Samuel Allen to bring to the fore this often misunderstood musical mash up.
Another significant highlight of the weeklong schedule is the Phoenix Affaire’s sixth year observance of “Hosea Williams Day” in nearby Attapulgus on Tuesday, February 24th. Residents and local African American war veterans will lay a wreath in remembrance of the Attapulgus-born Civil Rights Movement legend who also received a Purple Heart while serving in World War II. Williams rose to fame working and marching alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who considered Williams a close confidant. The “Travelin’ Wreath-Laying Ceremony” to honor Williams starts at 12 noon. Those wanting to participate are asked to first gather a half hour earlier (11:30 a.m.) in front of the Attapulgus City Hall.
Fudge is most excited about an ambitious addition to the RISE! Week©️ schedule this year. The local independent, grassroots organization he heads will pilot what’s thought to be the first ever attempt at activating a local black history tour. What’s planned is a one day, limited hours tour that will snake its way through one of the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods as volunteer community tour guides reference people, places and other points of interest from a local African American perspective. Tours will run every hour on the hour starting at 10:30 a.m. and ending at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 28th. Loading and unloading for the tour will be at the historic Hook & Ladder outdoor venue on N. Broad Street in downtown Bainbridge. Tickets are $5, adults; $3, children under 13 years old.
The annual BHM Phoenix Affaire©️ RISE! Week©️ Celebration would not be complete without the organization’s ’signature’ event which is the Phoenix Affaire©️ fashion-theatre and supper club show. The fashion show which will be held at the fittingly swanky Old Post Office event venue and the week’s final event “Gospel in the Park Sunday” set to happen inside Willis Park—both locations on the Square in downtown—will round out the Black History Month-ending schedule on Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1st, respectively. Tickets for the fashion show are $25, advance; $30, door and include a three course pre-fixed dinner menu.
For more information, to buy tickets or to volunteer please call 1.229.205.0218 (ask for Betty) or email: rahn.fudge@gmail.com. For a full, detailed listing of the Schedule Of Events for the 24th Annual BHM Phoenix Affaire©️RISE! Week©️ Celebration 2026 and to make contact visit the organization’s Facebook page: The Phoenix Affaire RISE.