ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The city of Albany held its Black History Month celebration Wednesday evening. The theme was Black Liberation.

Fifteen men and women were honored for their historical and cultural contributions to the Black community. Each have special talents ranging from history to DJing.

“There’s so many ongoing stories in this country about the restriction and the silencing of histories, including often Black history in the country, so being able to shine a light and really highlight these stories and show that they’re not that different from any other stories in this country,” Lacey Wilson with the Albany Institute of History and Art said.

“With music, I’m just known to connect a lot of people, so with the connections that I make I can always put people together who need to be,” Craig Earle, aka DJ TGIF, said. “I can connect people to resources. I can connect people with who they need to see.”

Each honoree represented the city’s 15 Wards.