SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 8:30 P.M. - 11:00 P.M. EST HYATT REGENCY JACKSONVILLE RIVERFRONT
The Annual ASALH Awards Banquet recognizes the contributions of ASALH members, community and national leaders who have made significant contributions to African American history.
EACH YEAR, ASALH PRESENTS SEVERAL AWARDS TO RECOGNIZE COMMUNITY LEADERS AND THOSE WHO MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESERVATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY.
CARTER G. WOODSON SCHOLAR'S MEDALLION
Established in 1993, the Carter Godwin Woodson Scholars Medallion is presented to a scholar whose career is distinguished through at least a decade of research, writing, and activism in the field of African American life and history.
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE SERVICE AWARD This award was established in tribute to Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune because of her dynamic leadership and her years of contributing to education, women’s history, and African-American life and culture. Dr. Bethune served as the first woman president of ASALH from 1936 to 1951 and is one of the most outstanding women role models in our history.
COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
ASALH established the Award of Special Recognition to acknowledge the contributions of individuals, institutions and corporations that make a substantial contribution to the success of ASALH in pursuing the mission of its founder, Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The Council, at its discretion, may also designate individuals for special recognition who have made noteworthy accomplishments or contributions to the documentation, preservation and accurate dissemination of the Black experience through teaching, service, research, scholarship and publishing.
LIVING LEGACY AWARD
In partnership with Farmers Insurance, the ASALH Living Legacy Awards honor African American women and men across the country engaged in extraordinary work to improve communities, institutions, organizations and family life.
FREEDOM SCHOLAR AWARD
A Freedom Scholar seeks to empower and inspire. A Freedom Scholar provides a direct benefit to African-American communities locally or nationally. ASALH has initiated the Freedom Scholar award to honor early scholars of any discipline who can demonstrate that their field of study is having a direct positive impact on the life of African-Americans.
THE ASALH LUMINARY AWARD The ASALH Luminary Award was established to recognize the outstanding work and contributions related to the mission and goals of ASALH, including the local branch, by a person in the locale of the annual convention. Nominees should have made significant contributions to African American history and culture with a focus on the local community where the annual meeting of ASALH is being held. Nominations must be submitted by the Local Arrangements Committee and approved by the Executive Council of ASALH.
PRESIDENT’S SERVICE AWARD
The President’s Service Award is presented to an individual who has made exceptional contributions to the African American community, locally and nationally. The President of ASALH selects an individual whose record of community service exemplifies one of the most important objectives of ASALH: selfless service to the African American community.
THE DOROTHY PORTER WESLEY AWARD The Dorothy Porter Wesley Award was established in 2018 by the Information Professionals of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) to honor and document the outstanding work of Information Professionals; Bibliophiles, Librarians, Archivists, Curators, and Collectors. Many of our Information Professionals have also played a major role in supporting the work of ASALH by serving in leadership roles and as members.
ASALH ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET PROGRAM TAMMIE FIELDS, MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES
Welcome Occasion & Awards Selection Process Introduction of Master or Mistress of Ceremonies
Tara White
Introduction of Executive Council
Gregory Mixon
Recognition of Local Dignitaries
Tammie Fields
Invocation
Rev. Dr. Russell L. Meyer, Executive Director, Florida Council of Churches
Dinner is Served
PRESENTATION OF AWARDS Mary McLeod Bethune Service Award Presentations Awardee: Moses Massenburg Awardee: Rosahn "Rose" Whitehorn
Evelyn Bethune
Freedom Scholar Award Presentation TaKeia N. Anthony Awardee: Lisa R. Brown
Camesha Scruggs
Living Legacy Award Presentations Awardee: Senator James T. Hargrett Awardee: Michelle Duster Awardee: Ronald B. Saunders Awardee: Johnnetta B. Cole
Sheila Flemming
Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion Awardee: Francille Wilson
Gregory Mixon
President’s Service Award Awardee: Bishop Rudolph McKissick, Sr. Awardee: Darnell Smith
W. Marvin Dulaney
Council Award of Special Recognition Presentations Awardee: Sundiata Cha-Jua Awardee: Barbara Spencer Dunn Awardee: Bettye Gardner Awardee: Joe Madison Awardee: Annette Teasdell Awardee: Diane E. Miller
Robert Stanton
ASALH Luminary Award Presentations Awardee: Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Awardee: Marvin Dunn Awardee: Lovette W. Harper Awardee: Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons Awardee: Lizzie Polly Robinson Brown Jenkins
David Wilkins
Closing Remarks
W. Marvin Dulaney
Benediction
Elder Lee Harris, Sr. Pastor, Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church
ADAOHA*. By Valada Flewellyn (*an Igbo Chieftaincy title of ADAOHA (Daughter of All) was given to Dr. Cole in Uturu, Nigeria) Dr. Johnetta B. Cole Her story reflects her passion For community and humanity Dr. Cole epitomizes the woman Mothers thirst their daughters be
Her ancestors arms Reached out from Senegal Sculpting the tale She would regale Great granddaughter Of Abraham Lincoln… Lewis Early African American Millionaire Coo’d and coddle with loving care Bred in Jacksonville, Florida Born to a beachside breeze African Wildcat, felis silvestra, libya Seventy plus, Honorary Degrees Her prosperous story Worthy to repeat Honor after honor Laurels at her feet Dr. Johnetta B. Cole Leads us into consciousness. Refuses to let us sleep. From her lips flow images Reflecting who we truly are, Women warriors, near and far We challenge “the myth Of the Negro Past” Upsetting the integrity Of a centuries old caste
Sister, Madame President Spelman, Bennett Opens her mouth. There are proverbs in it Her-story one of Courage, integrity and might Guiding scholars who Rise and take flight. Lifelong social activist Committed to making The world better Pioneering progress unfettered. In Women History courses Black women are few Listen, she insists, and learn Of the awesome things we do We must TELL OUR STORY Her-story in every age Bring forth insightful sagas Diva’s robe the stage Dr. Cole will tell you Not let you deny For she truly believes that “Women can fly” Her exemplary demonstration Of courage and scholarship Prods us to face and erase. The deceptive, the divisive Allusion of race Mama, grandma, wife, culturalist Educator, activist, humanitarian Soror, Madame President, Doctor, Feminist, Professor, Outstanding, amazing However, you address her. The Most Honored and Honorable Dr. Johnetta B. Cole “ADAOHA”, written by Valada Flewellyn c. 2022
FRANCILLE WILSON CARTER G. WOODSON SCHOLAR'S MEDALLION
Francille Rusan Wilson is an Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and History at the University of Southern California. She is an intellectual and labor historian whose current research examines the intersections between black labor movements, black social scientists, and black women's history during the Jim Crow era. Her book, The Segregated Scholars: Black Social Scientists and the Creation of Black Labor Studies, 1890-1950, was awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Prize for the best book in African American Women’s history by the Association of Black Women Historians. Her other publications include “Gertrude Emily Hicks Bustill Mossell: Her Heritage, Her Impact, and Her Legacy,” Woman and Social Movements, 1600-2000, 2014; “Becoming ‘Woman of the Year’: Sadie Alexander’s Construction of a Public Persona as a Black Professional Women, 1920-1950” in Black Women, Gender & Families; “Our Foremothers’ Keepers: The Association of Black Women Historians,” in Black Women’s History at the Intersection of Knowledge and Power. She has served on the boards of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and the Labor and Working Class History Association and is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
MOSES MASSENBURG MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE SERVICE AWARD
In 2016 Moses Massenburg entered his Ph.D. at Michigan State University after a decade of studying African American women’s history grassroots spaces. Dr. Masssenburg began his public career in Black history when he bagged groceries at Whole Foods Market in Santa Cruz during his undergraduate studies under Dr. Angela Davis and Dr. Bettina Aptheker. He fondly recalls giving customers at his cash register lightening lectures on a different lesson in Black history every two minutes. For example, if someone purchased organic Okra he highlighted how West African women braided Okra seeds into their children’s hair to prepare them for their journeys to unfamiliar lands. Or, if they purchased peanut butter for their babies, he spoke of George Washington Carver’s consulting southern Universities on how growing peanut plants returns nitrogen into soil depleted by cotton plants. Dr. Massenburg's public engagement grew tremendously when he led efforts to organize an ASALH branch in Atlanta. Together with a team of dedicated officers, he revived Dr.Woodson’s Association in a city once associated with such towering luminaries as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. C.T. Vivian, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
ROSAHN "ROSE" WHITEHORN MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE SERVICE AWARD
Rosahn C. Whitehorn (Rose), is a dedicated member of the Hampton Roads Branch. As creator and current manager of their Facebook page, she has played a significant role in promoting local initiatives as well as supporting ASALH's yearly themes, raising awareness about the contributions of the African American community. In 2017, Ms. Whitehorn joined ASALH's National PR & Marketing Committee. In this role, she focused on expanding ASALH's Social Media reach through campaigns and highlighting the activities of Branches both locally and abroad. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, Ms. Whitehorn's responsibilities increased significantly. She played a crucial role in editing, reviewing, and promoting the marketing material for the last three National conferences. Her efforts have helped to ensure the success of these conferences, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Ms. Whitehorn is a graduate of Norfolk State University's History Department, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Her educational background in History, coupled with her passion for research and local history, has fueled her commitment to ASALH and her dedication to promoting African American history and culture.
SUNDIATA CHA-JUA COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua teaches in the departments of African American Studies and History at the University of Illinois. He authored America’s First Black Town, Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915; Sankofa: Racial Formation and Transformation, Toward a Theory of African American History and co-edited Race Struggles with Theodore Koditschek and Helen Neville. He has published scores of articles in leading journals, including “The Long Movement’ as Vampire: Temporal and Spatial Fallacies in Recent Black Freedom Studies” in the Journal of African American History which co-won the OAH EBSCOhost America: History and Life Award for the best journal article in United States History, 2007-2009. ChaJua has been President of the National Council for Black Studies (201-2012, 20122014), Senior Editor of The Black Scholar(2011-2015) and Associate Editor of the Journal of African American History (2015-2018). Since September 2015, he has written a biweekly Op-Ed commentary, “RealTalk: A Black Perspective” for the News Gazette of Champaign, Illinois. Dr. Cha-Jua is a founding scholar/trainer of the Policing in a Multiracial Society Program (PSMP). Started in 2012, PSMP provides systematic anti-racial bias education and training for police recruits attending the University of Illinois’s Police Training Institute (PTI) and researches the racial attitudes of police and the effectiveness of anti-racist training. Cha-Jua has been engaged with local and national Black liberation movement organizations since his teen years. He has been a member of the executive board of the St. Louisbased Organization for Black Struggle (OBS), a member of the National Council of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) and is an organizer for the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM).
BARBARA SPENCER DUNN COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Barbara Spencer Dunn is a youth and family advocate with an extensive legacy of service and leadership. Her service to ASALH includes serving as Vice President of Membership. Since 2013, she served as Co-Chair of the Woodson Home Committee, making remarkable contributions with the interpretation, rehabilitation and preservation of the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site. The Committee received the National Capital Area's Hartzog Group Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service This led to the signing of a Master Cooperative Agreement with the National Park Service and managing additional task agreements through ASALH’s National Heritage Sites Research Committee. Dunn was appointed to the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. Mrs. Dunn serves on the Professional Development Team for a textbook entitled Black History 365. Dunn’s book, Before and Beyond the Niagara Movement: As the Youth See It, was evaluated and approved by Prince George’s County Maryland Public Schools as a supplemental US history teaching resource. Selected activities were developed and are being promoted nationally by ASALH. Mrs. Dunn is a Bowie State University graduate and recipient of several awards for her service work in local and global communities. Barbara is married to Carl and they have three children.
BETTYE GARDNER COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Dr. Bettye J. Gardner, Emerita Professor of History, Coppin State University, received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in History from Howard University and her Ph.D. from George Washington University. She has served as Project Director and/or Consultant for various Humanities projects and National Conferences. She represented ASALH on the Congressional Task Force on “The Use of Slave Labor in the Building of the U.S. Capitol”. While at Coppin State University, Dr. Gardner chaired the Intellectual Life Committee. Her scholarship has appeared in various journals, magazines, and edited works. She has lectured extensively on 19th Century African American Communities, focusing on Baltimore’s Free Black Community. Dr. Gardner has served as National President and Executive Council Member of ASALH; Federal Commissioner, Bethune House Historical Site; Executive Board, Humanities Council of Washington. Since 2008, she has chaired the Carter G. Woodson Home Historic Site Committee. The Committee was awarded the National Capital Area’s Hartzog Group Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service for their remarkable contributions. The Committee restructured the final exhibit gallery dedicated to Dr. Woodson’s legacy, securing the donation of approximately 200 historic photographs and 140 original artifacts, many of which will be featured in the permanent exhibit at the Carter G. Woodson National Historic Site.
JOE MADISON COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Joe Madison, The Black Eagle, is a civil rights activist, author and groundbreaking radio personality. He has built a legacy of using his voice to help oppressed people and those who are powerless against the injustices affecting them in their everyday lives. A tenacious leader in the cause for social justice, he uses his show as a platform for inspiring action on critical issues. A native of Dayton, Ohio, in 1971, Madison received his BA degree in sociology from Washington, St Louis University. Three years later he moved to Detroit and, at the age of 24, he was named executive director — the youngest — of the NAACP’s 10,000-member Detroit chapter in 1974. From 1986-1994, he served as the NAACP’s national political director where he led a series of successful voter registration marches, including a cross-country “march for dignity” from Los Angeles to Baltimore that also garnered thousands of signatures for an anti-apartheid bill in Congress. In 2019, Madison received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Washington University for his work as a groundbreaking radio personality and human rights activist. Joe Madison and his wife Sharon have been married for more than 45 years and they currently reside in Washington, D.C.
DIANE E. MILLER COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Diane Miller served as the national program manager for the National Park Service, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom from 1999 until her retirement in August 2023. Diane began her career at the NPS in 1984 working in the National Register of Historic Places programs. She received her MA in History from the University of Maryland and BAs in History and Anthropology from Ohio University. In December 2019 she received her PhD from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her dissertation, “Wyandot, Shawnee, and African American Resistance to Slavery in Ohio and Kansas,” highlights tribal involvement with the Underground Railroad. Through the Network to Freedom program, Diane worked to highlight unknown historic sites and stories connected to resistance to oppression through escape and flight—the Underground Railroad.
ANNETTE TEASDELL COUNCIL AWARD OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Dr. Annette Teasdell is an education consultant, scholar, and author. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Clark Atlanta University. A 2022 United Negro College Fund Teaching and Learning Fellow, she is committed to excellence in education. She has received national acclaim as an Asa G. Hilliard III and Barbara A. Sizemore Research Fellow by the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Grounding her research in over 15 years of teaching at the post-secondary and secondary levels, Annette Teasdell believes in the transformative power of education. She holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Urban Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research centers on the fundamental belief that culturally responsive pedagogy combined with a curriculum that is accurate, relevant, and appropriate, and whose educational processes are humane can yield improved student outcomes. Her research has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Teasdell is the co-author of two books–Race, Class, Gender, and Immigrant Identities in Education: Insights and Perspectives from First and Second Generation Ethiopian Students published by Palgrave MacMillan and Unbleaching the Curriculum: Enhancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Beyond in Schools and Society by Rowman and Littlefield.
MICHELLE DUSTER LIVING LEGACY AWARD
Michelle Duster is an author, speaker, public historian, professor, and champion of racial and gender equity. Her most recent book is Ida B. Wells, Voice Of Truth (Henry Holt & Co). And a year before, her Book, Ida B. The Queen: The Extraordinary Life And Legacy Of Ida B. Wells, was released. She also co-wrote the popular children’s history book, Tate and His Historic Dream; co-edited Impact: Personal Portraits of Activism; Shifts: An Anthology of Women's Growth Through Change; Michelle Obama’s Impact on African American Women and Girls; and edited two books that include the writings of her paternal great-grandmother, Ida B. Wells. She also was involved in the development of the Ida B. Wells doll, released in January 2022, which is part of Mattel's Inspiring Women Barbie doll series. Her advocacy has led to multiple public history projects including street names, monuments, historical markers, murals, and documentary films highlighting women and African Americans, including Wells. She is a native Chicagoan who earned her B.A. in Psychology from Dartmouth College, and M.A. in Media Studies from The New School in New York City. She also completed MFA film and video production coursework at Columbia College Chicago.
JOHNNETTA B. COLE LIVING LEGACY AWARD
Johnnetta Betsch Cole is a noted anthropologist, educator, author, speaker, and consultant on inclusion, diversity, and equity. Dr. Cole served as President of both historically Black colleges for women in the United States, Spelman College and Bennett College, a distinction she alone holds. She also served as the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Director and Senior Consulting Fellow at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In 2004, Cole was the first African American to serve as the Chair of the Board of United Way of America. She recently served in the voluntary position of Chair of the Board and Seventh President of the National Council of Negro Women. She is an emerita member of the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation board. Currently, she serves on the board of the A. L. Lewis Museum on Historic American Beach in Fernandina Beach, Florida. She was the first woman appointed to the board of CocaCola Enterprises and the first Black woman appointed to Merck’s board of directors. Dr. Cole has received numerous awards and is the recipient of 70 honorary degrees. On March 21, 2023, Dr. Cole was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Joseph R. Biden.
RONALD B. SAUNDERS LIVING LEGACY AWARD
Ronald B. Saunders, a fervent supporter of ASALH, is presently serving his third term as President of the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch. Ronald is a dynamic poet, prolific writer, lecturer, mentor, coach, and a long time civil and human rights activist. Under Ronald's unswerving guidance, the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch is a quintessential model of collaboration with other ASALH branches. A testament to Ronald’s leadership is that EBM was selected for Branch of the Year for 2022. A highlight of the collaboration is seen in its Negro Mountain Project in Garrett County Maryland which involved stakeholders in Maryland, Pennsylvania and ASALH Branches. The Negro Mountain Project’s purpose is to preserve the history of the courageous African American frontiersman for which the mountain was named. The innovative and inspiring Dr. Charles R. Drew Virtual Knowledge Bowl is the brainchild of Ronald and the first of its kind among ASALH Branches. Ronald is one of the founders of the Pittsburgh based National Black Political Caucus. He is also the founder of the Penn Hills, Pa Advisory Council to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Ronald is the recipient of numerous awards and is married to Judith. They have one daughter Tamara.
SENATOR JAMES T. HARGRETT LIVING LEGACY AWARD
James T. Hargrett, Jr. is a native of Tampa, Florida. He attended Clark Atlanta University and graduated from Morehouse College. Hargrett earned an M.B.A. from Atlanta University and became a successful banking administrator. He was manager of the Community Federal Savings & Loan Institution in Tampa when he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1982 -- the first black person to hold that distinction from Hillsborough County. He served there until 1992, when he was elected to the Florida Senate. Hargrett is a member of the Pi Iota Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and has earned numerous service awards, including the Dedication and Devotion in Education Award from Hillsborough County Public Schools. In 1994 he and House of Representatives legislator Rudy Bradley successfully sponsored the legislation that required public schools in the State of Florida to teach African American history. This law provides the political basis for resistance to the current opposition to today's struggle to keep black history in the curriculum of public schools in Florida.
MARVIN DUNN LUMINARY AWARD RECIPIENTS
A former naval officer, a renowned historian, an expert on race and ethnic issues and a community advocate, Dr. Marvin Dunn has dedicated his career to preserving and sharing Florida’s Black history. He is professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Florida International University, retiring as Chairperson of that Department. He authored Black Miami in the Twentieth Century and A History of Florida: Through Black Eyes. He also co-authored The Miami Riot of 1980: Crossing the Bounds and is the producer and director of three documentary films. Dr. Dunn founded Roots in the City, an urban gardening program and founded the Dr. Marvin Dunn Academy for Community Education, a public high school for at-risk students in Miami. In 2021, Dr. Dunn founded the Miami Center for Racial Justice. The Center focuses on preserving and telling the stories of racial violence in Florida and works for racial reconciliation and healing.
LOVETTE W. HARPER LUMINARY AWARD RECIPIENTS The month of March has been declared Women’s History Month to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and society. It is celebrated in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, corresponding with International Women’s Day on March 8th. Lovette W. Harper was recognized on March 15th as Woman of the Year by the Friends of the Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Public Library and the African American Cultural Resource Center of the Betty J. Johnson North Sarasota Library. Tributes were made to Mrs. Harper for her many years of service by the various organizations she is affiliated with including the African American Cultural Resource Center, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Association for the Study of African American History (ASALH) and Friends of the Library. Mrs. Harper is a retired New York State educator who retired to Sarasota over 25 years ago. She has had an interest in African American history and African art and culture, based on her travels to eight African countries and studies at three African universities – the University of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, the University of Nairobi in Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. As a founder and curator of the African American Cultural Resource Center, Mrs. Harper developed programs and exhibitions that included The Tuskegee Airmen, Newtown Then and Now, Newtown Youth Past and Present and hosted annual Kwanzaa celebrations. In 2008, Mrs. Harper donated her collection of African Art to her undergraduate HBCU, Tuskegee University’s Legacy Museum.
GWENDOLYN ZOHARAH SIMMONS LUMINARY AWARD RECIPIENTS
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is currently an Assistant Professor of Religion and affiliated faculty in the Women Studies Department at the University of Florida. Simmons received her BA from Antioch University in Human Services and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion with a specific focus on Islam from Temple University and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Simmons’ primary academic focus in Islam is on the Shari’ah (Islamic Law) and its impact on Muslim women, contemporarily. The focus areas for her teaching at this time include Islam, Women, Religion and Society; Women and Islam, African American Religious Traditions, and Race, Religion, and Rebellion. Simmons has a long history in civil rights, human rights, and peace work. She was on the American Friends Service Committee staff, a Quaker peace, justice, human rights, and international development organization headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa. for twenty-three years. During her early adult years as a college student and thereafter, she was active with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She spent seven years working full-time on Voter Registration and desegregation activities in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960′s.
LIZZIE POLLY ROBINSON BROWN JENKINS LUMINARY AWARD RECIPIENTS
Lizzie Polly Robinson Brown Jenkins was born October 25, 1938, in Archer, Florida. She grew up on a farm with her parents, Ura McIntyre Robinson and Theresa Brown Robinson, who were skilled farmers. The youngest of five children reared in a nurturing home, she was expected to excel, to remember her strong upbringing, and to live a meaningful, purpose-driven life. Lizzie was educated at Archer Negro High School and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1957. She received a BS Degree in Education from Florida Memorial University and a Master’s degree from Nova University. Like her aunt Mahulda (the Rosewood school teacher from 1915 1923), Jenkins went on to teach in the Alachua County Public School System for 33 years. She retired at age 55 to assist with her mother’s declining health and to dedicate her life to preserving the history of Rosewood, Florida. Jenkins has amassed nearly 30 years of Rosewood research, striving to authenticate, document, and position a legacy for a new generation. Jenkins, a treasured storyteller, is often lauded for her storytelling style based on facts without prejudice. Jenkins has authored and published books on the histories of Rosewood, Alachua County, and Archer, Florida. She continuously shares her research and story through public lectures at colleges and universities, K 12 schools, churches, and community organizations, both locally and statewide.
CHARLES E. COBB, JR. LUMINARY AWARD RECIPIENTS
Charles E. Cobb, Jr. is a visiting professor of Africana Studies at Brown University. He is a distinguished journalist and former member of National Geographic Magazine’s editorial staff. He currently is Senior Writer and Diplomatic Correspondent for AllAfrica.com, the leading online provider of news from and about Africa. From 1962-1967 he served as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Mississippi. He began his journalism career in 1974 as a reporter for WHUR Radio in Washington, D.C. In 1976 he joined the staff of National Public Radio as a foreign affairs reporter, bringing to that network its first regular coverage of Africa. From 1985 to 1997, Cobb was a National Geographic staff member, traveling the globe to write stories on places from Eritrea to Russia’s Kuril Islands. He is also the co-author, with civil rights organizer and educator Robert P. Moses, of Radical Equations, Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project, and On the Road to Freedom, a Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail. His latest book is This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed, a finalist for the 2015 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for nonfiction. On July 24, 2008 the National Association of Black Journalists honored Cobb’s work by inducting him into their Hall of Fame.
LISA R. BROWN FREEDOM SCHOLAR AWARD
Dr. Brown, an Assistant Professor in the Adult Education, Social Innovation, and Entrepreneurship program, teaches master's and doctorallevel students at UIW in the Dreeben School of Education Graduate Studies department. She is collaborating with Dr. William A. Darity Jr. (Duke University) and other scholars on a William T. Grant Foundation study to explore reparations for Black American descendants of slaves and freedmen. That work resulted in a 2023 book, The Black Reparations Project, published by UC Press. Brown's chapter is "Reparations and Adult Education: Civic and Community Engagement for Lifelong Learners." She is a member of the National Reparations Planning Committee (RPC) to develop proposals and national coalition building to pursue federal Reparations. Her service includes presentations on reparations during Black History Month in 2023 for the Freedom Bloc in Akron, Ohio. She and a subcommittee of RPC members presented before the U.S. Office of Management and Budget regarding plans to revise SPD15 on Race and Ethnicity standards. Brown holds an MPA and bachelor's in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and is a member of the AAACE, Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society, the Commission for Professors of Adult Education, the WFSF, IARSLCE, ASALH, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
TAKEIA N. ANTHONY FREEDOM SCHOLAR AWARD
Dr. TaKeia N. Anthony is the Interim Dean of the Whitney Young Honors Collegium and Graduate Studies and the Academic Support Liaison for the Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky AfricanAmericans (CESKAA) at Kentucky State University. She is a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in history. She serves on the Board of Directors of the African-American Museum-Bowling Green Area and was the 2015 recipient of the Women of Achievement, Native Daughter Award, given by the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission. She is an alumna of Howard University in Washington D.C. and North Carolina Central University (NCCU) where she was inducted into the 2016 Class of 40 Under 40. Prior to joining Kentucky State University, Dr. Anthony was an Assistant Professor of History at NCCU where she won the 2020 College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2019 College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Research Award. She served as an Assistant Professor of History and Director of Public History at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. The 2017 Teacher of the Year, inducted in the 2016 Class of Jacksonville Black Pages 20 Under 40.
DARNELL SMITH PRESIDENT’S SERVICE AWARD Darnell Smith is Florida Blue’s market president for North Florida. Smith is responsible for Florida Blue’s financial and market growth, customer experience and community engagement across 36 North Florida counties from St. Augustine to Pensacola.Smith has been very active in serving the community through numerous organization boards and councils, including United Way of Northeast Florida, LIFT JAX, A.L. Lewis Black Opportunity and Impact Fund, Generation W, Blue Zones Jacksonville, First Coast YMCA, Sulzbacher Center, Communities in Schools Florida, World Affairs Council, Cathedral Arts Project and Feeding Northeast Florida. Smith has demonstrated leadership in developing the community through numerous board appointments including Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Council of Tallahassee, Flagler College Board of Trustees, and Big Bend Minority Chamber of Commerce. He has been recognized for his contributions to the region including the American Heart Association, Junior Achievement of NE Florida, OneJax, Operation New Hope and Leadership Jacksonville. Smith was most recently the chair of the transition committee for Mayor Donna Deegan. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Florida State University. He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and the Advanced HR Executive Program at University of Michigan.
BISHOP RUDOLPH MCKISSICK, SR. PRESIDENT’S SERVICE AWARD
Bishop McKissick, Sr. serves as Pastor Emeritus of Historic Bethel Baptist Institutional Church in Jacksonville, Florida. On January 31, 2014, Bishop McKissick, Sr., retired after 48 years as the Senior Pastor. He is the longest-serving Pastor in the church’s history. The Jacksonville City Council recognized his many noteworthy accomplishments and renamed a portion of Hogan Street as Rudolph McKissick, Sr. Boulevard, in his honor. Bishop McKissick, Sr. earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Edward Waters College and Honorary Doctoral Degrees from Bethune Cookman University and Edward Waters College. He has also received advanced training at the Tuskegee Institute, the Music Institute of Columbia University, Princeton University, and Luther Rice Seminary. He holds membership in several organizations, including Life Membership in the NAACP and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. In February 2014, he was the Mayor’s Trailblazer Honoree recipient of the Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. Bishop McKissick, Sr. has been married to the former Estelle Teresa Lee Williams; a noted retired school administrator, for 60 years. He is the father of one son, Bishop Rudolph W. McKissick, Jr. (Kimberly), and the grandfather of three: Jocelyn, Janai, and Joshua.