NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner is Saturday, Sept.28
By Andria Carter
Herald Contributor
The theme for the Cincinnati National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Freedom Fund Dinner on Saturday, September 28, at Duke Energy Center is “You Are the Movement.” The individuals and organizations being honored this year not just embrace, but embody the dinner theme. The impact or impression their work has had on Cincinnati will be felt for years to come. Clayola Brown, president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, is the Freedom Fund Dinner keynote speaker.
“The theme is a testament to the organization’s past and an acknowledgement to the growing ‘wokeness’ the United States is experiencing as more are confronting the status quo, political leaders’ actions and bigotry, and demanding equitable treatment in business and government policy,’’ Richardson said.
Since 2004, Brown has served as the A. Philip Randolph Institute’s first female president. She also understands firsthand what it means to break down barriers, fight against injustices and honor the hard work trade unions do.
She has appeared in numerous publications and on local, regional and network political talk shows and is part of the leadership team that released the groundbreaking report And Still I Rise on Black women workers as part of the Black Workers Initiative with the Institute for Policy Studies.
Her lifelong commitment to labor activism began in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, where she – alongside her activist mother – campaigned to organize the Manhattan Shirt Factory. In 1991, under UNITE!, she was elected the international vice president and continues to serve in that capacity and as Civil Rights director under the repositioned union Workers United. In 1995, she was elected to the AFL-CIO executive council, where she served for 10 years as vice president.
The honorees are:
– Dr. P Eric Abercrumbie – Wright-Overstreet Memorial Award. The Wright Overstreet Award was established in 1989 to honor the memories of two dedicated Civil Rights leaders, the Rev. Samuel Ross Wright and Henry Overstreet Jr. Both men are recognized through this award for their work in the NAACP and in the community.
Dr. Cheryll Dunn – Empowering Education Award.
Susan Johnson – Distinguished Volunteer Award.
Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, Esq. – Presidents Award.
The late Robert O’Neal will receive a special arts tribute for the work he has done in the Cincinnati community.
Procter & Gamble Co. – Community Outreach and Partnership Award. in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Yvette Simpson – Theodore M Berry Award. Berry was Cincinnati’s first African American mayor, a position he served from 1972 to 1975.
Carla Walker – Inspiring Innovator Award.
For Tickets call: 513 281-1900.