Black History Month February 2022: Earlene Brown, Michelle Carter, Raven Saunders

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Michelle Carter https://www.facebook.com/ShotPutDiva

You know what the three of us have in common? We all are women. We are black. We throw the shot put. And, we are the only Americans that have an Olympic medal in Women’s shot put. Earlene Brown 1960 Bronze. Michelle Carter 2016 Gold. Raven Saunders 2020 Silver. We have trained hard to represent our country. We have reached the top. We have represented the USA very well. When people think about us, they say that we were the first Black Americans to win medals. I have to correct them and say we are the only Americans that have Olympic medals in Women’s shot put. People assume that a white American did it first and then somebody black. But the reality is that we are Americans. The adjective of our skin color doesn’t make us less than or second. We are Americas best. We are the first Americans to win Olympic medals for Team USA. We too are America. Black History is American History. This Black History moment was bought to you by your favorite Olympian, Michelle Carter. #ShotDiva#BlackHistory#AmericanHistory#TeamUSA#TeamUSATF#Black#WomenAthletes#PlusSizeAthlete#BlackWomen

Black History Month February 2022: Carlton Hall

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Carlton Hall was the Communities That Care trainer for the Communities That Care Coalition of Franklin County/North Quabbin in 2003/2004!!!

Carlton Hall is the President and CEO of Carlton Hall Consulting LLC, a multi-faceted, full-service consulting firm designed to provide customized solutions and enable measurable change for communities, organizations, families and individuals. Carlton spent twelve years with the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) serving in several leadership positions and including most recently, Acting Vice President, Training Operations, and Acting Director for CADCA’s National Coalition Institute, responsible for the day to day operational oversight, design, and implementation of its premiere national training delivery system. Carlton also supported CADCA’s International Programs in partnership with the US State Department’s International Narcotics Law Enforcement division (INL), managing training programs in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. Carlton is one of the primary architects of CADCA’s National Coalition Academy. The Academy, a year-long coalition development program, is designed to increase the effectiveness of communities in drug demand reduction producing population level outcomes.

With more than 25 years experience in the fields of government relations, social services and prevention science, Carlton first gained national prominence as a Communities That Care® Project Manager, for the Channing Bete Company. He was a Communities That Care® trainer/senior consultant with Channing Bete Company for four years. He received his Master’s in Human Services from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the Project Director for the Communities That Care® process in Philadelphia as well as the Crime and Public Safety manager for the Philadelphia Empowerment Zone, a division of the Mayor’s Office of Community Services. During that time he managed a small planning grant to over three million dollars for science-based prevention programming in the neighborhoods of Philadelphia.

Carlton also was responsible for the design and implementation of the award-winning “Operation Makeover”, an effective community-wide intervention addressing blatant open-air drug trafficking and increasing levels of juvenile violence and substance abuse offences. Operation Makeover was recognized by Vice President Al Gore and featured in “Programs That Work” a publication by the Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). After years of volunteering with many youth organizations Carlton founded The STRONG Foundation in 1993, which created opportunities to reduce service duplication while increasing partnerships with existing youth organizations.

Carlton’s responsibilities, unique set of skills and experience has made him one of the most highly sought after instructors and guides for community problem solving in every state and territory in the nation as well as internationally, with successful achievements in South Africa, Ghana, Bermuda, Kenya and others. (http://carltonhallconsulting.com/about.html)

Black History Month February 2022: Erin Jackson

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Winter Olympian. Engineering Grad.

Erin Jackson is a speedskater and scholar from Ocala, Florida. She has been a roller skater for as long as she can remember, going on to pursue inline speedskating (2002), roller derby (2012), and long track speedskating (2017). Erin is a member of Team USA/U.S. National Team for all three sports.

In 2015, Erin graduated cum laude from the University of Florida Honors Program with a BS in Materials Science & Engineering. Two years later she made the transition from inline skating to speedskating on ice, where she quickly qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Erin currently lives in Salt Lake City, UT where she is training for the next Olympic Games. Erin also earned an AS in Computer Science from Salt Lake Community College in 2020 and is working toward an AS in Exercise Science/Kinesiology. (https://erin-jackson.net/)

Erin won gold in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in the 500m Long Track Speedskating event.

See her skate here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTM3qtGvOjg

Black History Month February 2022: Rodney Madison

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Rodney Madison is a self taught artist, born in Chicago, IL. Madison began painting in his 50’s and has become recognized as a prolific painter. Relying on the alchemy of art, he is an artist with few artistic boundaries and a wildly active imagination. Madison has opened new windows of creativity and continues to share his vision with the universe.

Rodney Madison has transformed his second-hand shop into a vibrant art studio and soon-to-be community gallery, contributing to the growing art scene in Turners Falls.

Rodney lives in Western MA and has been featured in the Greenfield Recorder.

Learn more about Rodney:

https://rodneymadisonstudio.com/about

https://www.recorder.com/Let-s-Talk-Race-Local-artist-educator-says-being-Black–something-I-think-about-every-day–35239063

https://www.recorder.com/Unconstrained-bold-colors-muscular-strokes-1731368

Black History Month February 2022: Ava DuVernay

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Ava Marie DuVernay (/ˌdjuːvərˈneɪ/;[1] born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker. She won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere,[2] becoming the first black woman to win the award.[3] For her work on Selma (2014), DuVernay became the first black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and also the first black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.[4][5] In 2017, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her film 13th (2016).

DuVernay’s 2018 Disney children’s fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time made her the first black woman to direct a live-action film earning $100 million at U.S. box office but had losses of up to $131 million.[6][7][8] The film received mixed reviews, with critics taking issue with the film’s heavy use of CGI.[9] The following year, she created, co-wrote, produced and directed the Netflix drama limited series When They See Us, based on the 1989 Central Park jogger case, which has earned critical acclaim.[10][11][12][13][14] The series was nominated for 16 Emmy Awards including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series and won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Limited Series. In 2021, she co-created an autobiographical miniseries with former NFL player Colin Kaepernick titled Colin in Black & White.

In 2017, DuVernay was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[15]

In 2020, DuVernay was elected to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences board of governors as part of the directors branch.[16][17] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ava_DuVernay)

Black History Month February 2022: Simone Wildes

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

An infectious disease physician with a strong commitment to racial equity in medicine, Simone Wildes, MD, has been much in demand in recent months, including appointments to two high-profile state committees: Governor Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health COVID-19 Health Equity Advisory Group.

These volunteer commitments are in addition to her duties as an infectious disease physician at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth and clinical assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Wildes was one of the panelists on our Racial Justice Workgroup’s COVID 19 Vaccine Community Conversation for Black, Indigenous, and person of color communities in April 2021.

Photo credit: https://commonwealthinstitute.org/dr-simone-wildes/

Black History Month February 2022: Ronn Johnson

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Ronn Johnson (1959-2022) was a pillar of the Springfield, MA community. He was born in Hartford, CT on January 7, 1959, to Clara Johnson (nee Brown) and Fletcher Johnson, originally of Lumpkin and Cuthbert, Georgia, respectively. The Johnsons came to Springfield, MA shortly following Ronn’s birth and settled in their family home on Willard Avenue.

Ronn attended Homer Street School, White Street Elementary School, M. Marcus Kiley Jr. High, and graduated from Classical High School in 1977. He went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree from Western New England University (then Western New England College) and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Cambridge College.

Ronn would spend the next 40-plus years working to make the city of Springfield, especially the community surrounding Mason Square, a better place. He worked at W. W. Johnson Life Center and Dunbar Community Center before working for the Center for Human Development for 13 years. While he was working at CHD, Ronn founded the City-wide Violence Prevention Task Force, aimed at reducing gun violence and making the streets of Springfield a safer place for youth. Following his tenure at CHD, Ronn was named Director for Community Responsibility at MassMutual where he worked to bring resources into the Springfield community.

In 2012, after years of service as a member of the board and later as a consultant, Ronn became President/CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services. During his tenure, Ronn led the organization to raise millions of dollars in funding and expanded programming for school-age children, college-bound youth, and adult learners. There was a special place in his heart for the work of MLK’s food pantry, which provides a selection of safe and healthy food choices for over 300 families per week.
In 1998, Ronn, along with his wife Donna and friends founded The Brianna Fund for Children with Physical Disabilities – named after their daughter Brianna who was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. When an outpouring of support from the community resulted in an overflow of donations, Ronn made it his mission to continue the work of the fund to address the mobility and access needs of other families with children with disabilities in Western Massachusetts. In the last 24 years, The Brianna Fund has received over $750,000 in donations and provided assistance to 50 families.

Ronn was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He was a member of St. John’s Congregational Church, including previously having served as church Moderator. Ronn served on countless boards including Community Music School of Springfield, MassHire Springfield (formerly FutureWorks Career Center), Providers’ Council, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield’s Independent Task Force on the Response to Sexual Abuse.

Ronn leaves to cherish his legacy: the great love of his life, his wife Donna, son Ronald, and daughter Brianna; along with his “daughter-in-love” Clinesha and his grandchildren Jade and Jonas. His mother, Clara Johnson-Bunn, sisters Jo-Ann Miller, Regina Jackson, and Charlotte Payne, and brothers-in-law Marvin Miller, Philip Jackson, and Todd Payne. He also leaves his deeply loved aunt, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins. He is predeceased by his father, Fletcher L. Johnson, and stepfather Billy E. Bunn. Ronn also leaves countless friends, colleagues, fraternity brothers, and mentees throughout the country and in Springfield MA, which he referred to as his “Beloved Community”.

Photo credit: https://www.stcc.edu/about-stcc/news/stcc-remembers-community-leader-ronn-johnson-on-mlk-jr-day.html

Black History Month February 2022: Kent Alexander

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

Kent Alexander is a anti-racism & workplace culture co-consultant as well as a poet, playwright, actor, and teacher, based in Western MA. His work integrates somatic practices while utilizing practical tools to investigate and navigate the history of racism, challenge stereotypes, explore otherness, as well as how to cultivate the skills needed to move beyond our biases and toward collective healing.

Kent worked with CTC for several years as well as Elms College, Mount Grace Land Trust, United Way of Hampshire County, UMASS Amherst Theater Dept., Center for Community Resilience after Trauma, TerraCorps, the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, and the ValleyCreates initiative of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

Photo credit: https://www.mainspringchangeconsultants.com/

Black History Month February 2022: André Leon Talley

We are highlighting examples of Black excellence every day this February….and beyond! Feel free to send us suggestions!

André Leon Talley was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, and editor-at-large of Vogue magazine. He was the magazine’s fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, its first African-American male creative director from 1988 to 1995, and then its editor-at-large from 1998 to 2013.

Photo credit: https://www.vogue.com/article/andre-leon-talley-interview-vogue-may-2018

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday January 17, 2022

Monday, January 17, 2022 is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, honoring one of the most important leaders and thinkers in American history.  Dr. King was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a great opportunity to reflect on Dr. King’s work, increase our understanding of his legacy, and take action to ensure freedom and justice for all people. Celebrating and building on Dr. King’s legacy is not limited to one day a year! May the momentum from the January holiday carry us into February’s Black History Month celebrations and beyond: into a daily practice of working towards collective liberation.

Here are some resources to explore and share and to inspire ongoing action:

A photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr sitting outside, looking toward the camera

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute supports a broad range of educational activities illuminating Dr. King’s life and the movements he inspired.  The Institute website includes links to documents, other sites, curriculum, and opportunities for further connections.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta, GA includes the places where Dr. King was born, lived, worked, worshipped, and is buried. Come hear his story, visit the home of his birth, and where he played as a child.  Walk in his footsteps, and hear his voice in the church where he moved hearts and minds.  Marvel at how he was an instrument for social change. Even if you cannot get to Atlanta, the website includes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Racial and Social Justice: A Curriculum for Empowerment

Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) also has some great resources for educators/mentors.  Its collection of lessons, teachable texts and further reading helps educators bring the work of Dr. King to life in any learning setting.

Civil Rights Teaching is another source for educational resources for Teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. and beyond.

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

Dr. King is known for his speeches and writings.  Here is a link to some of his memorable quotations.  Make sure to research the source of the quotation to gain an understanding of the context in which Dr. King said or wrote it.

The Arts provide an embodied connection with Dr. King’s legacy.

Colorlines has a playlist of songs that sample MLK speeches or reference his legacy.

Ultimate Classic Rock has 12 Classic Songs Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.

Stone Soup Café in Greenfield is hosting its second annual MLK Day Pick-Your-Own Film Festival! Choose from six incredible films.  Register at https://bit.ly/3G5Fmri

Check out the movie Selma, a 2014 historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches initiated and directed by James Bevel and led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis.

Many artists have been inspired by Dr. King’s work, including Faith Ringgold, an Artist-activist who illustrated King’s Letter from Birmingham City Jail in eight serigraphs.

Other ways to take action throughout the year:

Support organizations working on voting rights.

Support Black-owned businesses:

Black-owned restaurants, grocers in Springfield and across Western Massachusetts you can support

Amherst Area Minority / BIPOC-Owned Businesses

Support BIPOC-, Veteran-, Woman-, LGBTQ-, Disabled-Owned Businesses