CCRA Board Member Recipient of NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award

Longtime Central Community Redevelopment Agency Board Member, Lynette Edwards, received the Manatee County Branch NAACP Freedom Fund Awards Banquet on August 17, 2011. Ms. Edwards has been a true leader on our board, and exemplifies the same characteristics seen by friends and colleagues throughout her professional career as an educator.

We extend heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Edwards for this honor.

An article from "The Bradenton Herald" about the event is below.

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Inspiration at NAACP event: ‘Our young people need dreams’
Published: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011
Updated: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011
By RICHARD DYMOND
rdymond@bradenton.com

BRADENTON -- Law enforcement agencies across the state of Florida would like to hire more African-American men and women as deputies and police officers.

State attorneys would like more young African American prosecutors.

Chief justices in circuits across Florida often speak out about the need for more African-American judges.

But the keynote speaker who made these statements during Tuesday’s Manatee NAACP 2011 annual Freedom Fund and Awards Banquet also said young African-American men and women are not going to fill these positions unless they graduate from college.

“We have access,” Nathaniel Glover Jr., president of Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, told an enthusiastic crowd of 250 at the Bradenton Municipal Auditorium that later rewarded him with a standing ovation.

“Now, give our young people an opportunity,” Glover added. “There is a whole class of young people who need a little help. Don’t be put off by their haircuts and how they wear their pants. Under that, they are intelligent. They need someone to reach out to them and say, ‘I’m going to help you.’ We should leave here tonight with the assumption that tomorrow we are going to go out and help a stranger.”

Glover, who was the first elected African-American sheriff in Florida during his tenure in Jacksonville, told the audience that African-American males comprise 50 percent of Florida’s prison population.

“Yet, we are about 17 percent of the entire population of Florida, so something is not right,” Glover said.

Glover also said that 75 percent of the babies born to African-American women in Florida are born to single parents. He implored the audience to commit to making a difference.

“Our young people need guidance,” Glover said. “Our young people need dreams. Some of these young men will never get out unless you all in this room step up. These young men have to get into higher education. You can’t navigate this society without it.”

Glover’s speech was part of a stunning NAACP banquet this year that featured not only five special award winners, but also a powerful opening invocation from the Rev. Kenneth Irby of Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church.

There also were two soulful musical performances -- one by Shantel V, Norman and a bluesy rendition of “A Change Will Come” by Zelda Mercado.

It is not often that a blessing of the food is a highlight of a banquet, but Irby was on fire with his prayer.

“Help us, Lord,” Irby prayed. “You are the God of our silent tears, our weary years and of our righteous indignation. Let us come together and turn to you regardless of whether we identify as Democrats, Republicans, tea party members or Libertarians. Protect us all from overt terrorism and quiet racism.”

Lifetime achievement

Lynette “Hayes” Edwards, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the School Board of Manatee County, won the NAACP’s 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award.

She dedicated the award to her mother, Mary Alice Shipp, who served the NAACP for 40 years. “I am most proud of my work in the community,” said Edwards, who is a mentor with two children’s organizations within Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

The Rev. James T. Golden won the Community Service Award.

“I am hoping my father, The Rev. James C. Golden, is looking down on me tonight,” he said.

Sabrina Crain-Sweeney received the Unsung Heroine Award.

Crain-Sweeney, who started the highly successful Gulf Coast Window Cleaning business 21 years ago, has been the passion behind the four-year-old Learn to Fish nonprofit, which helps disadvantaged women and children.

“My heart is for those who have suffered pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization,” Crain-Sweeney said.

Megan Zoller, an infant-swimming resource instructor, has helped numerous infants survive falls into pools.

“Her work has saved our babies,” said Sylvia Archie, chairwoman of this year’s NAACP banquet.

Kathyrn Houston Jones won the Presidential Award for her mentoring of young women in the community during the past 57 years.

Houston Jones is a charter member of the Sara-Mana Club, which, for the past 43 years, has put on a Debutante Ball, preceded by weeks of teaching young women “the social graces.”

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 748-0411, ext. 6686.

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