12 Local Women To Be Honored During Fannie Lou Hamer Awards

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) —  Chosen from crossed Anne Arundel County, 12 trailblazing women volition beryllium honored during the 26th yearly Fannie Lou Hamer Awards Reception, held from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3.

The lawsuit volition beryllium held astatine the Banneker-Douglass Museum and these women are known for impacting their assemblage — whether done societal justness oregon advocacy — each pistillate has made a lasting people connected Anne Arundel County.

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This year’s honorees — Nas I. Afi, Delegate J. Sandy Bartlett, Sarah Margaret Blaser, Chanel Compton, Debora A. Darden, Gloria Dent, Sonia Feldman, Debi Jasen, Monica Lindsey, Roxanne McGowan, Rev. Marguerite R. Morris, and Darlene Washington — articulation the ranks of much than 100 notable women.

The lawsuit is sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Anne Arundel County. Tickets are sold out, but viewers tin ticker the programme connected Facebook Live done the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee Facebook Page, oregon through www.mlkjrmd.org.

Fannie Lou Hamer, 1917-1977, was an American voting rights activist, civil rights leader, and philanthropist. The awards that carnivore her sanction admit women from assorted radical backgrounds who person excelled successful their chosen tract portion moving to amended civilian and quality rights successful the region.

“These women exemplify the enactment Ms. Hamer brought to the Civil Rights movement,” said Carl Snowden, seat of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee. “Their committedness to the Anne Arundel County assemblage is humbling, and we convey them for their service. We are thrilled to instrumentality this evening to grant and observe this champion for economical and societal justice, and the women she inspired.”

Debi Jasen, of Pasadena, has been addressing racism since she was a child, and has been progressive successful galore anti-racism actions and organizations. Jasen is simply a laminitis of One Pasadena, a section assemblage radical that is moving to code the civilization of racism successful the community. She has registered voters and participated successful nonviolent nonstop enactment with the Poor People’s Campaign. Jasen helps signifier protests, coordinates volunteers for anti-racism actions, and provides enactment for anti-racism demonstrations. She besides volunteers with reproductive justness groups that absorption connected healthcare entree for marginalized communities.

Sarah Margaret Blaser, of Shady Side, is an pedagogue and the laminitis of South County Is Kind. Blaser began her engagement successful societal justness organizations successful 2017 and has since go an progressive subordinate successful Coming to the Table and Connecting the Dots. She is progressive successful section efforts focusing connected reparations and equality successful education. Blaser founded South County Is Kind successful effect to section incidents of racism and bigotry. The enactment is simply a community-based inaugural focusing connected spreading kindness, understanding, and an appreciation for differences. Blaser has been progressive successful section and nationalist protests for adjacent rights and was 1 of the organizers for the Black Lives Matter March successful Deale, Md., in October 2020.

Chanel Compton, of Baltimore, is the enforcement manager of the Banneker-Douglass Museum (BDM) and the Maryland Commission connected African American History and Culture (MCAAHC). She antecedently served arsenic enforcement manager for the Prince George’s African American Museum and acquisition manager for the Creative Alliance successful Baltimore. Currently, Compton serves arsenic committee seat of the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center and committee subordinate to Afro Charities and Future History Now. As enforcement manager of BDM and MCAAHC, Compton is dedicated to serving Maryland to amplify and enactment African American practice initiatives, groups, and museums to summation further entree to resources, partnerships, and scope caller audiences.

Debora A. Darden, of Edgewood, serves arsenic the Warden of the Eastern Correctional Institution successful Westover, Md., the largest situation successful Maryland. She is the archetypal African American pistillate to service successful this capacity. Darden began her instrumentality enforcement vocation arsenic an intern with the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Darden antecedently served arsenic manager of Case Management for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Service, Division of Pre-Trial and Detention Services. In summation to Darden’s nationalist information work, she joined the Road Divas Motorcycle Association successful 2009, a motorcycle accomplishment and foundation association. There, Darden has participated successful overgarment drives and unpaid enactment and has served arsenic a mentor to young women and children. She has besides been a subordinate of A Tribute to Women of Color, an enactment successful Anne Arundel County that awards $100,000 annually successful assemblage scholarships.

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Roxanne McGowan, of Glen Burnie, is the Deputy Program Integrationist/Outreach Coordinator for the Community Action Agency (CAA) of Anne Arundel County. Prior to joining CAA, McGowan was employed successful workforce development, wherever she transformed a six-bedroom townhouse, located successful the largest nationalist lodging assemblage successful the county, into a afloat operational workforce center. There, she provided vocation development, occupational training, employment assistance, and GED classes. Anne Arundel County McGowan’s groundwork with the opening of vocation centers astatine 2 further nationalist lodging sites. McGowan besides partnered with the State to big the archetypal City of Annapolis Job Fair, playing a important relation successful bringing workforce improvement services into the Stanton Community Center. McGowan oversees respective different programs, including Returning Citizens, Health and Wellness Initiative, Youth Development Services, and 2 Generation Whole Family Approach, and serves arsenic a committee subordinate for the Department of Aging. She oversees the Anne Arundel County Health Ambassadors Program, educating the assemblage astir COVID-19.

Rev. Marguerite R. Morris, of Odenton, has been an advocator for marginalized persons successful Maryland for decades. Eight years ago, Morris founded the Leah’s House Shelter, which assists section and planetary victims of maltreatment and quality trafficking. Morris besides founded For Kathy’s Sake Inc., which provides advocacy services to persons successful crisis, and Community Actively Seeking Transparency (C.A.S.T.), which facilitates constabulary transparency and accountability. In 2019, she received the prestigious Malcolm X Hero Award from the Caucus of African American Leaders, was nominated for the TWIN Award, and was selected arsenic a Trailblazer for moving to destruct racism and empower women. Together, For Kathy’s Sake and C.A.S.T. were selected arsenic the 2019 Business of the Year by the Anne Arundel NAACP. In 2020, Morris received the George Phelps Jr. Distinguished Citizen Award for her contributions to Anne Arundel County. Morris does overmuch of this enactment successful grant of her daughter, Katherine Morris, who was recovered dormant successful 2012 astatine the property of 22. In summation to her assemblage work, Morris has spent the past 9 years investigating matters related to the mishandling of her daughter’s decease investigation.

Sonia Feldman, of Annapolis, was calved successful Sao Paulo, Brazil, and moved to the United States arsenic a child. In 1984, she established Sonia Feldman Advertising Design successful Annapolis. Feldman is an progressive subordinate of the Annapolis community, giving her clip to a fig of civic and non-profit organizations. Although Feldman had campaigned for galore statesmanlike candidates implicit the years, it was not until 2017 that she turned her absorption to section activism pursuing the Women’s March connected Washington. She mobilized members of the Annapolis assemblage and formed Action Annapolis to enactment connected issues promoting societal justice. Working with different women, Feldman focused connected creating events that informed the assemblage connected assorted issues, including affordable housing, elector protection, immigration, and section elections. Through this work, she facilitated conversations with section candidates. This enactment has taught Feldman that by informing and engaging voters astatine the section level, radical go empowered to power candidates and elected officials, helping bring astir policies that are much responsive to the needs of the community.

Delegate J. Sandy Bartlett, of Annapolis, serves her assemblage done her enactment successful the Maryland House of Delegates. Despite being a first-term legislator, Bartlett was appointed a Deputy Majority Whip and was unanimously elected Chair of the Anne Arundel County Delegation. She is the lone freshman subordinate appointed to and serving connected the Joint Committee connected Legislative Ethics. Bartlett was besides appointed to the Joint Committee connected Ending Homelessness. She is simply a subordinate of the Judiciary Committee and the Joint Committee connected Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Biotechnology, and had made palmy contributions arsenic a subordinate of the Work Group to Study Shelter and Supportive Services for Unaccompanied Homeless Minors and the Public Safety Subcommittee. Bartlett is simply a subordinate of respective legislative caucuses, including the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. In summation to her enactment arsenic a delegate, she serves connected the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Policy and Funding Committee and the Local Development Council for Anne Arundel County. Barlett was honored by the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault earlier this twelvemonth arsenic a recipient of their 2021 Visionary Award.

Gloria Dent, of Annapolis, culminated her 26-year subject vocation arsenic the archetypal National Director for Veterans Employment and Initiatives for the U.S. AbilityOne Commission. In this congressionally mandated position, Dent executed the archetypal apprenticeship programme focused connected leveraging national procurement programs to make employment opportunities for wounded and recovering veterans. Dent is besides the laminitis and chairwoman of iCommunity Connection Services, a Maryland non-profit focused connected veterans, assemblage resources, and credential apprenticeships. Since 2018, Dent has hosted assemblage events including elector registration drives and legislative symposiums connected matters that impact Black and Brown communities. Dent is the proprietor and CEO of Genergi LLC, a service-disabled, veteran-owned tiny concern absorption and consulting institution designed to accelerate veteran, women, and minority-owned businesses. Dent is simply a subordinate of the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation and the Planning and Advisory Board for Anne Arundel County.

Monica Lindsey (also called Ewura Ama Amaka), of Annapolis, is an progressive assemblage subordinate who, for much than 17 years, served arsenic an pedagogue for the nationalist schoolhouse system. As a teacher, Lindsey helped others make skills successful engagement, coordination, and captious thinking. She is simply a committee subordinate of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, formed to code issues of historical radical panic successful Maryland; co-chair of Connecting the Dots, a assemblage conjugation that works alongside the Equal Justice Initiative to coordinate efforts for remembrance and reconciliation in Anne Arundel County; committee subordinate of Alkebulan Shule, a household rite of transition program; and committee subordinate of South Sudan Hope Network, a section foundation enactment committed to planetary collaboration.

Nas I. Afi, of Annapolis, served arsenic an organizational specializer astatine the National Education Association (NEA) for the past 17 years, astir precocious moving arsenic a coordinator for the NEA Affirmative Action UniServ Intern Program for Ethnic-Minorities and Women. The program, calved retired of societal justness issues, is intended to summation the ranks of tract unit of color. Afi besides works with HBCU colleges and universities, providing consultation and nonstop work assistance. She served six years arsenic president of the Association of Field Service Employees astatine NEA, served arsenic delegate and trainer for the National Staff Organization, and was a founding subordinate of the Alkebulan Shule schoolhouse successful Annapolis. Afi is present serving a 2nd word arsenic president of the Annapolis Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Under her leadership, the section is moving to make assemblage partnerships, heighten its societal justness and radical equity work, and service the divers needs of the county.

Darlene Washington, of West River, serves arsenic the enforcement advisor of the National Delicados, antecedently serving arsenic the organization’s nationalist president. This civic enactment provides world scholarships to precocious schoolhouse graduates, and financially supports the National Council of Negro Women, assemblage wellness projects, the National Negro College Fund, Sickle Cell Foundations, HIV/AIDS projects, the Parole Health Center, and catastrophe projects, specified arsenic American Red Cross. Washington has been recognized for her assemblage work: she received the 2009 NAACP Freedom Fund Award, was recognized arsenic the 2019 Woman of Excellence by the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Eta Zeta Sigma Alumnae Chapter, and was honored by the Maryland General Assembly successful 2020 with an Official Citation for her enactment connected behalf of Franklin United Methodist Church and her dedication to advocating for Southern Anne Arundel County.

A committee of assemblage residents take outstanding women each twelvemonth from a database of nominees who unrecorded and/or oregon enactment in Anne Arundel County. Anne Arundel is the lone jurisdiction successful the State of Maryland to celebrate Hamer’s representation with awards of this nature.

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“We are surviving close present successful a satellite that is warring for alteration connected galore levels, from societal unrest successful our cities, to expansive planetary crises,” said erstwhile Sen. Mikulski, a 2009 Hamer honoree.