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NATIONAL
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Black Women Heralded, Truth Remembered at NCBW Annual Brunch
by Mercia Williams-Murray
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - “Celebrating Truth: The Year of the Black Woman” was the theme of the 24th Annual Awards Brunch of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW) held Sun., Sept. 28. The brunch not only emphasized heralding the Black woman, but also contributing to the Sojourner Truth memorial, which will open in the Capitol Building this year.
The NCBW awarded the “Good Brother Award” to three African-American men who actively work to make a difference in the community. Rev. Delman Coates was noted for his “Enough is Enough” campaign, which focuses on eradicating misogynistic messages in gangster rap music. “If we’re going to put a stop to this, it’s going to have to start with the church,” Coates said. “We’re going to continue to fight that Black women be respected in the public square.”
Washington Wizards all-star Caron Butler was represented by his wife Andrea in his absence, as the team has begun training camp in Richmond. NCBW Chair, E. Faye Williams, said that like so many other young Black men, Butler was in trouble with the law during his youth, but has turned his life around. Andrea Butler relayed Caron Butler’s ‘3D’s’ to the audience. “Dedication, determination and discipline,” she said, “because those are the three things that have made him the person he is today.” Strategy marketer Payne Brown was also honored. “There is no greater love, no deeper love, no wider love than the love of a Black woman,” he said.
D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry greeted the audience, and civil rights legend Dr. Dorothy Height received a standing ovation. Also receiving an ovation was actress Bern Nadette Stanis, best known for the role of “Thelma Evans” on the 1970s sitcom “Good Times.”
NAACP board director Ophelia Averitt recognized the NCBW members who traveled from around the country for the brunch, saying, “We are all women. We have to empower one another.”
Sheryl Underwood came to represent Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and support the NCBW. “Their cause is our cause,” she said. Entertainers, she said, should take time out to honor the unsung heroes, the “names people don’t know” such as that of Height. “It’s such an honor for me to be here,” Underwood added.
Dr. Sakiliba Mines discussed the “State of the Health of Black Women.” Blacks, Mines said, suffer disproportionately from lupus, arthritis and other immune diseases in part because of vitamin D deficiency. Black people, Mines said, need to get more sunlight instead of worrying about skin cancer because they have higher levels of melanin. “We are people of the sun,” she said. “Children should also be protected from all the junk out there,” Mines said. “Let’s make sure they get fish oil for their brain, for their heart.” Mines said it is critical for people to cook more and microwave less because of radiation. “Bring health back into your home,” she said. “If you don’t, you’ll be a part of the statistic.”
Also honored was Yvette Cade, who became a household name after being the victim of a very public incident of domestic violence in 2006. Cade’s estranged husband doused her with gasoline and set her on fire at the T-Mobile retailer where she worked in Prince George’s County, Md. Cade survived the attack to become an outspoken advocate for women and domestic abuse survivors. Williams, who once was a victim of domestic violence, said, “Victims are often treated like they are the cause of the problem, but we’re not going to do that anymore.”
Cade said she didn’t think she’d become an activist for domestic violence but thanks God for the opportunity. “I want to thank Sojourner Truth for being a trendsetter in getting Black women the right to vote and not just thinking about herself,” Cade said.
In addition to Cade, Rev. Cheryl Moore, Johnnie Mae Gibson-Bright, G. Jean Davis and Representative Donna Edwards (D-Md., 4th District) received awards. Gibson-Bright was the fifth Black woman to serve in the FBI and only one of two female supervisors at the time. The film “Clean Dirt” is based on her experiences. “Our success is not achieved by us alone,” Gibson-Bright said. “We all rode on the backs of someone else.”
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