Delta Sigma Theta Sorority honored two Selma women at the Margaret Jones Moore and Amelia Boynton Robinson Leadership Luncheon on March 22.
Honored at the luncheon at the Selma Convention Center were Dr. Chinester “CeCe” Crum-Grayson and Kimberly Smitherman.
Dr. Crum-Grayson is the First Lady and Cofounder of Gospel Tabernacle Church of God in Christ. She is also a dean and professor at the Minnesota Graduate School of Theology — Selma campus. Her long list of community activism garnered her this award. The ATAP (all things are possible), a program for at-risk students, was among the programs listed on her list of achievements.
Kimberly Smitherman is the founding partner and CEO of Foot Soldiers Park. She is celebrated for her over 10 years of community activism in Selma. The program states, “She envisions FSP as a driving force in transforming her hometown into a more equitable and empowered community.”
Grassroots organizing and civic engagement are listed as her strong suits. Within her organization, she has developed the Community Engagement Corps, the YOURS program, and the organization’s National Youth Advisory Board (YAB). CEC focuses on voter registration and education. The YOURS (You Own Up to Responsibility & Success) concentrates on youth advocacy, and the YAB empowers and educates youth.
Her award was received by her sister, Latoya Smitherman, and Director of Programs at Foot Soldiers Park Angela Benjamin. Also present were YAB member Madison Sellers and Captain of the FSP Community Engagement Corps Valencia Benjamin.
Several community leaders spoke at the ceremony. State Rep. Prince Chestnut told attendees that “this has been, perhaps, my most difficult year since I have been (in the Alabama Legislature).”
“Something tells me it has something to do with who’s in the White House right now, because I’ve seen a sharp turn in the attitudes of my colleagues,” Chestnut said. He noted that some legislators are filing “oppressive” bills.
“We have to be the ones to lead our people out of this hole,” Chestnut said.
State Sen. Rob Stewart described himself as a “grandchild of the movement; my grandmother was a nurse at Good Samaritan hospital on Bloody Sunday.”
Stewart noted “concentrated efforts in this state to stop us from learning our history, to erase our history. We need to be angry. We need to have righteous indignation.”
The keynote speaker was Dr. Smith-Hatcher, the first woman dean at The University of Alabama School of Social Work and the only Black dean at The University of Alabama. Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. presented her a key to the city.
Other speakers included Selma Alumnae Chapter President and Edgewood Elementary School Principal Krystal J. Dozier and Mrs. Carver Boynton Pearson, the granddaughter of Amelia Boynton Robinson.
The event’s organizers were Althestein Johnson, President Krystal Dozier and Sadie Moss.
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