Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
This Saturday, July 20, Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, will receive the Alston/Jones Award during the International Civil Rights Center and Museum Gala (ICRCM). This award, named for the museum’s two founders, Guilford County Commissioner Melvin “Skip” Alston and former state Rep. Earl F. Jones, will mark the high point of formal recognition honoring significant contributors to the advancement of civil rights at the gala when the museum and the community commemorate the racial integration of the landmark F.W. Woolworth’s lunch counter in the summer of 1960.
This year, Dr. Chavis has undertaken a role at Duke University as the 2024 Environmental Justice and Racial Equity Fellow. According to the university, the purpose of the position is to connect “the fellow’s contributions in teaching, research, and service with Duke’s larger strategic goals” related to climate change and racial equity, to which he has devoted an array of central endeavors across his career. This includes his service as former director and CEO of the NAACP. As the founder of the National African American Leadership Summit, in 1995 he served as national director and organizer of the “Million Man March” in Washington, D.C.
Currently, he serves as the president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, an organization of more than 200 African American-owned weekly community newspapers in the United States. The Carolina Peacemaker is a member of the NNPA.
As a recipient of the museum’s pinnacle honor, Dr. Chavis replaces the originally announced U.S. Congressman Kweisi M’fume, who has expressed his regrets at being unable to attend the Gala in view of recent developments in the State of Maryland and the attention due from a member of Congress in response to the current electoral situation.
This award carries the name of Melvin “Skip” Alston and Earl F. Jones, the primary organizers in the preservation of the historic F.W. Woolworth’s building and the establishment of the internationally recognized Civil Rights Museum, housed in the landmark, as a memorial to the four N.C. A&T freshmen students who began the Greensboro Sit-Ins. After the non-violent direct action against racial discrimination at the five-and-ten store’s lunch counter was initiated by David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan), and Joseph McNeil, on Feb. 1, 1960, sit-ins continued until July 25, when access to the public accommodation was opened without respect to race.
The fundraising gala will be held at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center on July 20. In addition to Dr. Chavis, museum leaders will bestow awards upon the following individuals. The Hon. William V. Bell, former mayor of the City of Durham. Heather Booth, an activist and strategist focused on racial and women’s equality. The Hon. Dorothy “Dot” Kendall Kearns, the first woman member and chair of the Guilford County Board of Supervisors will also be honored for her long-standing service to the community. Additionally, the Hon. Frankie T. Jones Jr., a civically involved financial legal specialist, who currently serves on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. Yvonne Lyons Cooper-Revell, a Bennett College participant during the 1960 lunch counter sit-ins at the Greensboro Woolworth’s.
The evening will conclude with a prominent DJ and dancing at the Four Seasons Club.
