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NAACP fundraiser promotes activism
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- In a room filled with glitter, balloons and bows, he walked to the podium and posed a question. Where do things stand for the black community? asked Leon Russell, human rights officer for Pinellas County and keynote speaker at the local NAACP's annual fundraiser on Saturday. More black lawmakers are in office, Russell said. More black students attend college. But Russell urged the audience to see past the "illusion of inclusion." An enduring achievement gap exists between black and white children, too many blacks are in prison, many blacks live in substandard housing and they have a harder time renting apartments or getting jobs, Russell said. He urged the several dozen people who attended the banquet at the old Moton school to use the local NAACP branch to fight for better lives in Hernando County. "The NAACP is your big dog," Russell said. He asked them to make it a pit bull rather than a scruffy mutt, to make their voices heard at government meetings and commissions and to get their children involved. "It was always the children, the young people, who led the marches," Russell said. The 16th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet, with the theme of "Freedom Under Fire," came at a time when the local NAACP branch is trying to increase its membership and presence in Hernando County. The group has more than 300 paid members now, according to Frankie Burnett, president. Those members are trying to get their friends, relatives and acquaintances to join and want to have 1,000 members by March, Burnett said. "We're going to do it, too," Burnett said. "We are a group for all people. If anyone is mistreated, regardless of race, creed or color, we are here." Also, the local NAACP wants to better train its leaders and will send members to NAACP-sponsored leadership conferences, Burnett said. Women arrived at the banquet in suits or sequined gowns. At least one man wore a tuxedo. Everyone sat at circular tables covered with white cloths, ate baked chicken, rice and buttered rolls, and listened to the program, which included door prizes and a poem read by Courtney Rumala, an honors student at Hernando Christian Academy. She mentioned notable firsts for black people -- including Rosemary Cloud, the first black female fire chief, in Georgia, and locally, Annie Williams, first black elections supervisor in Hernando County. "We move in the power of a mighty past," she repeated throughout her poem, and also urged the audience: "Don't talk about it, be about it." Sheryl Scrivens, a teacher at Brooksville Elementary, sat in the crowd. A longtime Brooksville resident, Scrivens said she wants the local NAACP and other leaders to hire more black teachers at Hernando County schools. Scrivens said she and a physical education coach are the only black teachers at the school, and in some cases, a black child has never before had a black teacher until he or she reaches Scrivens' classroom in the fifth grade. "Students need to see more black role models," Scrivens said. "We understand more about where they come from, and are willing to go to their homes." Burnett said improving education, as well as housing and services for blacks, are among the main goals for the organization. -- Jamie Jones can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
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