DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

THE 22ND ANNUALPALM BEACH STATE COLLEGE

ACTIVISM, ADVOCACY AND ALLYSHIP TOWARD EQUALITY

JANUARY 21, 2021

PROGRAMPre-Program Entertainment REFLECTION ON THE LIFE OF

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Video Presentation

11 AMWELCOME, MASTER OF CEREMONIES Velmarie Albertini, Ph.D., Dean, Curriculum

TRUSTEE’S REMARKSWendy S. Link, J.D., Chair, District Board of Trustees

PLEDGE TO THE FLAG (Please stand)

“THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER” Suzanne Galer, DMA, Adjunct Instructor, Music/Musician Quartet (Please stand)

OPENING REMARKS Roger Yohe, Ph.D., Vice President of Academic Affairs

“A Dance with African Drums ” Faith’s Place Centers for the Arts and Education

INTRODUCTION OF GUEST SPEAKER Raphael A. Gutierrez, President, Student Government Association, Lake Worth

KEYNOTE SPEAKERYvette Miley

“Stand Up” by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo, Recorded Performance by Boynton Beach High School Choir

AWARD PRESENTATIONSAva L. Parker, J.D., President, Palm Beach State College

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LEADERSHIP AWARDS RECIPIENTSAlberto R. Leal, J.D. – AlumniMichelle Aldas – StudentRobin Johnson-Blake – Faculty/StaffElvin J. Dowling – IndividualEJS Project – Organization

“LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING” NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM Solo Piano Performance, Stephen Scott, Adjunct Instructor, Jazz Pianist (Please stand)

CLOSING REMARKS Ava L. Parker, J.D., President, Palm Beach State College

12:30 PMQuestion and Answer Discussion with Yvette MileyModerated by Jyrece McClendon, Associate Dean, Boca Raton

“LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING”Lift every voice and singTill earth and heaven ringRing with the harmonies of Liberty;Let our rejoicing riseHigh as the listening skies,Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,Facing the rising sun of our new day begunLet us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,Bitter the chastening rod,Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;Yet with a steady beat,Have not our weary feetCome to the place for which our fathers sighed?We have come over a way that with tears have been watered,We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at lastWhere the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;Thou who has by Thy mightLed us into the light,Keep us forever in the path, we pray.Lest our feet stray from the places, Our God, where we met Thee;Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;Shadowed beneath Thy hand,May we forever stand.True to our GOD,True to our native land.

NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM BY JAMES WELDON JOHNSON

Award-winning journalist Yvette M. Miley serves as SVP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the NBCUniversal News Group and NBC Sports. Her responsibilities include recruiting and retention, training and development, employee engagement, strategic partnerships, and editorial initiatives across all four networks. Since joining MSNBC in July 2009, Miley has held several leadership roles within the news group including SVP for MSNBC and NBC News overseeing weekend, overnight, breaking news and special events programming on MSNBC as well as NBC News’ “Early Today” broadcasts; head of Diversity and Inclusion for NBC News and MSNBC; VP for MSNBC; executive editor of MSNBC Dayside and thegrio.com; and executive-in-charge of the NBC News digital platform NBC OUT, the first LGBTQ news vertical created by a major broadcast media organization. Miley has worked for NBCUniversal for 27 years. Before joining MSNBC and NBC News, Miley was vice president & news director of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale-based NBC owned and operated television station NBC 6/WTVJ in June 2004. In July 2001, Miley was named vice president and news director of the then-owned NBC station, WVTM-NBC 13 in Birmingham, Ala.

Miley is the recipient of many of the industry’s highest honors. She received three Emmy Awards, including an Emmy for the MSNBC and NBC News coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage in 2016; ten Edward R. Murrow Awards; a Society of Professional Journalists Award for her role during coverage of the Marathon Bombing in Boston; a DuPont-Columbia University Award; a George Foster Peabody

Award for coverage of Hurricane Andrew in 1992; and four Associated Press Awards. Miley’s additional accolades include a Pride Stars Award by Adweek in 2020; Distinguished Alumna Award by the President of the University of Florida in 2018; the National Association of Black Journalists’ Chuck Stone Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017; National Press Club recognition for her work as a mentor in 2016; a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Urban League of Palm Beach County in 2013; and the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce’s 2007 Corporate Executive of the Year. She was also named a Distinguished Graduate from the University of Florida in 1997.

Miley is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the National Press Club, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and Online News Association. Her board memberships include ColorComm, the Stonewall Community Foundation, the T. Howard Foundation, the Florida A&M School of Journalism and Graphics Board of Visitors and University of Florida’s College of Journalism Dean Advisory Board.

Miley is a native of Riviera Beach, Fla. and a graduate of Suncoast High School and the University of Florida. > > >

YVETTE MILEYSenior Vice President of DEI, NBCUniversal News Group

From humble beginnings to successful attorney, Alberto R. Leal is the son of two immigrant parents from Latin America and prides himself on the work ethic he was taught from an early age. A native of South Florida, Leal is well aware of the legal challenges facing our community and strives to correct injustices at every opportunity. Specifically, Leal is immensely proud of his vital role in bridging the

internet and technology gap facing the visually impaired community through his advocacy work in prosecuting civil rights injustices under the Americans with Disabilities Act while also providing affordable representation in family law cases to low-income clients.

While Leal believes strongly in the difference his work makes, he is most proud of his philanthropic efforts, namely the founding of The Leal Scholars Program at his alma mater (A.A. ’11), Palm Beach State College, to help low-income students afford a higher

education. The Leal Scholars Program has assisted multiple students in covering the costs of tuition and essential materials during their respective programs of study at PBSC. Leal is also a proud member of the Paradise Club at Florida Atlantic University, which collects donations to assist student athletes during their time at FAU. He has also donated his time to assist elementary school students with the Village of Wellington after-school tutoring program in recent years, and he has volunteered time to assist with operations at Feeding South Florida while also making monthly donations to the organization. The donations have been used to help bridge the nutritional gap faced by many in our community during the current coronavirus pandemic.

Aside from his professional and philanthropic works, Leal takes pride in being a devout family man and Christian. He and his wife, Christina, are members of the local Christ Fellowship church and when unwinding at home, the Leal Family enjoys spending time with their dog, Papo, while preparing for the arrival of their first baby, who is due in August of 2021.

He is president and owner of the Leal Law Firm. In addition to his Associate in Arts degree from PBSC, Leal holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University.

2021 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LEADERSHIP AWARDALUMNI Alberto R. Leal, J.D. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

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Chronic illness has been a part of Michelle Aldas’ life since she was about eight. She was told many times as a child that she was just being lazy and making it up. The pain she felt as a child and then later as a college student was never acknowledged and then a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer came in 2011.

In the past years, her health continued to

decline, and she became lost in the translation of being “normal” to being disabled. Since her cancer diagnosis, her body continued to break down and she admitted defeat in 2017. She hit rock bottom emotionally, mentally, and financially, which led to losing courage and voice for some time and letting the pain and disease take over. In May 2018 she declared her independence from all

the negativity brought on from being sick and decided to act. She founded The Invisible Me Warriors-Chronic Illness Advocates of Palm Beach County. A voice that had been muted, that felt defeated, and had been hidden for seven years is now fighting for others. That voice is strong and a warrior. That voice is her own voice, and she says no one or nothing will ever take it away again. Aldas has traveled to D.C. for the Advocacy Summit benefiting the Arthritis Foundation. Even in a flare-up, she made sure her voice was heard.

Aldas has learned to be proud of the struggle she has survived so far as it has made her a courageous warrior. She is thankful to the people who saw past her disability and illness and pushed her to keep going as a warrior, woman, daughter, friend, lover, and advocate. She’s used her newfound strength to help others seek resources and become a strong voice to advocate for access to care. Now, using mobility aides to get around, she is completing her Associate in Science and Associate in Arts degrees at PBSC and shaping a new career as a graphic designer and multimedia artist. She wants to empower others with her story because once someone helped her do that, her life took a positive sharp turn.

2021 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LEADERSHIP AWARDSTUDENT Michelle Aldas > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

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Elvin J. Dowling is an award-winning author, activist and “architect of change” who is a proud native of West Palm Beach. A staunch advocate of educating future generations of leaders by equipping them with the resources and skills they need to be productive members of society, he has worked to elevate the lives of the “least of these” with unassailable results.

In 2014 and, again in 2015, he was successful in securing two separate grants for $1 million each to conduct mentoring activities for 2,200 at-risk youths in 30 cities as a part of President Barack Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.”

As chairman of the Board for the Palm Beach Harvest Food Bank, Dowling continues to demonstrate his commitment to South Florida children and families through leadership by example.

Just as importantly, as an acclaimed public speaker, mentor and America’s leading advocate for “achieving greatness by embracing change,” Dowling’s book, “License to Live,” has been featured on national and international media outlets, including CNN and National Public Radio, and has been lauded as “an eye-opening and heart-stirring message that sheds light on the truth that your past does not dictate your future.”

Dowling has been recognized on the local, state and national levels for his commitment to advocacy and action, including the Distinguished Alumni Award (Education Foundation of Palm Beach County), Ebony Magazine’s Thirty Leaders of the Future Award, and the Pathfinders Award for Community Service, presented by the Palm Beach Post newspaper. In January 2020, he released his second book, “Still Invisible? Examining America’s Black Male Crisis,” a gripping nonfiction narrative on the challenges facing Black men today. Since its release, “Still Invisible” has become an Amazon Bestseller and was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Additionally, the book has been nominated for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction and U.S. History, the American Book Award, the Carter G. Woodson Book Award, the Florida Book Award, the PEN Open Book Award and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Book Award for General Nonfiction among others.

2021 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LEADERSHIP AWARDINDIVIDUAL Elvin J. Dowling > > > > > > > > > > > >

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2021 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LEADERSHIP AWARDORGANIZATION EJS Project > > > > > > > > >

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The Emanuel Jackson Sr. Project is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to build and empower future leaders. The organization was founded in 2016 by Emanuel “Dupree’’Jackson, Jr. His desire to make a difference in his community inspired him to create an organization that gave power back to the youth.

Jackson dedicated the organization to his late father and honored him by naming the organization after him. The EJS

Project’s mission is rooted in its desire to see every teen succeed, regardless of their zip code. Coming from the very same vulnerable footprint of Delray Beach, Jackson pushed past all the obstacles life brought forth to achieve his goals. The EJS Project believes that if it focuses on youth’s strengths and power this helps them write their own narrative. It also believes that teens deserve equity of opportunity and that strong supportive relationships promote change in individuals, organizations and systems. The EJS Project acknowledges racial discrimination and the barriers it has created in communities of color. It is dedicated to teaching truth, challenging systems, and fighting for its youth’s access to opportunity. It aims to surround youth with as many positive and forward-thinking adults as possible.

2021 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. LEADERSHIP AWARDFACULTY/STAFF Robin Johnson-Blake > > > >

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Robin Johnson-Blake has dedicated 31 years in community services outreach, dual enrollment, and recruitment at Palm Beach State College. In 2018, she became the first director of Community Relations for the College.

In her current role, she provides leadership within the organization and the community,

publicly representing the College, identifying, developing, cultivating and maintaining partnerships and relationships with external agencies and businesses to enhance the College’s brand.

During her tenure at PBSC, has:• managed and led community forums that relate to the needs

and concerns of the communities that the College serves.

• coordinated and worked in partnership on special events and projects liaising between the College and the community

• worked with various socioeconomic diverse populations throughout communities, middle and high schools in Florida, and

• directed, budgeted, and managed nine local, private, state, and federal grant programs.

Prior to her employment at PBSC, she was employed at Florida Atlantic University as the first assistant director for Minority Recruitment (the position created to recruit diverse populations) and as an admissions counselor. In Alabama, she he was an intern for the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission where she surveyed residents in rural areas for economic development improvements.

Throughout her professional career, she believes in strengthening communities for the future educational and economic development of Palm Beach County citizens.

She is actively involved and serves on committees with the Town of Lake Park Diversity Council, Achieve Palm Beach County Parents & Family Engagement Team, Action Alliance for Mental Health, Homeless and Housing Alliance, Boynton Beach Tourism Task Force, Behavioral Health Workforce Pipeline, Refugee Task Force, Teen Leadership Roundtable, St. John Missionary Baptist Church Outreach ministries and other chamber and civil organizations. Johnson-Blake received her Master of Science in Counseling and Guidance from Jacksonville State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Rehabilitation for the Deaf from Talladega College.

She is the wife of Charles Blake, the mother of Alexis and Evan Johnson, and a proud grandmother of two granddaughters, Ciara and Legaci.

PALM BEACH STATE COLLEGE

PAST LEADERSHIP AWARD RECIPIENTS2020Denise Albritton Rocio Montero-MaskSankaranarayana Chandramohan, Ph.D.Frank HaydenYouth Speak Out International

2019Justin Kunzelman Joseph MorelIrving Berkowitz, Ph.D.Vera Rolle FarringtonDress For Success

2018Lynne GassantChristian AllenLouise Aurélien, Ed. D.James GreenLeague of Women Voters of Palm Beach County

2017Rhonda RogersTanzina ChowdhuryKanathy Haney, Ph.D.Rev. Kevin JonesPaul’s Place

2016Ashley TrippRebecca StremelShona CastilloRand Hoch, J. D.Christians Reaching Out to Society, Inc. (CROS Ministries)

2015Delsa Bush, Ph.DDavid CruzDenny AbbotDennis P. Gallon, Ph.D.Florida Immigrant Coalition

2014George GentileEstella PyfromNephtalie JeanPEACE

2013Joseph B. (Jay) Shearouse, III Aileen Josephs, J.D.John CalderaioComprehensive AIDS Program of Palm Beach County, Inc.

2012D’atra Franklin Carlton (Ricky) WadeMark HansenEl Sol - Jupiter’s Neighborhood Resource Center

2011Devin Robinson XAlbert MooreEdith C. BushUrban League of Palm Beach County, Inc.

2010Wilson G. Bradshaw, Ph.D.Erin HayesSharon GillFaith, Hope, Love, Charity, Inc. Stand Down House

2009LaToya G. RickettsC. Ron AllenDelta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., West Palm Beach Alumnae Chapter

2008Freddie Stebbins Jefferson (posthumous)Timothy J. HendersonMolly G. JohnsonCompass, Inc.

2007Reginale DurandisseRoma KapadiaLt. Beverly Elliot MorrisonMartin Luther King, Jr. Coordinating Committee

2006Bishop Harold Calvin RayOfficer Jean-Albert “Johnny” Pun (posthumous) Deputy Lillian “Lee” SutterfieldJavier Rodriguez

2005Bobbi A. Marsh Dr. Joseph DePaolo, Ed.D.Evelyn R. JohnsonCaridad Health ClinicSamuel Bruce McDonald

2004Effie C. Grear, Ed.D. J. Leonard Bruton, Jr.Randy Johnson, Sr. Toward a More Perfect UnionCentex Rooney Construction Co.

2003Addie L. Greene Dr. Barbara C. Matthews, Ph.DASPIRA Palm Beach

2002Clarence E. Anthony Wayne D. BartonLouise E. BuieJohn E. JenkinsBettye J. King, J.D.Robert M. Montgomery, J.D.

2001Idell McLaughlinCharles Spencer PompeyMamie Washington Kendall, J.D. Nancy Parker Wright

PALM BEACH STATE COLLEGE I LAKE WORTH CAMPUS I 4200 CONGRESS AVENUE