Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 4-20-18

Local
Founder Of Trumpet Awards Visits Tampa
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Features Writer
When Ms. Xernona Clayton moved to Atlanta in 1965, she set about embedding herself in civil rights work and soon was working at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Working alongside Dr. King, Ms. Clayton helped plan and or- ganize marches. But she herself did- n’t march, a fact that didn’t escape Dr. King’s attention for long.
After setting up the logistics for a march, Dr. King insisted that Ms. Clayton march.
“He said ‘come on and run with me,” she said. “By the way, I want you to march.”
Ms. Clayton’s response, “I’ve been marching all the time,” eventu- ally became the title of her 1991 au- tobiography.
Last Thursday, the Atlanta resi- dent and renowned civil rights ac- tivist, author, television host, media executive, and confidante of Dr. King shared stories about both her
MS. XERNONA CLAYTON ...May bring Trumpet Awards event to Tampa
long life and career longevity to an audience of about 100 people at Robert Saunders Library.
Ms. Clayton’s visit to Tampa commemorates the 50th anniversary
of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom she worked under at the Southern Christian Leader- ship Conference. Dr. King was as- sassinated on April 4, 1968.
Ms. Clayton began her remarks with a special message for the stu- dents from neighboring Booker T. Washington Elementary School.
“Your future is ahead of you,” she said. “I’m encouraging you to stay in school and pay attention.”
Ms. Clayton said it was a “priv- ilege” to work with Dr. King, who “practiced what he preached.”
However, the celebration of Dr. King’s life and his work a half cen- tury after his death is “unusual,” she said.
“The people die and they bury them and in a short time, you forget them,” she said. “You have to ask ‘what kind of life did he live’? He lived the kind of life that is exem- plary.”
Ms. Clayton, who will celebrate an 88th birthday this year, said she is thankful to have lived a blessed life.
“A reporter asked me how I man-
age bad days,” she said. “I said ‘I don’t have bad days.’ Every day that I wake up, I realize that I am she who is awake. I’m having a good day.”
Ms. Clayton, the first Black woman to host her own talk show in the South, is the founder of the Trumpet Awards, which honors African American achievement in various fields. No matter the en- deavor, her work is always done with “charm and quiet strength,” said Attorney Carolyn House Stewart, Ms. Clayton’s sorority sister.
“She’s a trailblazer and a North star,” said Atty. Stewart, the 28th International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Prior to her speech, Ms. Clay- ton visited Perry Harvey Sr., Park where she viewed a mural featuring King, and the senior housing at En- core, a mixed-used redevelopment district adjacent to the park.
Ms. Clayton said she will return to the city later in the year.
“I’m impressed with Tampa,” she said.
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