Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 12-21-18

Black Excellence
Barack Obama Receives RFK Human Rights Ripple Of Hope Award in NYC
Memorial Park To Be Built Commemorating Huntsville, Alabama’s 1st Public School For African Americans
According to the Wash- ington Post, Former Presi- dent Barack Obama was honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Rip- ple of Hope Award during the foundation’s gala in midtown Manhattan December 12th.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I’ve been on this hope kick for a while now. Even ran a couple of cam- paigns on it. Thank you for officially validating my hope credentials,” Obama said during his acceptance speech. Kerry Kennedy, RFK’s daughter and the organiza- tion’s president, presented Obama with the award, which celebrates leaders “who have demonstrated a commitment to social change.” Past recipients in- clude Bono, George Clooney, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and Robert De Niro.
“If we summon our best
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights President Kerry Kennedy presents former President Barack Obama with the foundation’s Ripple of Hope Award at a ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, in New York.
selves, we can inspire others to do the same. It’s easy to succumb to cynicism, the no- tion that hope is a fool’s game,” Obama said.
“When our leaders are content on making up what- ever facts they want, a lot of people have begun to doubt the notion of common ground,” Obama said. “Bobby Kennedy’s life re- minds us to reject such cyni-
cism.”
Also honored with Ripple
of Hope Awards this year were New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Discovery Presi- dent and CEO David Za- slav and Humana CEO Bruce Broussard. Speak- ers included actors Keegan- Michael Key, Alfre Woodard, Alec Baldwin, and journalist Tom Brokaw.
City of Huntsville breaks ground on William Hooper Coun- cill High School Memorial Park
HUNTSVILLE, AL - On Friday, the William Hooper Councill Alumni Associa- tion broke ground on a me- morial park celebrating Huntsville’s first public school for African-Ameri- cans.
Councill High School opened in 1867 and closed in the era of desegregation in the 1960s. The school was named after Dr. William Hooper Councill, a former slave and founder and first president of what would be- come Alabama A&M Univer-
sity. Councill also became a lawyer, newspaper editor, legislator and Alabama Supreme Court justice.
Crews will start work on a memorial park in 2019, on the school’s old site.
Members of the alumni association spoke about what the school means to them.
“We found friendship in William Hooper Councill High School, and we found affection,” said Brenda Chunn, president of the William Hooper Councill Alumni Association.
U. S. Armed Forces All-Female African American WWII Unit Honored With Monument At Fort Leavenworth
6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and the new monu- ment in their honor.
The contributions of over 800 African American women who sorted mail in a segre- gated unit during WWII were recognized last month in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a monument erected in their honor.
“No mail, no morale,” was the motto of the 6888th Cen- tral Postal Directory Battalion,
the U. S. Army’s only all- African American and all-fe- male unit during the Second World War.
Often referred to as the “Six- Triple-Eight,” the unit was made of up 824 enlisted and 31 officer women, who were originally from the Women’s Army Corps, Army Service Forces and Army Air Forces.
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