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Bay Area Students Headed To Baltimore For National NAACP ACT-SO Competition
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The NAACP’s 108th Annual Convention be- gins with the NAACP ACT-SO (Academic, Cul- tural, Technical and Scientific Olympics for high school students) final competition and awards.
Five students from the Bay Area will be leav- ing on Wednesday heading to Baltimore, MD to compete, some in more than 1 category. Dr. Jawan Ayer-Cole, Chairperson, said the com- petitors will be joined by 7 other students, includ- ing officers of the NAACP Tampa Youth Council. “They will be there as observers,” she said.
ACT-SO registration begins on Thursday, July 20th, and the competitions will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center on Friday, July 21st from 9 a. m. to 7 p. m. The ACT-SO Awards Cer- emony will take place on Sunday, July 23rd at 12:30p.m. and will feature special guests.
The 5 Bay Area participants are: Aaliyah Harris, a student at Middleton High School, who will compete in Architecture; Ming Wash- ington, recent Blake High grad, who will be at- tending Agnes Scott College (Atlanta), will compete in Poetry Performing and Poetry Writ- ten; Destinee Fillmore, recent Blake grad, headed to Spelman College, will compete in Busi- ness Entrepreneur and Sculpture; Daijahnah White, Harris School of the Arts in Lakeland, will compete in Vocal Classical; and Mahalia Brookes, a recent Blake graduate, who will be attending Marymount Manhattan in New York, will compete in Contemporary Dance.
AALIYAH HARRIS ...Architecture
Finances Needed For Trip
Although they’re headed for Baltimore on Wednesday, James Cole, NAACP Youth Coun- cil Advisor and Branch Youth Works Chair, stated that the group is short on the funds needed for the trip. “We tried to get a $5,000 grant, but were denied. So now we’re trying to raise as muchaswecan,ormywifeandIwillhavetogo into our personal finances. That will limit what we need to do for the kids,” he explained.
Anyone wishing to donate to the cause may go to naacptampayouth.org.
The youth portion of the convention starts on Sunday, July 23rd with the Youth Advisors Orien- tation and welcome session. Several educational workshops will be held from Sunday, the 23rd to Tuesday, the 25th.
DESTINEE FILMORE
...To compete in Business Entrepreneur and Sculpture
DAIJAHNAH WHITE ...Vocal Classical
MAHALIA BROOKES
...To compete in Contemporary Dance
MING WASHINGTON ...Poetry Performing and Written
Highway Renaming Honors Civil Rights Activist
ATTORNEY DARRYL ROUSON
State Senator
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
In February of this year, State Senator Darryl Rou- son passed a bill in the Sen- ate to have a portion of Interstate 375 renamed in honor of an African American pioneer. Last Thursday, the last hurdle was accomplished when members of the St. Pe- tersburg City Council gave their approval to renaming the highway in honor of Mrs. C. Bette Wimbish.
Senator Rouson said, “When I looked around there were several buildings named after African American men. But there were only 3 honor- ing Black women. It’s shame- ful, but it seems we’ve forgotten about our women.”
He selected Mrs. Wim- bish because of the list of contributions made during her lifetime to St. Petersburg and to the State of Florida.
After Mrs. Wimbish graduated from Gibbs High School, she applied for admis- sion to the University of Pennsylvania. However, she was rejected because of her race. She continued her edu- cation at Florida A & M Col- lege for Negroes at the age of 16. She graduated in 1944 with a Bachelor’s Degree.
Mrs. Wimbish launched a career as a Physical Educa- tion teacher while her hus- band, Dr. Ralph Wimbish, pursued a medical degree at Meharry Medical College. She was later an employee in the Hillsborough County Public School System.
Several years later, Mrs. Wimbish applied to attend Stetson Law School, but was once again rejected. She re- turned to Florida A & M Uni- versity’s School of Law and graduated in two years.
ATTORNEY C. BETTE DAVIS WIMBISH 3/24/1924 --- 11/30/2009
She became the first African American woman to practice law in Pinellas County.
The couple became active in Civil Rights issues. Dr. Wimbish served as the Pres- ident of the St. Petersburg NAACP and fought school de- segregation after the Brown Decision.
In 1960, Mrs. Wimbish unsuccessfully ran for an at- large seat on the Pinellas County Board of Public In- struction. That same year, she and Theodore Floyd partic- ipated in Sit-ins at the William Henry lunch counter. They were refused service and the lunch counter closed.
After her husband died of a heart attack at the age of 45, Mrs. Wimbish opened her own law firm. She ran for City Council in 1969 and won.
She went on to serve as Vice Mayor from 1971 to 1973. In 1975, Governor Reuben Askew appointed Mrs. Wimbish as Assistant Secre- tary of Commerce, making her the second highest paid woman in state government. She also served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce.
Mrs. Wimbish retired in 2003, and died on November 30, 2009, at the age of 85.
Mrs. Wimbish was a member of several organiza- tions including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., National Council of Negro Women, NAACP, National Urban League, the Florida Bar Asso- ciation, and the National Bar Association.
She was also recognized in the “Who’s Who Among Black Americans,” “Who’s Who In American Politics,” “Florida Women of Distinction,” and “Outstanding Women of Florida.”
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