CrossRoadsNews, February 20, 2016 - Section B by CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

Black History Month February 20, 2016

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Baranco, Thurmond to get Benham Awards for service Attorneys Juanita Powell Baranco and Michael L. Thurmond have been honored with Justice Robert Benham Awards for outstanding service to their community. Baranco, a longtime Lithonia resident, will get the 17th Annual Justice Robert Benham Lifetime Achievement Award. Thurmond, who lives in Stone Mountain, will get the 17th Annual Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Juanita Baranco Service. They are among 12 attorneys and judges who will be recognized on Feb. 23 by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. The Benham Community Service Awards, Michael Thurmond established in 1998, are among the highest recognitions given by the two professional organizations. They are named for Georgia’s first African-American Supreme Court justice, Robert Benham, who hails from Cartersville. Benham is the second AfricanAmerican graduate of the University of

Benham Awards honors Georgia’s first black Justice The Benham Community Service Awards, established in 1998, are among the highest recognitions given by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. They are named for Georgia’s first African-American Supreme Court justice, Robert Benham. He is the second African-American graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law. The awards recognize judges and lawyers from Georgia’s 10 judicial districts who have made outstanding contributions to their communities and demonstrate the positive contributions of members of the bar beyond their legal or official work.

Georgia School of Law. The award recognizes judges and lawyers from Georgia’s 10 judicial districts who have made outstanding contributions to their communities and demonstrate the positive contributions of members of the bar beyond their legal or official work. Baranco, a leader in Atlanta’s business community for years, is well-known for her community and public service that go beyond her practice of law and her business. A much-sought-after inspirational speaker, mentor and role model for young women, she has made a significant impact on her community’s social, political and

ful of black-owned Mercedes dealerships. She serves as the dealership and Smart Center Buckhead’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Before that, she and her husband co-founded the first Baranco dealership in 1978, and she was the executive vice president, COO and legal counsel of Baranco Automotive Group that included Baranco Buick Pontiac-GMC Trucks in Lilburn, Baranco Lincoln-Mercury in Duluth, Acura of Tallahassee and Baranco Acura in Morrow. Born in Washington, D.C., Baranco was raised in Shreveport, La., where she earned her Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate degrees from Louisiana State University. She has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 1977 and is also a member of the American Bar Association and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. Before she went into business, she was as an assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia. In 1995, Baranco became the first African-American female chair of the Georgia Board of Regents. During her tenure, she was considered a “no-nonsense leader.” She opposed dismantling educational programs that included race and affirmative action, and

economic quality. Community service and civic-minded leadership are an integral part of her life. Baranco and her husband and business partner, Gregory, have been married for 46 years. They are the parents of four adult children and have several grandchildren. Baranco has served on an array of local and state government agencies; educational institutions; and museum, corporate and nonprofit boards in Atlanta and across the state. The Barancos and former Ambassador Andrew Young opened Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead in June 2, 2003. It is one of a hand- Please see AWARDS, page B4

National parks highlight black experience Tour Civil War sites, civil rights monuments

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail commemorates the events, people and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama, including the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was flooded with people on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

From the oldest standing black church in the United States to the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, families can celebrate Black History at seven national parks that are highlighting the integral role of African-Americans throughout February. The parks – Boston African American National Historic Site, the Fort Davis National Historic Site, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, George Washington Carver National Monument, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail – are featured at www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/ preserving-history-culture?utm_source=goparks&utm_ medium=email&utm_campaign=goparks2-16. From Civil War sites to civil rights monuments, the National Park Foundation says that these parks provide an essential window into our past this month and year-round.

Boston African American National Historic Site Located in the heart of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, the Boston African American National Historic Site is dedicated to the city’s 19th-century African-American community, which played a key role in the abolition movement. It features 15 historic pre-Civil War structures, including the 1806 African Meeting House, the oldest standing black church in the United States.

Eastern Shore, where she was born.

Fort Davis National Historic Site Founded on the West Texas frontier in 1854, Fort Davis is one of the last remaining examples of a 19th-century U.S. Army fort. It is notable for having housed the Buffalo Soldiers, the all-black cavalry and infantry regiments. Many of the 24 historic buildings that make up Fort Davis National Historic Site have been restored and are open for Fort Davis in West Texas is notable for having housed the Buffalo Soldiers, the all-black cavalry and infantry regiments. daily tours. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Monument This new park honors the importance of the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman (circa 1820-1913), its most famous conductor, who led countless escaped slaves

Dayton Aviation Heritage Historical Park In addition to featuring sites that celebrate Dayton, Ohio, natives Wilbur and Orville Wright, the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park includes the home of accomplished African-American poet and author Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). The Paul Laurence Dunbar House – the first house museum commemorating an African American – is open for guided tours every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

George Washington Carver Monument Missouri’s George Washington Carver National Monument preserves the boyhood home of George Washington to freedom. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monu- Carver (circa 1860-1943). In addition to the 1881 Moses ment, which opened on March 25, 2013, pays tribute to her accomplishments and preserves the landscape of Maryland’s Please see PARKS, page B2

CrossRoadsNews

Black History

February 20, 2016

“Dr. Crumpler broke so many barriers. She needs to be honored as the American original she was.”

Nation’s first black female physician blazed trails to DeKalb By Dr. Melody T. McCloud

Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864. In 1883, she became the first black physician to write a medical textbook and the only female physicianauthor in the 19th century.

In the 1980s, Dr. Runette Flowers, Dr. Rogsbert Phillips and I became the first black female physicians to establish medical practices in DeKalb County for our specialties: pediatrics, general surgery and obstetricsgynecology, respectively. Being the “first” comes with responsibility – also challenges and curiosities. Sometimes there’s even jealousy and naysayers. But the courageously committed rise above it Runette Flowers all, and any challenges we faced pale to those faced by the trailblazing physician Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler. As the Civil War raged in 1864, Rebecca Lee marked her place in history when she became the first black female to Rogsbert Phillips graduate from medical school in the United States. She received an M.D. degree from the New England Female Medical College, now Boston University School of Medicine, which is also my alma mater. This month, Boston University is celebrating the life of this pioneering black woman physician with the unveiling of an exhibit in her honor. Crumpler’s story speaks to the importance of role models, courage and conquering challenges. Raised by an aunt who provided care to the sick, an imprint was made on Crumpler. At 21, young Rebecca moved to Massachusetts and worked for eight years as a nurse.

“There must be a seismic shift of focus from what I call ‘being busy with a whole lot of nothing’ – social media, sports, hip-hop and, yes, crime – to an emphasis on science, technology, electronics and math.” Dr. Melody T. McCloud

2346 Candler Road Decatur, GA 30032 404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007

www.CrossRoadsNews.com editor@CrossRoadsNews.com

The Black History Month Special Section is a publication of CrossRoadsNews, Atlanta’s award-winning weekly newspaper. Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker Graphics Editor Curtis Parker Reporter Jennifer Ffrench Parker Copy Editor Brenda Yarbrough CrossRoadsNews is published every Saturday by CrossRoadsNews, Inc. We welcome articles on neighborhood issues and news of local happenings. The opinions expressed by writers and contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, nor those of any advertisers. The concept, design and content of CrossRoadsNews are copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without . the written permission of the publisher © 2016 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

Physicians noted her dedication, skills and intellect. Armed with their letters of recommendation, Rebecca Lee applied and was admitted to the New England Female Medical College in 1860. She graduated from medical school, married Arthur Crumpler and worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau in Richmond, Va., which was established by Congress in 1865 to help repair Civil War-torn communities. Crumpler provided medical care to thousands of recently freed slaves who were

routinely denied medical care by white physicians. She endured very harsh conditions, disparaging comments and intense discrimination by most fellow physicians. Some administrators would not readily grant her hospital privileges, and many pharmacists would not honor her prescriptions. Some people wisecracked that “the M.D. behind her name stood for nothing more than ‘Mule Driver.’” In 1869, Crumpler returned to Boston

and opened her practice. In 1883, she blazed another trail, becoming the first black physician to write a medical textbook and the only female physician-author in the 19th century. Her book, titled “A Book of Medical Discourses in Two Parts,” is a reference on women and children’s health. Today, blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but a 2014 report of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Diversity in Physician Workforce Facts and Figures shows that only 4 percent of the more than 834,000 physicians in the United States are black. Given that ethnic health care disparities abound and it is mostly black and other minority physicians who provide care to underserved, underprivileged patient populations, the dearth of black physicians is palpable and problematic. It is not that today’s black youth lack the intellect to become medical professionals, but there must be a seismic shift of focus from what I call “being busy with a whole lot of nothing” – social media, sports, hip-hop and, yes, crime – to an emphasis on science, technology, electronics and math. Visible role models are important. As a black female who grew up as a poor, latchkey kid in a single-parent home, the odds were against me. But I had another “first” black woman: my then-pediatrician, Dr. Doris Wethers. I also had a self-determination to rise above formidable circumstances. It is possible to overcome and to blaze new trails: In 1985, I became the first black female to establish an obstetrics and gynecology practice in DeKalb County, and only the third to do so in metro Atlanta. Crumpler’s courage and legacy continue to inspire. In 2012, 880 black women graduated from American medical schools, compared to only 517 black males, who also lag behind Hispanic male physicians (766 graduates in 2012). “Dr. Crumpler broke so many barriers. She needs to be honored as the American original she was,” states Dr. Douglas Hughes, Boston University School of Medicine’s associate dean of academic affairs. We can honor Crumpler’s legacy with new, vibrant generations of black physicians. Her legacy deserves it, communities need it, and the nation and world need to see it. It is past time. Dr. Melody T. McCloud is author of “Living Well: The Black Woman’s Guide to Health, Sex and Happiness.” She is affiliated with

African-Americans’ integral role displayed year round PARKS,

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Carver House, the monument includes more than 200 acres of rolling hills and forests, where Carver’s early connection with nature and agriculture took root. When it was dedicated in 1943, it was the first national monument for an AfricanAmerican and also the first honoring a nonpresident.

Tuskegee Airmen Historic Site In the 1900s, African-Americans’ struggle for equality extended to the U.S. military, where opportunities were limited by quotas, exclusion and racial discrimination. Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site offers a tribute to the nearly 1,000 black World War II pilots who were the first to enter the Army Air Corps. Activities include museum exhibits, films, more than 20 wayside exhibits, and annual aviation events.

A new park honors the The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site pays tribute to the nearly Underground Railroad and 1,000 black World War II pilots. conductor Harriet Tubman.

voting until the 1960s. On March 7, 1965, nonviolent protesters who sought the right to vote set out across the Edmund Pettus Bridge Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail and were met by brutal violence from state Jim Crow laws prevented the vast major- troopers and the local Sheriff ’s Department ity of African-Americans in Alabama from volunteers. The attack became known as

Bloody Sunday. The 54-mile Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail was established by Congress in 1996 to commemorate the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama.

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CrossRoadsNews

February 20, 2016

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This month, XFINITY® X1 brings you iconic Black lms and the actors behind the characters we love — those that inspire, make

us laugh and even those we love to hate. From the many vibrant characters of Oscar® winner Whoopi Goldberg to brand new faces, join us as we discover the next “Greatest Of All Time.”

Plus, watch “For the Love,” a special 5-part video that takes a personal look at what drives Hollywood’s best and brightest stars to do what they do. Catch this series, produced by the American Black Film Festival, and more, at CelebrateBlackTV.com and with XFINITY On Demand.™

X1 will change the way you experience Black film.

Black History

CrossRoadsNews

February 20, 2016

“I hope this stamp will inspire every American to learn more about this uplifting man.”

AME Church founder Richard Allen remembered forever Richard Allen, who bought his freedom from slavery, founded the AME Church and became its first bishop, now has a Forever stamp honoring him. The U.S. Postal Service dedicated the 39th stamp in its Black Heritage series to Allen at a Feb. 2 Black History Month ceremony at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Allen in Philadelphia. More than 40,000 people petitioned the Postal Service to honor Allen, who lived from 1760 to 1831. The Postal Service launched the Black Heritage series in 1978 with a stamp honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman. It also honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Banneker, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Mary McLeod Bethune, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Hattie McDaniel, Ella Fitzgerald, John H. Johnson, Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm. The newest stamp features Allen’s portrait from an 1876 print from the Library Compa-

ny of Philadelphia’s collection titled “Bishops of the A.M.E. Church.” Its issue coincides with the 200th anniversary of Allen’s founding of the AME Church, considered one of t he mo st important inst itut ions in African-American life, and Allen’s election and consecration as the AME Church’s first bishop. Joshua D. Colin, Postal Service vice president for Eastern Area Operations, called Allen “a man of boundless stature, courage and determination.” “I hope this stamp will inspire every American to learn more about this uplifting

man,” he said. Allen was in his 20s when he purchased his freedom from slavery and went on to become one of the most important AfricanAmerican leaders of his era. After making a name for himself as a traveling minister throughout the midAtlantic, he was asked to preach to his fellow African-Americans at a Methodist church in Philadelphia. He quickly rose to prominence as a civic leader and co-founded an organization to help blacks in need. He rallied black Philadelphians to serve as aid workers during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic and prepared the black community to defend the city during the War of 1812. Eager to establish an independent African-American church, Allen purchased an old blacksmith’s shop and moved it to land he owned at Philadelphia’s Sixth and Lombard streets. Bethel Church was dedicated in 1794 and soon attracted hundreds of members,

but Allen spent years in conflict with white church leaders who sought to assert their control over the congregation. At one point, they tried to sell the building out from under him, but Allen, a successful businessman, was able to buy it back at auction. After a campaign that included sit-ins by African-Americans and a judgment by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the congregation secured its independence. In 1816, Allen summoned other black Methodist leaders to Philadelphia, where together they founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church and elected and consecrated Allen as its first bishop. Today, Mother Bethel stands on the site where Allen converted the old blacksmith’s shop more than 200 years ago, and the AME Church now boasts more than 2.5 million members. For more information, visit http://amechurch.com/bishop-richard-allen-stamp and https://about.usps.com/news/nationalreleases/2016/pr16_003.htm.

Parade celebrates heritage, culture

Panel to explore ‘The Atlanta Way’

The Greenforest Christian Academy Marching Band will join entertainers, dignitaries and celebrities and corporate, civic and nonprofit groups in the 2016 Black History Month Parade on Feb. 27 in Atlanta. Students from the Decatur-based school will be part of the parade, which celebrates the culture, heritage, history and accomplishments of black/ African-American people in the United States and Greenforest Christian Academy’s Marching Band will take part in the worldwide. 2016 Black History Month Parade on Feb. 27 in Atlanta. The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. from the Martin Luther King Jr. spoken word artists, speakers, and vendors National Historic Site in the historic Sweet from noon to 6 p.m. Auburn District. It will travel east along AuThe King National Historic Site is at burn Avenue to Boulevard, south to Decatur 450 Auburn Ave. at the corner of Jackson Street, west to Peachtree Street, then north Street. For more information, email info@ on Peachtree, terminating at Woodruff Park, blackhistorymonthparade.com, visit www. where a pre-parade festival and post-parade blackhistorymonthparade.com or call 404ceremony will include history, music and 478-7820.

Stone Mountain resident and Citizens Trust Bank Chief Credit Officer Frederick Daniels will discuss CTB’s impact at “The Atlanta Way” on Feb. 22 at the Center for Civil and Human Rights. CTB, founded in Frederick Daniels 1921, is the first black-owned bank in Atlanta to become a member of the FDIC

in 1934. The 6:30-to-8:30 p.m. discussion will explore the Atlanta community’s impact in Black History. It includes ex-mayoral aide Clara Axam; Julius Hollis, ex-vice president of Air Atlanta, the first African-American airline; civil rights leader Lonnie King; Donata Russell Major, Herman J. Russell Foundation; and Andrea Young, Andrew Young Foundation. 11Alive’s Blayne Alexander moderates. Visit www.civilandhumanrights.org.

AAHGS Symposium on Reconstruction Historians, archivists and education specialists will discuss the years immediately following the Civil War on Feb. 27 at the National Archives at Atlanta. The symposium, “The Enduring Chronicle: Reconstruction and the Promise of Freedom,” takes place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is open to the public – register at www.aahgsatl.org. The annual program, held in partnership with the Metro Atlanta Chapter of

AAHGS, celebrates documents relating to Black History held at the archives. Joel Walker, the archives’ education specialist, said the symposium will explore a time when the hope and promise of a better life seemed within the grasp of AfricanAmericans but turned out to be a time of uncertainty, disappointment, and betrayal that led to the oppressive era of Jim Crow. The archives is at 5780 Jonesboro Road in Morrow. Visit www.archives.gov/Atlanta.

Honorees rack up accolades for community and public service AWARDS,

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the board experienced increased national pre-eminence for its sweeping reforms and innovative higher education policies. A Georgia State University Business Hall of Famer, Baranco has made the Georgia Trend magazine’s annual list of the “100 Most Influential Georgians” numerous times. Her business and community service awards include the Dow Jones Co. award for entrepreneurial excellence, the Trumpet Award for entrepreneurial excellence, the Atlanta Business League’s Entrepreneur of the Year, the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s DECCA Award, the YWCA’s Women of Achievement Award, and the Atlanta History Center’s “Defining Women in Atlanta Life” Award. She also has been featured in Essence Magazine as one of Atlanta’s “Women on the Move.” In DeKalb County, Baranco supports the Scottdale Child Development Center, Project Impact DeKalb County, Partners in Education, and the Pierre Toussaint House. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and the Atlanta Chapter of Links Inc. and is active in Saints Peter and Paul Church, where she sings in the choir.

Thurmond’s ‘Midas touch’ Thurmond, an attorney with the nation-

ally known civil trial practice firm Butler Wooten Cheeley & Peak LLP, is also an author, lecturer and public servant. He is a former DeKalb Schools superintendent, Georgia labor commissioner, and director of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services. Thurmond, a sharecropper’s son from Sandy Creek in Athens-Clarke County, graduated with honors from Paine College with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and religion. He earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina’s School of Law. He also has completed the Political Executives program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. For more than three decades, Thurmond, who in 1986 became the first African-American elected to the Georgia General Assembly from Clarke County since Reconstruction, has made public service to Georgians his professional priority. Supporters call him the man with the “Midas touch” because of the successes he has had in his professional and public service life. In the Legislature, Thurmond wrote major legislation that provided more than $250 million in tax relief to Georgia’s senior citizens and working families. During his tenure at DFCS, he directed Georgia’s historic transition from welfare to

work and created the innovative Work First program, helping more than 90,000 welfaredependent Georgia families move into the work force, saving more than $100 million in tax dollars that were reinvested in child care, training and other support services. During his three terms as Labor commissioner, Thurmond improved customer service and efficiency and transformed the state’s unemployment offices into state-ofthe-art Career Centers focused on getting jobless Georgians back to work. He also directed construction of the $20 million school for youths with disabilities at the historic Roosevelt Institute in Warm Springs. Thurmond was appointed DeKalb Schools superintendent in February 2013 when the district was facing a crisis of leadership and potential loss of accreditation. In two-and-a-half years, he helped stabilize the school system, restored the confidence of parents and taxpayers, and put the district on a solid path to full accreditation and financial solvency. He cut the district’s legal fees, turned a $14 million deficit into an $80 million surplus, helped increase graduation rates to 62 percent from 57 percent, eliminated furlough days for teachers, and established a $10.25 per hour minimum wage for the district. He also set aside $10 million to reestablish a pretax employee contribution

retirement program, awarded cost-of-living increases, and set aside $500,000 for a boardapproved district curriculum – something the district has not had in 15 years. Thurmond, who received the AthensClarke County NAACP 2000 Freedom Fund Award, was named one of Georgia Trend Magazine’s “100 Most Influential Georgians” in 2014. He was inducted into the Gate City Bar Hall of Fame in 2015. Thurmond, who writes history books, is a member of the Board of Curators of the Georgia Historical Society. He is a recipient of the Georgia Historical Society’s Lilla Hawes Award, and the Georgia Center for the Book listed his latest book – “Freedom: Georgia’s Antislavery Heritage, 1733-1865” – among the 25 Books All Georgians Should Read. Thurmond and his wife, Zola, have a daughter, Mikaya. They are members of the Ebenezer Baptist Church West of Athens. The State Bar of Georgia is at 104 Marietta St. N.W. in Atlanta. The Justice Robert Benham Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For more information and to register, contact Nneka Harris Daniel at nneka@ cjcpga.org or 404-225-5040.