37th Annual MLK Commemorative Luncheon Souvenir Journal

The Orlando Mayor's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission would like to thank our 2023 Major Sponsors

January 13, 2023

Dear Community Partners, Sponsors, and Supporters:

On behalf of the men of Delta Xi Lambda (DXL) Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the Hankins Johnson Education Foundation (HJEF), Inc., welcome to our 37th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Luncheon. We are honored you have chosen to support the foundation and our various programs.

Proceeds from the Luncheon will help us reach our 2023 goal to award $50,000 in college scholarships. Additionally, the Luncheon funds our Young Men of Distinction (YMOD) mentoring program and provides support to other educational/community service initiatives of our Foundation. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $350,000 in college scholarships, sponsored 300+ YMODs, supported Scouting and Head Start to Literacy Initiative, and other programs to benefit youth in the Central Florida community.

We awarded $31,500 in scholarships last year. We could not have done that without your support! Your support helps us to continue our legacy of developing leaders and promoting academic excellence while providing service and advocacy for the Central Florida community.

Thank you to our friends, community partners, and sponsors, for your support. We encourage each of you to follow in the footsteps of Dr. King and our honorees by giving back and to always keep the dream alive.

Congratulations to our 2023 Drum Major Honorees and Scholarship Recipients. We are grateful for your many contributions to our community and academic excellence.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Davis

Jermaine Patterson

Benjamin Garcia & Robert Harvey

HJEF Chair

DXL Chapter President

2023 MLK Leadership Series Chairs

January 12, 2023

As Mayor of the City of Orlando, I am proud to help welcome you to the 37th Annual MLK Commemorative Luncheon. The luncheon is taking place just days before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.

Each year, this event provides our community with the opportunity to come together to reaffirm our collective commitment to creating a more equitable, inclusive Orlando for every person. We also get to celebrate the achievements of young residents and the support from our community that helps them continue to their education.

On behalf of the entire Orlando City Council, our City of Orlando team members and Orlando Mayor’s MLK Commission, I want to thank the board of directors of the Hankins-Johnson Education Foundation, Inc., as well as the officers and members of the Delta Xi Lambda Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Your work to advance Dr. King’s principles of service, scholarship and love for all continue to make a difference in our city. Orlando is fortunate to have the dedication of the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, who are developing leaders, promoting academic excellence and building a stronger community for all who call our community home.

I must also recognize the contributions of our MLK Commission. Through their efforts, the City of Orlando works to promote Dr. King’s ideals by supporting many non-profit organizations that plan and present celebratory events throughout the holiday week. Because of the commitment of commission members and the partnership of outstanding sponsors, there are several events that residents can participate in both in person and virtually. I encourage you to visit orlando.gov/MLK for a schedule of events.

Thank you for participating in the annual luncheon and for all that you do for our community.

Sincerely,

Buddy Dyer Mayor

Alpha

Phi

Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated & The

Present Our

Drum Major Honorees

“….If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace prize- that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I’d like for somebody to say that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to Love somebody. I want you to say that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that. I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind…”

Hankins / Johnson Education Foundation, Inc.

Excerpt from the Drum Major Instinct sermon delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta Georgia, February 4, 1968

BUSINESS

Marcia Owens Assistant Principal Apopka High School

John Rivers, CEO 4R Restaurant Group & 4Roots Farm

Sonya Hill Director of Head Start Orange County

Regina Hill Commissioner City of Orlando District 5

Clarence O. Wilkerson Sr. Scholarship

Clarence was born and raised in Kissimmee, Florida and his educational journey began there where he was a graduate of Kissimmee High School. The value of having a quality education was instilled in him at a very young age.

Clarence began his teaching career as a Science Professor at the Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, FL. He later moved to Orlando and dedicated many years to his Central Florida community, educational and professional organizations. Clarence retired from the Orange County Public School System in 1994 where he devoted 38 ½ years to the system as a Science teacher and whereas 27 ½ of those years were spent at Walker Middle School.

His most notable educational recognition is where the administration and community of Walker Middle School, along with the Orange County School Board, named the new science building at Walker Middle School, “The Clarence Wilkerson Science Building” in his honor for his dedication and commitment to the students that he taught. Mr. Wilkerson has been recognized by many organizations for outstanding service including the National Education Association, Orange County School Board, Orange County Teacher’s Association, City of Orlando’s Black History Award Recipient, Florida Teacher’s Association and in 2012 he received a “Gift of Teaching Award” from the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. Beta Xi Chapter.

During a City of Orlando Council meeting, myself and other City Commissioners had the honor to recognize Clarence for serving over 57 ½ years as a sports official, officiating football and basketball. He was inducted in 2008, as one of several officials inducted into the “First Class” of Central Florida Official’s Association’s Hall of Fame.

Along with his remarkable list of accomplishments and activities, Clarence’s most beloved organization was his Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He was recognized by Orlando’s Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for over 65 years of lifetime service and was an active member of his chapter up until his passing in 2020. As a long-time educator, he truly believed and stressed the value of education in all of his students. Clarence believed strongly that education is the best legacy that can be passed on to a child. For in his classroom, he would always tell his students that no one can take away your power of ‘having knowledge”.

So today, the Wilkerson Family, Mildred, Clarice and Clarence Jr. are honoring his wishes of rewarding those deserving students in the Central Florida community. It is through Clarence’s wishes that they have created the Clarence O. Wilkerson Sr. Scholarship Foundation and have made a personal financial commitment at his request to award college scholarship funds to current High School Seniors

Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Luncheon

Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie is the new interim General Secretary/President of the National Council of Churches representing 37 communions, 100,000 churches and 30 million people. She is also the 117th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is the first female elected to episcopal office in the more than the two-century-old AME Church and is the first female to serve as President of the Council of Bishops and President of the General Board.

Bishop McKenzie has served as a Presiding Prelate in the 18th Episcopal District, in Southern Africa, the 13th Episcopal District which includes Kentucky and Tennessee and the 10th Episcopal District, the state of Texas. While serving in Texas, she also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Paul Quinn College, Dallas, Texas which experienced exponential growth including the renovation of the Richard Allen Chapel and the new Trammell Crow Life, Living and Learning dormitory complex that includes a new-state-of-the-art gymnasium. She also established two nonprofits which raised funds outside of tithes and offerings for church and community projects in two of her districts.

Bishop McKenzie, serves the National Council of Churches after recently retiring from active service in the AME Church at the 51st Quadrennial session of the General Conference in 2021. She is also serving at Payne Theological Seminary, Wilberforce, Ohio, working on documentaries. She has been the visionary behind five documentaries, four of them in The Anvil series, of the Council of Bishops serving as producer, executive producer and senior editor. The newest documentary, AME Next, was released in early 2022.

Characterized as “an electrifying preacher”, Bishop McKenzie continues to preach and teach globally as well as serve as a workshop/seminar instructor for congregations, corporations and a variety of organizations on the topics of women, leadership, spirituality, and self-care.

Bishop McKenzie has been active in social justice issues for more than three decades. She was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama to be on the inaugural White House Commission of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership. This group worked on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs. She was named by Huffington Post in 2014 as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women Religious Leaders in the World.

She is the founder of Selah Leadership Encounters for Women, a wraparound multi-disciplinary approach to resourcing women who want to level up their spiritual, professional and personal lives. In this COVID era, Selah, The Home Edition has been streamed on Facebook and YouTube. A new edition, Selah Read debuted virtually in February, 2022.

Bishop McKenzie is the author of six books including Not Without a Struggle and Journey to the Well. Her newest book is The Big Deal of Taking Small Steps to Move Closer to God. The book shows how to develop a stronger relationship with God with a more effective Christian lifestyle by taking small steps that lead to big changes. Download the Book Club Guide from her App Praycation.

Bishop McKenzie founded Kerygma LLC, sixteen years ago to “Tell stories too important not to be told” producing her first documentary Survivor Stories which aired on TV One. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, Howard University, School of Religion and has an earned doctorate from United Theological Seminary.

Bishop McKenzie is the National Chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. the largest predominantly African American sorority in the world. She is the widow of former NBA player, Dr. Stan McKenzie, the mother of three adult children and “Nina” to three grandchildren.

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Congratulations to the Delta XI Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. & the I.S. HankinsF.A. Johnson Education Foundation in celebration of the 37th Annual MLK Commemorative Luncheon. We salute your achievements to epitomize Dr. King’s Legacy and Dream through elevating our youth to greatness!

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McCoy Federal Credit Union commends the I.S. Hankins/F.A. Johnson Education Foundation for your years of college scholarship support to local students.

McCoy Federal’s dedicated service embodies the Credit Union philosophy of “People Helping People.”

For over 65 years, we have assisted our Members to achieve their financial goals and dreams.

Visit one of our 14 branches, go to McCoyfcu.org or call (407) 855-5452 to discover the advantages of McCoy Federal’s full range of products and services!