Thirteen Local Civil and Human Rights Activists to be Honored First Virtual MLK Jr. Awards Program Friday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m.

1/8/2021

Annapolis— The 33rd Annual

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Awards Program will air virtually on Friday, January 15, 2021 at 6 p.m. The program will conclude with a viewing of the award-winning short film, “The Dream Revisited: Civil Rights In Perspective,” followed by a virtual discussion of local leaders and activists, “Is Dr. King’s dream being nurtured in Anne Arundel County today?” The largest celebration of Dr. King’s birthday in Anne Arundel, this will be the first year the event will be held virtually via cable and social media. The U.S. Naval Academy Gospel Choir will perform during the program.

There are several ways to watch the free program: Viewers can access the program at www.mlkjrmd.org, the MLK Committee’s website. Viewers can also access the program via the City of Annapolis Television (local access) on channel 99/100 for all Comcast subscribers and on channel 34 for all Verizon subscribers. For Anne Arundel County cable networks, viewers can access the program on channel 38 for all Verizon subscribers and channel 98 for all Comcast/Broadstripe subscribers. Contributions to the nonprofit MLK Jr. Committee are welcome at the website above and by mail to P.O. Box 371, Annapolis MD 21404.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Awards Program in Anne Arundel County was founded in 1988 by then Alderman Carl Snowden. Designed to pay homage to the memory of Dr. King, the program honors those whose deeds, words and actions have helped keep Dr. King’s legacy alive. The program is a reflection on the best that Anne Arundel County has to offer.

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Peace Maker Award Diana Love founded the West Annapolis Pop Up Pantry (WAPP) in 2020 and worked with community partners to raise more than $100,000 in one month to provide food and aid for COVID-19 crisis response. Amy Marshall is also the recipient of the Peace Maker Award. Marshall supported Diana Love’s efforts with the WAPP by offering her short-term rental property as a storage and distribution site. Love and Marshall’s mission is to support members of the community who’ve lost their income due to COVID-19 and who do not have access to federal aid such as unemployment, stimulus checks, or loans.

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Courageous Leadership Award Adrienne Jones, Maryland House of Delegates Speaker has been a delegate since 1997, originally serving as Speaker Pro Tempore in the Maryland House of Delegates for 16 years. In 2019, she received the Casper R. Taylor Jr. Founder’s Award for her government service, the highest award given to a member of the House of Delegates. She served for 37 years as the first executive director of the Baltimore County Office of Fair Practices and Community Affairs, as deputy director of the Baltimore County Office of Human Resources, and is the founder of the annual Baltimore County African American Cultural Festival, now in its 21st year.

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Morris H. Blum Humanitarian Award Steuart Pittman, Jr graduated from the University of Chicago and went on to work as a community organizer in Chicago and Des Moines. Once back home in Davidsonville, Pittman coordinated programs for National Low Income Housing Coalition and Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now before starting his own business as a farmer and horse trainer. Pittman is also a director of the Anne Arundel County Soil Conservation District. Currently, Pittman serves as Anne Arundel County Executive, where he has pledged to engage communities from every sector and practice transparency and data-driven policymaking.

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Drum Major Award Midshipman First Class Madeleine Cooke is originally from Maryland. Cooke and her family ultimately settled in New York City, where Cooke graduated from St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn. During high school, Cooke volunteered at the St. Saviour Church food pantry. She now attends the U.S. Naval Academy, where she consistently meets the Academy’s mental, moral, and physical mission with resolve and grit and has been an exemplary leader. At the Naval Academy, Cooke is the president of the Midshipman Black Studies Club, which works to empower future leaders of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

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Dream Keepers Award Delorma “Dee” Goodwyn has spent nearly 30 years volunteering for civil rights and social causes in Anne Arundel County. For the past decade, Goodwyn has served on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee Board of Directors, supporting various programs and fundraising efforts, and also establishing the Fannie Lou Hamer program. Goodwyn was appointed member of the Annapolis Human Relations Committee.

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Coretta Scott King Award Barbara Arnwine is president and founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition and is internationally renowned for contributions on justice issues, including the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the 2006 reauthorization of provisions of the Voting Rights Act. She is also the board vice-chair of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and serves on the board of directors of MomsRising and Independent Sector.

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Coretta Scott King Award Daryl Jones, Esq. Attorney Daryl Jones, is a former two-term member of the Anne Arundel County Council. He was the first African-American male and the second African- American to be elected to that body. A resident of Severn, Maryland, he is now serving as chairman of the board of directors for the Transformative Justice Coalition, a national voting rights organization. Under his leader- ship the TJC has ensured that millions of eligible voters rights are protected.

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Coretta Scott King Award Vincent Leggett is president and CEO of Leggett Group USA, an Annapolis-based consulting firm. Three decades ago, Leggett founded the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation. He is a board member of the Chesapeake Legal Alliance and former chair of the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center. Leggett was elected president of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and served as the CEO of the Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County and the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis.

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Drum Major Award Dr. Erin Snell has dedicated her career to promoting educational equity and finding solutions to systemic racism that leads to these inequities. She is the executive director of the Annapolis nonprofit Charting Careers, which works to break the cycle of poverty by supporting children and their families through mentoring and college and career preparation. She also serves as co-founder and co-chair for the Collaborative of Nonprofits Serving Children and Youth in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.

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Drum Major Award Dee Strum served two terms as president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, where she worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Strum was recruited by the Indiana Office of the Governor to establish Indiana’s first statewide housing agency. She returned to Annapolis and established her first business, MDStrum Housing Services, and became a national expert in housing and community development.

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Drum Major Award Michael Sears is the director of Leadership Innovation at the Boeing Leadership Innovation Laboratory, Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the U.S. Naval Academy. Sears, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Sears is also a 30-year veteran of California’s Silicon Valley, where he worked with technology companies, ultimately becoming CEO of a technology company, and founder of a small Internet media company. During that time, Sears was granted and received three U.S. patents as a co-inventor of technology.

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Alan Hillard Legum Civil Rights Award Walter Vasquez was born and raised in El Salvador. Vasquez later moved to Miami before ultimately settling in Annapolis. There, he opened Sin Fronteras, a Mexican-Latin American restaurant with locations in Annapolis and Glen Burnie. Since his time in Maryland, Vasquez has been an advocate for greater Hispanic and multicultural representation in Annapolis government and economic planning. This month, Vasquez opened Annapolis International Market, an international grocery store which he hopes will help stimulate cultural growth for his shoppers and the community.