Greater Toledo Urban League Holds 13^th Annual Banquet

By Brittany Jones
Sojourner’s Truth Reporter

It was an evening of elegance and glam at Parkway Place in Maumee. Women in stylish dresses and men in tuxedos socialized in the spacious ballroom, while the sounds of a live band and singers could be heard in the background.
 

The low-lighting and stunning table settings made it appear to be a red-carpet affair and, in fact, it was so.

On March 12, the Greater Toledo Urban League celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the National Urban League at their 13^th Annual Dinner. This was also their annual fundraiser to “acknowledge the services provided in the past year, communicate the mission purpose and vision of the Urban League and thanking extremely loyal supporters.”

As a treat, Kristian Brown from 13abc was the mistress of ceremonies.

Shirley Lyons of the Workforce Development Coordination of GTUL performed The National Negro Anthem – “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” The atmosphere of the event was set for the evening.

Rhonda Sewell and Cheryl Slack, the dinner co-chairmen, welcomed and gave thanks to all the guests. They spoke of the work put into planning this occasion and their experience. Slack then introduced James Murray, the Board Chairman of the GTUL.

 Jokingly, he recalled a time last year at the dinner when he was introduced as “Bill Murray.”

 Murray thanked everyone for attending and supporting the efforts in the community.

 “There are over 400 people here tonight and that says a lot to us as a leadership organization,” said Murray.

He recognized both elected and running public officials and community leaders. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of the 9th Congressional District was unable to attend, but she sent her best wishes to GTUL. Murray then introduced Mayor Mike Bell to give greetings and thanks.
 

Bell commented on the importance of working together in these hard times. He states that with patience, focus and a positive attitude we can get through these changes.

Following Bell was the President of Lucas County Board of Commissioners Pete Gerken. He presented a ceramic frog as a gift for the keynote speaker, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. Kevin Boyce, the 47^th Ohio Treasurer of State, and Executive Director and Vice-President of University of Toledo Medical Center Marc Chastang completed off the greetings for the evening.
 

Pastor T.A. Smith, Sr. of First Baptist Church of Fostoria said the invocation for dinner.

Continuing the event after dinner was the awarding of the prestigious Charles H. Penn Humanitarian Award to Yolanda Jackson. The 2009 Penn Award recipient, Charles Doneghy, judge of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, presented this honor.

Then it was time for the keynote speaker. Morial’s keynote address was more like a motivational call to citizens to let them know what they can do to help the community and the nation. Morial spoke of the challenges the country faces as the recession and the decade-long war ends, as well as other obstacles.

"We need to think about what we can contribute to the society coming out of this decade,” he said. “We have to build in order to compete on a global level with other communities."

Other topics he touched upon were having the Urban League maintain its strong position in the community and keep providing programs in the areas of economic empowerment issues, job training, housing, small business development and preparation of youth. As local recognition, he commented on the good works and support of John Jones, president and CEO of GTUL.

"John is one of our exciting and dynamic new leaders who certainly represents the next generation of the Urban League,” Morial said.

There was also a mention of the “I am Empowered” pledge that contains four goals that the League would like to accomplish by 2025: 1) Every American child is ready for college work and life. 2) Every American has access to jobs in a living wage and good benefits. 3) Every American lives in safe, decent, affordable and energy efficient housing on fair terms. 4) Every American has access to quality and affordable health care solutions. This pledge is to increase individual empowerment and hope so that change can be possible and lasting.

John Jones wrapped up the occasion with remarks and more thanks. The night ended with a live entertainment of Motown Revue from CRSmith Productions.

“We still have a lot of work to do in the community and many problems to resolve,” Jones said. “We want to motivate people to do more with volunteering and move to a higher level of service.”

The GTUL was established in 1996 and has striven to uphold its mission of “improving the social and economic conditions of each individual in our community, particularly African-Americans, other minorities and those that are underserved.”

Cheryl Slack	Billie Johnson and Barb Pettee
Councilman Michael Ashford and Rev. Cedric Brock	Jim Murray and Paul Hubbard
Nathaniel Angel, Doni Miller, Aji Green	Dennis Hellman, Councilman Tom Waniewski
John Jones and Richard Fisher	Marguerita De Leon and Pete Culp

Copyright © 2010 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 10/15/10 08:13:15 -0700.

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