Black Excellence Awards honor community leaders

Published 9:41 pm Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Excellence in New Iberia’s African-American community was awarded this past weekend at West End Park where the New Iberia Parks and Recreation Department and West End Council of Neighborhood Associations put on their third annual “Celebrating Black Excellence” award ceremony. 

The late night event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center was a veritable who’s who of professional, civic, business and religious leaders in the African-American community, and those awarded came from a variety of different fields and backgrounds while all being recognized for their contributions and achievements to New Iberia. 

Honorees chosen for this year’s awards included Breighlynn Polk, Carol Bradley, Harry Daniels III, Shelbra Thompson, Lisa Leanlouis, Sandra Moore, Kathy Pierre and Darrell Manning Sr. 

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The honorees came from a variety of backgrounds. Sandra Moore was awarded for years of service to the community while Breighlynn Polk, a historian who recently came back to New Iberia, was awarded for her academic achievements and new insights into New Iberia’s history. 

Organizer Warren White also gave the audience a big surprise near the end of the ceremony, when a final award was given to co-organizer Krystal Boyance. 

“I’ve been working with this person for a very long time and we work well together,” White said. “She deserves an award.”

The event included catering and music at the MLK Center, and tables that were decorated the best were given their own award as well as the festivities continued late into Saturday night. 

The event is the third year in a row that WECNA and NIRD have put on a black excellence program, and attendance and enthusiasm has grown every year. 

People nominated during last year’s event included Keith Bowles, Cheryl Broussard, Yvette Dominique, Rose Joseph, David Lopez, Louise Moore, Sherry Guidry and Cynthia Toby.