Award-winning local student to be speaker at annual Black History Tea
Jefferson Island Road Elementary School student and international award winner Chloe Willis will be the key speaker at the annual Black History Tea this Sunday.
The event will be held at 3 p.m. at the Olive Branch Masonic Lodge, 802 Arlene St. in New Iberia, according to a media release. Refreshments will be served. Admission is $5.
Willis was given a Discovery Award in the Outstanding Elementary School Project for her documentary containing research about her great-grandfather, civil rights activist Rev. T. J. Jemison. Jemison helped organize the bus boycott that lead to the passing of Ordinance 222 by the Baton Rouge City Council, which changed the seating policy on city buses.
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes’ Discovery Award is an international student competition that honors creative research projects that uncover the stories of positive role models and unsung heroes whose impact on history remains largely unknown.
Honorees of the event include Debra A. Joseph, community activist; Carol Bourgeois, Mayor of Jeanerette; Garrett Grogan, Patterson Chief of Police; Deedy Johnson-Reid, New Iberia City council member representing District 5; Eva Mae Lewis, community activist; and Peggy Gerac, former New Iberia City council member.
This event is sponsored by Ghadur Court No.129 and the Iberia Parish Chapter of the NAACP.