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Football Tournament Propels Local Toy Drive
Commissioner Weekly and football players came together for a holiday toy-drive in December.
The commissioner´s Holiday Flag Football Tournament was held Dec. 15 and 16 at Ed Fountain Park. To participate, every player on the 16 teams that played had to donate a toy to Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.´s Toys 4 Children Drive.
The players´ donations provided gifts for more than 250 children this holiday season.
Commissioner Weekly loads Thanksgiving dinner trimmings into a car.
Thanksgiving Dinners Brought to Hundreds
Commissioner Weekly continued his tradition of giving back to the community, handing out free turkeys and a grocery bag full of trimmings to 350 families during his 4th Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway in November.
A group of volunteers including the commissioner, his staff and a group of teens from the Las Vegas High School P.A.L. Program distributed the dinners to pre-selected families identified by county officials and community groups.
Pictured from left, Hattie Canty, Hadeia Broadbent, Buffalo Soldier Sam Armstrong, Shaundell Newsome, Steven Miller, Virginia Brewster
Local Recognition
Virginia Brewster is a Las Vegas resident for more than 50 years and a long-time educator who has been an influential role model for her many, many students and friends.
Hydeia Broadbent contracted HIV at birth from her biological mother and doctors believed she wouldn't reach her fifth birthday. But she defied the odds and became an outspoken activist who today travels the country educating people of all ages about the dangers of AIDS and how to protect themselves from contracting the HIV virus.
The Buffalo Soldiers Las Vegas Chapter bring attention to heroic acts of blacks in the military, most notably their important role in settling the west.
Hattie Canty came to Las Vegas with little education but was able to become an important community leader and the president of the local chapter of the Culinary Worker´s Union. She worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for all the workers of Las Vegas by demanding increased pay, a living wage, for workers. In 1984, she was elected to the executive board of the local chapter and served as chapter president throughout the 1990s.
Walter Mason is a director, producer and artist who has worked with many well-known entertainers over the years, including James Earl Jones and Sammy Davis, Jr. Mason is also a former Las Vegas Hilton entertainment director and the founder and artistic director of the Aldridge Theater Company, Inc. Currently, Mason is a volunteer working with the youth at the West Las Vegas Theatre.
Steve Miller, a Las Vegas native, is a probation officer with the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services (DJJS). Miller is a strong role model for the youth he oversees and interacts with in the community, some of whom come from gang-infested and impoverished neighborhoods. Miller gives the youth he works with hope and confidence.
Shaundell Newsome is an African–American entrepreneur who recently formed Newsome Marketing Enterprises (NME). NME provides small businesses with the marketing solutions to compete in today's market using creative marketing methods.
A Salute to Black Inventors
Garret Morgan, Traffic Signal http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blgas_mask.htm
Valerie Thomas, 3-D Real time photo/video (parabolic mirrors) http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_Valerie_Thomas.htm
Important February Dates in Black History
February 1818: Frederick Douglass famous abolitionist, was born.
February 1, 1960: In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone, a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter.
February 3, 1870: The 15th Amendment was passed, granting blacks the right to vote.
February 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of concerned black and white citizens in New York City.
February 21, 1965: Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted Black Nationalism, was killed.
February 23, 1868: W.E.B. DuBois, civil rights leader and co-founder of the NAACP, was born.
February 25, 1870: The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels (1822-1901), took his oath of office.
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