Stacy Brown, Author at The Archive Site for The Baltimore Times

25th Anniversary Fannie Lou Hamer On-Line Awards Reception– October 6

Six Annapolis area women and one local man are set to receive honors at the 25th annual Fannie Lou Hammer Awards Reception scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 6. Sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Anne Arundel County, this year’s ceremony takes place virtually and is free and open to the public.

The honorees are: Patricia Bradford, Octavia Brown, Emma Buchanan, Joseph Donahue, C.J. Meushaw, Delegate Shaneka Henson, and Toni Strong Pratt. Bradford works as Family Self Sufficiency & Homeownership Manager for the Annapolis Housing Authority, where she manages 83 families and house holds, promoting and assisting them to become self sufficient and homeowners.

Brown, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Certified and the founder and lead clinician of the Urban Institute for Mental Health, specializes in racial trauma therapy, trauma-informed care, cognitive behavioral therapy, and behav- ioral modification.

Buchman, the deputy director of March On Maryland, is a community activist and an unapologetic anti-racist who has organized myriads of marches and racial justice events.

Donahue, a private practice lawyer, won a landmark case earlier this month against the city where 15 clients living in Annapolis’s subsidized housing were awarded $900,000 because the landlord failed to maintain their apartments adequately.

Meushaw also counts as an activist and dedicated member of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). She’s recognized as a core organizer in the SURJ chapter in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County because of her tireless work encouraging other white people to live out the SURJ values. Henson, a delegate and community activist, has faced racism, sexism, and countless negativity, but MLK Commit- tee officials said she’s never backed down and has proven a real fighter for civil rights. Strong Pratt co-founded “Desire,” a social group that focuses on drug dependencies and co-dependencies within Annapolis.

She has been critical in organizing food giveaways and distributing Harm Reduction materials throughout the city during COVID.

“In honoring these women with the Fannie Lou Hamer Award, we honor the best in ourselves. These women each have made our city, county, and nation better,” Carl Snowden, the chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, told the Baltimore Times.

The awards that bear Hamer’s name recognize local women from various racial backgrounds who, while not necessarily household names, have excelled in their chosen field while working diligently to improve civil and human rights in the region, Snowden added. “Mrs. Hamer was a feminist and a civil rights heroine, and each year, on the eve of her birthday, Marylanders pause to honor this Mississippian, a sharecropper, who shared a passion for economic and social justice,” he said.

The honorees will join the ranks of more than 100 notable local citizens, including Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Administrative Law Judge Tracey Warren Parker, and former Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer.

Speakers will include Congressmen John P. Sarbanes and Anthony Brown, Mayor Gavin Buckley, and County Executive Steuart Pittman.

Tickets are free at: http://www.mlkjrmd.org/flh25. For more information at 443-871-5656.

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Patricia (Venus) Bradford Family Self-Sufficiency & Homeownership Manager for the Annapolis Housing Authority

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Toni Strong-Pratt. Co-founder of “Desire,” a social group that focuses on drug dependencies and co-dependencies within Annapolis.

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Emma Buchanan Deputy Director of March On Maryland; Community Activist

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C.J. Meushaw Member of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).

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Delegate Shaneka Henson Delegate and community activist

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Joseph Donahue Private Practice Lawyer He will receive the Allen Hillard Legum Civil Rights Award

Eleven-year-old Krissa Hillman pitches ‘sweet business’ to Warren Buffett

COLUMBIA — Not every 11-year-old knows how to make cupcakes, and it’s rare that a pre-teen comes up with such a sweet idea to raise money to help other children learn to read. Krissa Hillman is an exception. The 11-year-old Bollman Bridge Elementary School fifth-grader is working with the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship to market her cupcakes in front of the rich and affluent, who may be able to help launch Krissa’s recipe.

“I’m so excited, that I’m shaking,” said Krissa, who dished out her goodies to a group of entrepreneurs at the Maryland Center on Friday, May 17, 2013.

Now, another opportunity of a lifetime has arrived.

Out of 4,000 children who range in age from seven to 16 who entered Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club’s, “Learn and Earn, Grow Your Own Business Challenge,” Krissa was selected to tell her story to Buffet on Monday, May 20, 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska. If selected by Buffett, Krissa will win $5,000 to help start her “Cupcakes for Literacy” business.

The Buffett challenge is a national competition seeking to help young entrepreneurs cultivate smart habits financially and it encourages young people to come up with unique new business concepts.

“Not everyone gets a chance to do this,” said Krissa, who will compete with four other students to win Buffett’s challenge. “I was like, it’s a one in a billion chance because there are so many great ideas and the fact that he picked mine really kind of touches my heart,” she said.

Krissa said she created her cupcake business in order to benefit reading programs, libraries and local schools. “Literacy is a big part of life. You have to read everything,” Krissa said. “So, what better way to help people understand that through something everyone likes?”

Entrepreneurs and leaders at the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship (MCE) in Columbia, Maryland gave vital feedback to Krissa as she prepared to deliver her pitch to Buffett, the famous business magnate, investor and philanthropist who is widely considered the most successful investor of his time.

“Our role is to steer entrepreneurs in the right direction, but also give them what they need to sustain a business,” said Julie Lenzer Kirk, executive director of the MCE. “With Krissa, we want to give her all the support she needs and let her know that we will be there for her every step of the way.

For Krissa, the idea began after her mother purchased a cupcake recipe book for her at a school book sale. “Six years ago, I made a website called Storytime with Krissa to upload videos of her reading aloud,” Krissa’s mother, Sabrina Wilson said. “When she got the cupcake book, we decided to put a new spin on it.”

During a bake sale for a parent-teacher conference, Krissa was able to raise $258 during a six-hour period. She gave the money to the school’s library.

“It all sounds like something only someone high up in the business world would get to do,” Krissa said. “I get to meet Warren Buffett.”

Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones saves lives in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Debbie Freed lost her son in a drowning accident when he was just five years old. When Olympic Gold Medalist Cullen Jones was five, he nearly drowned.

Every minute, more than two people in the United States drown, incidents that have proven to be the leading cause of accidental death in America.

For Freed and Cullen, they share a similar mission.

They wish to prevent as many accidental drownings as possible.

The duo has teamed up with the Connor Cares Foundation, which is named in honor of Freed’s late son, Connor Freed, to give swimming safety lessons to Baltimore City kids.

“The thought of swimming is more of an activity than a life skill, and that’s the first thing we need to do is change that perception,” Jones said during a foundation event April 27 at Callowhill Aquatic Center where he also donated life-saving defibrillators to the city’s aquatic program.

“With my son, it didn’t have to happen,” Freed said. “He was floating under an empty lifeguard chair and one problem in Baltimore is that you have one lifeguard, usually someone 16 years of age, responsible for 50 people and there was no requirement for them to know about defibrillators which could have saved my son’s life,” she said.

Freed started the foundation and its mission is to further the education and training of lifesaving personnel at all public and private pools.

Freed said it was important, especially for inner-city youth.

“Cullen Jones talked about the need for swimming lessons because swimming is recreation and it’s done all the time,” Freed said.

At the event, Jones spoke passionately on such topics as diversity, black heritage, overcoming adversity, his Olympic journey, motivation and the importance of learning to swim.

“The thought of swimming is more of an activity than a life skill, and that’s the first thing we need to do is change that perception,” said Jones, who became the first African American to win a gold medal in the 50 freestyle at the World University Games in 2005.

In 2006, he became the first African American to break a world record in swimming in an olympic contested event at the Pan Pacific Games.

“Every child needs to learn how to swim because children are going to get near the water,” Jones said.

Freed successfully lobbied to have legislation requiring every public pool in the state to have a defibrillator. The governor signed it into law last month.

The Connor Foundation had donated defibrillators throughout the state since its founding in 2006 and its goal is to have a defibrillator at every public and private pool nationwide, Freed said.

The Connor John-James Freed Scholarship Fund has sponsored over 400 children in Arlington Echo’s Drown- proofing Program in Anne Arundel County and the fund has provided an assortment of necessities for underprivileged children that otherwise could not afford the program.

A second scholarship fund, “Not One More Child Drowns,” helps to support the Infant Swimming Resource program, which teaches children 6 months to 6 years old life saving techniques.

A third program is currently underway that will benefit inner-city children in Baltimore.

The new defibrillators from Cullen were a welcome gift, city officials said. “The city of Baltimore is delighted to accept such a vital piece of equipment, which could mean the difference between life and death in an emergency,” said Ernest Burkeen, the city’s Recreation Parks director. “This life-saving equipment will be a vital resource for our aquatics staff and the citizens who use and visit the city’s swim facilities,” he said.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.connorcares.org.