Speakers salute Black History Month

Two high-profile speakers will highlight JSC's observance of 1994 National Black History Month and its theme of "Empowering Afro-American Organizations: Present and Future."

Sheila Jackson Lee, at-large council member for the City of Houston, will speak at the 11 a.m. Feb. 9 kick-off luncheon in the Gilruth Center ballroom.

Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, will be the keynote speaker for the main program at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 in Teague Auditorium.

Lee became the first black female at-large council member in Houston in 1990 after working as an associate judge in Houston's Municipal Court. A licensed attorney for 17 years, she chaired the city's Committee on Human Relations, which reviewed the state of race relations in Houston and suggested ways to revise the City Council's structure to help it reflect more accurately the varied social and ethnic make-up of the city. She chaired 11 hearings around the city to secure input from citizens that was used by the committee.

Lee sits on a variety of community boards, including the Texas Gulf Coast United Way, and is a member of the city-wide task force "Crack Down on Drugs."

Chavis, a native of North Carolina, became executive director of the NAACP in April 1993, at 45 he is the youngest person ever to hold the position.

A minister of the United Church of Christ, Chavis was executive of the church's Commission for Racial Justice at its national offices in Cleveland. Under his leadership, the commission sponsored "Freedom Rides" to Alabama and Chicago to ensure voting rights and mobilize voters.

In the 1970s, Chavis was among the "Wilmington Ten" that were convicted in a case growing out of a civil rights demonstration involving school desegregation, and he served more than four years in jail. The conviction was overturned in 1980 by the U.S. Fourth Circuit of Appeals.

Chavis also served on the Clinton/Gore Transition Team for the Natural Resources Cluster, which included the Departments of Energy, Interior and Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

A limited number of luncheon tickets are available for $8.50 each until close of business Feb. 4. Tickets may be purchased from Black Employment Council members Mary Broussard, 282-6840; Terry Gobert, x32849; Clarence Ross, x45095; LeBarian Stokes, x38965; Johnnie Moore, x31762; Patricia Burke, x30601; Judith Stoval, x37735; Ulrica Kelly, 280-2261; or Maria Owen, 282-3791.

All JSC civil service and contractor employees are invited to attend as their workloads permit. For more information, call the Equal Opportunity Programs Office at x34831.

text-only version of this release