PBICVR to continue
After 40 years of organizing and leading the Pine Bluff Interested Citizens for Voter Registration Inc. (PBICVR) Original KINGFEST™ Celebration for Pine Bluff and Jefferson County to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 2024, I am passing the torch to new hands.
I remain the executive director for PBICVR Inc. Also, I am honored the Original KINGFEST ™ executive committee recently chose me as their 40th grand parade marshal for the MLK 2024 Parade.
Many who work with me have heard the backstories of my journey, and said, let us tell your story for you. I appreciate their willingness to share what I have achieved in my lifetime, but no one can tell it better than I can; therefore, let me reflect on my many years of service to Pine Bluff.
Under my leadership, PBICVR led the efforts to change the entire city election system in Pine Bluff, which gave Blacks a better opportunity to become city council members and school board members — as reported in the Pine Bluff Commercial in 1984 (for City Wards) and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in June of 1992 (for School Zones).
PBICVR PEN OR PENCIL, working with several clergies, organized Pine Bluff Pastors on Patrol (POP) to serve as faith-based mentors who, utilizing Dr. Martin Luther King’s Six Principles of Nonviolence, effectively collaborate with other organizations to reduce violence and negative behaviors on school campuses. The initiative has become a national demonstration project called POP: “From Nonviolence to No Violence.”
PBICVR organized Pine Bluff youth for the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s visit to the AM&N campus, now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, to give the 1958 commencement address. PBICVR spearheaded the effort with the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission to bring their Arkansas Youth Assembly to Pine Bluff in 1998. The assembly generated approximately $400,000 for the Pine Bluff economy.
PBICVR King Team led efforts to name a 140-acre park in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and led the naming of the first monument in Arkansas in honor of Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. King. PBICVR led the financial efforts to refurbish the center with tables and a picture of Coretta Scott King donated by Henri Linton.
PBICVR spearheaded efforts in 2003 to secure $3.2 million U.S. Transportation dollars to resurface University Drive/Highway 79 North; nearly half of the total project cost of $6.7 million.
PBICVR led efforts to name the southern bypass in honor of the late Pine Bluff native and Civil Rights attorney Wiley Austin Branton Sr., and the cost of the memorial — $100 million. The Branton Interstate Highway is the first portion of Interstate in Arkansas to honor an African American.
PBICVR spearheaded the efforts to bring the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Weed & Seed Crime Strategy” to Pine Bluff, resulting in Pine Bluff receiving approximately $10 million in funds and services for crime prevention and neighborhood restoration. During my tenure as Weed and Seed coordinator, the National Crime Prevention Council produced a document called Faith and Criminal Justice Collaboration, “A Collection of Effective Programs.”
The Center for Faith and Service chose my work as one of the 50 best faith and community collaborations in the nation.
PBICVR organized the “Coffee with the Chiefs” community initiative for faith leaders and law enforcement to work together to reduce violence, and allow residents to meet with the chiefs and mayor face-to-face in a neighborhood setting.
As Weed and Seed Coordinator, the United States Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs chose me to train and set up new Weed and Seed crime strategy sites nationwide. The Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America featured my work in “The CADCA Strategizer 47.” CADCA has a membership that exceeds 5,000 members.
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs selected me as one of only a few Weed and Seed Site Coordinators to attend leadership training at the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America Leadership Forum in Oxen Hills, Maryland, 2010. The Justice Research and Statistics Association and the Bureau of Justice Assistance invited me to Washington, D.C., to evaluate National Weed and Seed Strategies.
Other efforts included:
PBICVR led efforts in 1997 to establish the “Respect for Life Campaign” to reduce homicides in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County, specifically among African Americans, which resulted in a homicide-free summer and was featured in the New York Times newspaper and the USA Today Magazine.
PBICVR organized the relocation of the sole WWII Monument in Arkansas that recognizes African American WWII Veterans. The monument was transported from Townsend Park to the Jefferson County Courthouse grounds for protection from vandals, and to provide it a more vivid location.
Shepherded legislation through the Arkansas State House and Senate to reduce the use of Nitrous-oxide for street racing in Arkansas. The bill is called “The Nitrous-Oxide Prohibition Act” or “Eric’s Law,” in honor of my nephew Eric Lamont Turner.