Nine leaders honored for 30 years of service
Nine people who have dedicated over 30 years of service to the Pontiac area were honored recently in the first annual Pontiac Legends and Trailblazers Awards.
The honorees included educators, judges, musicians, members of the faith community and activists. Along with receiving awards, the honorees were invited to speak during the virtual event which took place on Sunday, Feb. 21. Pontiac-based ACES Veteran Services, the Clarence E. Phillips Ascend Foundation and State Rep. Brenda Carter hosted the awards.
Two local musicians, Clifford Sykes and Quincy Stewart, were honored with the Hank and Thad Jones Musical Trailblazer Award. The Jones brothers, renowned jazz artists, were raised in Pontiac prior to their influential music careers.
“The ones who made a way out of no way, that’s who we’re here to honor today,” Stewart said.
Stewart was awarded for his work as jazz musician and music
educator throughout the city. He’s traveled internationally to perform and was featured in a PBS special on Black educators for his style of teaching. He’s been active in the city’s political scene as a community advocate for 23 years and has led several community programs and protests.
Sykes, a professional musician and teacher, was honored for his 30 years of service as a music educator in Pontiac School District. He taught students from elementary to high school, going on to lead the music department. He’s also traveled internationally and nationally to perform and give lectures.
“We all knew we had to do something in this void of Black History Month programs we’re seeing due to COVID-19,” Kaino Phillips, president of the Ascend Foundation, said. “I’m thankful we were able to hold this event for these Pontiac legends.”
Reverend James Keys and Bishop William Murphy Jr. were recipients of the Reverend Eddie A. McDonald/Elder Willie Elam Liturgical Trailblazer Awards.
Keys was a founding member of the Monument of Faith Missionary Baptist Church, located at 378 Auburn Ave., in 1979. Three years later he took over as the head of the church and has served as its pastor ever since. In his career he’s also served on a multitude of local and national nonprofit boards, development boards and has advocated for troubled youth.
Murphy has led Pontiac’s New Mount Moriah International Church for over 30 years. He’s organized prayer vigils and meetings throughout the city and held prayer workshops on the local and national level. He’s also the author of several pieces of spiritual literature. Two Pontiac educators, Dorothy King and Lorene Phillips, received the JoAnn Battle/Eloise Williams Educational Trailblazer Award.
King began her career in 1969 working as an English teacher in Pontiac. From the classroom to leading as department chair, she spent decades assisting students in the area with reading and writing. She’s served on a host of boards and is known nationally for her work with the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. She was also the score keeper for the Pontiac Northern High School basketball team for 32-years.
“When I was asked to receive this award, I thought, why me? What makes a legend?” King said. “Something trailblazers have in common is that they stay put. We stayed in Pontiac, we did not run away when things got tough. We built all of this up, to create the platform that we call Pontiac today.”
Phillips, mother of Kaino Phillips and wife of Clarence E. Phillips, also spent her career focused on enhancing the language and comprehension skills of Pontiac students. She won multiple awards for her work teaching English, World Language and speech to secondary education students. She currently works for the state supporting literacy instruction.
Chief Judge Cynthia Walker and Judge Chris Brown were honored with the Charlie Harrison Jr. Political Trailblazer Award. Harrison served as a county commissioner, state representative and mayor during his political career between 1970 and 1995.
Walker is one of four judges serving on Pontiac’s 50th District Court. She began her judgeship in 2003 and was appointed chief judge in 2010. She’s been named a Michigan District Judge of the Year and has served on the Oakland County Bar Association board of directors as chair and vice chair. She sits now on a domestic violence advisory council for Centro Multicultural La Familia. Walker has also volunteered to assist youth with mock trials and speak at schools and churches about truancy.
Brown began practicing law in 1966 working with influential law firms in metro Detroit on civil rights cases. He became the first Black person in Oakland County to be elected a judge at the 50th District Court in 1973. He retired in 2004, having spent his career also working as a visiting judge in Detroit and Wayne County. He’s known as a mentor to minority attorneys throughout the area.
Dr. Bruce Turpin received the Reverend Milton Henry Activism award. He’s run a family-owned private dental practice in Pontiac since 1980, taking it over from his father who began the business in 1940. Turpin spent his career serving on medical and poverty prevention nonprofit boards in the area working to evolve community health.
During the event, State Rep. Carter also announced a surprise award for U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence. She was awarded the Shirley Chisholm Tribute Impact Award, named after the first Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress.
Lawrence was the first Black mayor and first woman elected to that position in Southfield in 2001. She represents Michigan’s 14th district and serves as a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and second vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“All of these people’s legacies are so important,” Carter said. “Right now, the way we teach Black History is through historical figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman. But we don’t really talk about the historical figures that are living right under our noses. It’s important to present that, especially to young people today.”