Vol. 4 Issue 6 May 1-14, 2010 www.cenlalight.wordpress.com cenlalight@gmail.com

Happy Mother’s Day 2010

The driving force behind Mother’s Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908.

As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers.

She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

The lighT – May 1-14, 2010Page 2

Sherri L. Jackson,Publisher1429 Third StreetAlexandria, LA 71301

Phone: (318) 487-9254Or drop us a line atEmail: cenlalight@gmail.comwww.cenlalight.wordpress.com

Community Development Works

Recruiting Business & Nonprofit Partners for 2010

A program of

What Is Cenla Boardbuilders?Cenla Boardbuilders is a program aimed at developing emerging

leaders through service on the Board of Directors of localnonprofit organizations.

Who Should Participate?

Contact CDW at 318.443.7880, 800.803.8075 or online at www.communitydevelopmentworks.org to receive more information.

Paulette Perry, Gerald Hamilton and Gertrude Cyriaque

The Alexandria Branch of the National Association of University Women recently observed the organization’s Centennial by worshipping at Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.

The group presented Mayor Gerald Hamilton of Colfax the Humanitarian Award.

The local chapter began in 1968 with charter members Margie Byrd, Verna Emanuel, Emeryth Reed, Annie Roberts Boudreaux, Mary

Sanders and Virginia Walker. The goal is to stimulate women to attain professional excellence, to exert influence in various movements for the civic good and to promote a close personal and intellectual fellowship among professional women.

The national theme is “Community and Education: Our Connection for the Future.”

The NAU was founded March 21, 1910 in Washington, D.C.

Thank you mommas for keeping me saneIn the last 20 or so years, I’ve moved several times chasing behind the

American dream. I’ve criss-crossed these United States often moving to places where I had little or no family.

Each time that I’ve moved, I have sought out a godly older woman, who I could call “mom.” Doing so made my stay in that community much easier.

In Racine, Wis., my “godmother” is Gloria Rogers. She took me in as her “daughter.” She scolded me when I needed it, and she cheered me on when I needed it.

In Alexandria, my “mother” is Betty Monk. I can always count on her to be there for me. When I’m sick, she makes sure that I get what I need. When I’m mentally and emotionally drained from the cares of the world, she pushes me to keep going. Thank you Ms. Betty for taking me in your heart and home. I appreciate you and your family.

Of course, there are many, many more women in Cenla and around the country who have poured into my life and continued to build on the great and solid foundation that my mother, Margaret, and grandmothers Viola and Mae set for me long before I was conceived.

It’s because of these women and others I am who I am. Thank you Momma for teaching me that I was “not built to break.”

Publisher Sherri L. Jackson and Mother, Margaret Brown

The lighT –May 1-14, 2010 Page 3

Mothers make the world go around, make life fuller, richer for everyone at all times

According to the U.S. Census, here is a look at Mothers by the numbers:

82.8 millionEstimated number of mothers in the United States in 2004.

55%Percentage of 15- to 44-year-olds who are mothers.

81%Percentage of women 40 to 44 who are mothers. In 1976, 90 percent of women in that age group were mothers.

2.1The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2006 — the first time since 1971 that the nation’s TFR was at replacement level, which is the birth rate required to replace the population.

94.1Number of births in 2006 per 1,000 women of childbear-ing age in Utah, which led the nation. At the other end of the spectrum was Vermont, with a rate of 52.2 births.

94%Among the 37.8 million mothers living with children younger than 18, the percentage who lived with their biological children only. In addition, 3 percent lived with stepchildren, 2 percent with adopted children and less than 1 percent with foster children.

4.3 millionNumber of births in the United States in 2006. Of this number, 435,427 were to teens 15 to 19, and 112,432 to mothers 40 or older.

25.2Average age of women in 2005 when they gave birth for the first time. This is up 3.8 years since 1970.

40%Percentage of births that were the mother’s first in 2006. Another 32 percent were the second-born; 17 percent, third; and 11 percent, fourth or more.

37,402Number of births in 2005 that did not occur in hospitals.

1 in 31The likelihood of a woman delivering twins in 2005. Her chances of delivering triplets and higher order multiple

births was approximately 1 in 618.

AugustThe month with the highest number of births, with 369,316 taking place that month in 2005.

TuesdayThe day of the week with the highest number of births, with an average of 13,169 taking place on Tuesdays

Jacob and EmilyThe most popular baby names for boys and girls, re-spectively, in 2006.

21,135Number of florist establishments nationwide in 2005. The 101,861 employees in floral shops across our nation will be especially busy preparing, selling and delivering floral arrangements for Mother’s Day.

12,473Number of employees of the 120 greeting-card publish-ing establishments in 2005.

12,854The number of cosmetics, beauty supplies and perfume stores nationwide in 2005. Perfume is one of the most popular gifts given on Mother’s Day.

29,624Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2005 — the place to purchase necklaces, earrings and other timeless pieces for mom.

5.6 millionNumber of stay-at-home moms in 2006.

55%Among mothers with infants in 2004, the percentage in the labor force, down from a record high of 59 percent in 1998.

67%Percentage of women who gave birth for the first time between 2001 and 2003 and worked during their preg-nancy. This compares with 44 percent who gave birth for the first time between 1961 and 1965.

55%The percentage of first-time mothers in the early part of this decade who were working by the sixth month after they gave birth. In the early 1960s, the corresponding percentage was 14 percent.

The lighT – May 1-14, 2010Page 4

SWAC tennis, golf tourneys return to AlexandriaThe 2010 SWAC Men’s and Wom-

en’s Tennis Championships ended with Southern women and Prairie View A&M men winning.

The Jaguars overcame Jackson State 4-0 to claim their fifth title in the past eight years and ninth overall.

Kathryn Curtis of Southern was named the tournament’s Most Valu-able Player.

In the men’s marathon match that lasted more than five hours, Prairie View A&M outlasted Alcorn State 4-2 to secure its first SWAC title since 2005 and sixth overall.

Prairie View A&M’s Kristen Powell went 3-0 at the #5 singles spot and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Both the men’s and women’s winner automatically qualify for the NCAA Tennis regional tournament, May 14-16,.

Complete results and All-Tourna-ment Honors are below.

Women’s All-Tournament • Honors: Kathryn Curtis, Most Valuable Player (Southern); Arielle Buchman (Alcorn State); Denise Cherry (Alabama A&M); Paulina Vargas (Jackson State); Britney Shy (Jackson State); Carlista Mohammed (Southern); Kathryn Curtis (Southern)Men’s All-Tournament Honors: • Most Valuable Player Kristen Powell (Prairie View A&M); Nicolas Rufyikiri (Grambling State); Navaneetha Baskaran (Jackson State); Hugo Gomez (Arkansas-Pine Bluff); Pushpen-dra Rajpurohit (Alcorn State); Jose Garcia (Prairie View A&M)

GolfFor the second straight year, the

SWAC Men’s Golf Championship came down to the final pairings between Jackson State and Alabama State.

And for the second straight year, the Tigers from JSU held off the Hornets to earn the league’s team champion-ship.

Grambling State’s Jason Coleman led the individual competition wire-to-wire, firing a final round 78 to finish at 219 (+3) for medalist honors. He won by six strokes over Sam Stra-chan from Alabama State and Jackson State’s Maurice Jefferies.

Jackson State entered the final round with a three-shot lead and ap-peared to have let the title slip away with two groups remaining on the course. At that point, the Hornets had

made up eight team strokes, but JSU’s Curtis Stanton carded a 74, besting ASU’s Kyle Demester’s 81 in the sec-ond-to-the-last group, which provided the difference for the Tigers.

Below is a listing of winners:

First-team all-SWAC• Jonathan Coleman, GramblingSam Strachan, Alabama StateMaurice Jefferies, Jackson State

Curtis Stanton, Jackson StateJohn Montgomery, Alabama State

Second-team all-SWAC• Devaughn Robinson, Texas SouthernClay Myers, Jackson StateMichael Stringfellow, Alabama StateCaleb Ray, Arkansas-Pine BluffMichael Bradham, Prairie View

Kyle Demester, Alabama StateRobert Perales, Texas SouthernBrendan Prouse, Alabama State

Coach of the Year: Eddie • Payton, Jackson StateMedalist: Jonathan Cole-• man, GramblingFreshman Medalist: Sam • Strachan, Alabama State

Prairie View A&M University’s Men Tennis Team, SWAC Champions

Southern University Women’s Tennis Team, SWAC Champions

Photos by Al Cotton

The lighT –May 1-14, 2010 Page 5

Alexandria passes balanced budget, quality of life programs take a hit with reduced fundingBy Bill SumrallThe Light

After an hour and 40 minute session, Alexandria City Council members unanimously passed an amended 2010-2011 fiscal year budget.

The amended budget was ap-proved April 27 on motion by Council member Jonathan Goins, seconded by Council member Chuck Fowler in a 7-0 vote.

The city’s proposed budget for 2010-11 is about $182 million, down from $189 million in the current fiscal year ending this month, according to published reports.

The proposed General Fund budget, which is the city’s operating funds, is $49.9 million, down about $8 million from $57.8 million, due to decreased sales tax revenues and increased spending for health insurance pre-miums and police and fire pension plans, published reports state.

During discussions, the Council’s Finance Committee chair, Everett Hobbs, offered an amendment, which city attorney Trey Gist read aloud to the audience crowding the chamber.

More than 30 people were in at-tendance, including representatives of several non-governmental orga-nizations, or NGOs, as well as city firefighters.

The City Council commended its employees and their unions for their hard work in keeping their depart-ment budgets to scale and saving money through sound budgetary practices, according to the amend-ment read by Gist.

Gist stated that the amendment forms a special oversight working group tasked with making recommen-dations to the Council on a quarterly basis on sales tax recovery and bud-getary spending.

Later, Council President Roosevelt Johnson said this group is to be called the “Budget Review Committee of the City Council.”

Members are to include Council members Goins, Hobbs and Harry Sil-ver, along with City Finance Director David Crutchfield and City Director of Community Services Lisa Harris.

Gist stated that by May 18 this group will compile and publish a revenue forecasting report, so that when city makes its mid-year budget adjust-ment, revenues that were cut could be added back into the budget.

This addition to the budget is trig-gered if there is “significant economic recovery” in the form of increased sales tax revenue in excess of $1.5 million over that projected by the May 18th report, the amendment read by Gist stated.

Once the $1.5 million threshold is reached, funds would be restored by priority under three categories.

Under Category One:– $200,000 in overtime in contract

labor for public works would be restored;

– monies transferred to the city’s Utility Fund to subsidize operations of the Alexandria Zoo and city golf course would be reimbursed to the city’s General Fund;

– monies would be restored to fund police and fire department overtime and positions cut by attrition and re-moved from the budget; and finally

– public works overtime and contract labor would be restored to appropriate levels, particularly in the streets and sanitation department for grass-cutting and trash collection.

Category Two involves the pay ma-trix for fire employees; an appropriate merit raise for general and utility fund employees; purchase of operating

general items required to perform union services; and increasing funds for special or operational NGOs, Gist stated.

Gist stated that this priority list will be recommended to the City Council by the special working group’s bian-nual report and should at a minimum include the Alexandria Mardi Gras As-sociation, the Arna Bontemps African American Museum, the Arts Council, children’s sports and other recreation-al/educational programs.

Category Three involves all remain-ing partnership’s requests for funding or other NGOs and subject to funding only after funding for the other two categories is achieved, Gist stated.

Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy assured Council members on vari-ous points, including the funding of school crossing guards.

Roy said negotiations with the all stakeholders, such as the school district, over the summer months will seek to ensure that not just the city is fiscally responsible and that pay for school crossing guards stays through the end of school in May.

“There will not be a lapse in service at all,” the mayor said.

Council member Harry Silver said,

“Our job, whether up for election or not, is to look after the welfare of 50,000 citizens.”

Council member Ed Larvadain ques-tioned the need for several offices, including publicist, which the mayor defended as saving money by doing such things as producing SPARC ma-terials in-house.

SPARC stands for Special Planned Activity Redevelopment Corridors and is the city of Alexandria’s largest redevelopment project in its history, a $96 million infrastructure investment project in three separate Cultural Restorative Areas.

Those three CRAs are: (1) Down-town, Riverfront, and Lower Third; (2) North MacArthur Drive and Bolton Avenue; and (3) Masonic Drive and Lee Street.

“Do you think a city our size needs a publicist?” Larvadain asked.

Roy responded, “Yes, I do.”Council member Myron Lawson

repeated his concerns expressed dur-ing last week’s regular City Council session about funding the city’s golf course through the Utility Fund.

“I’d like to see a way for us to subsi-dize grasscutting,” Lawson said.

City Finance Director David Crutchfield defended the golf course subsidy, saying in effect that the golf course brings in more money than the zoo, which is also being subsidized by the Utility Fund in the new budget.

Lawson expressed concern about funding such organizations as the Boys and Girls Club. “I’m concerned about our investment in young people,” Lawson said.

Three people spoke during the pub-lic comment period:– Gayle Underwood, who urged ad-equate funding for public safety;– Patrick Searcy, representing the city firefighters union, who expressed support for the budget; and– Daisy Dempsey, executive direc-tor for Seniors Aging with Grace and Energy program, or SAGE, who said it is a rainy day in funding programs for the elderly.

“SAGE was cut the same as all the other NGOs — there was a uniform cut,” Mayor Roy said.

“If the Council wants to engage in targeted cuts, we will certainly look at that. I might add that it is under this

Photo by Bill SumrallDEEP DISCUSSION — David Crutchfield, Alexandria’s direc-tor of finance, discusses the budget with Mayor Jacques Roy during the April 27 budget meeting, where the Council approved a balanced budget 7-0.

BudgetContinued on Page 10

The lighT – May 1-14, 2010Page 6

Jazz on the River brings plenty of fun

GOOD TIMES — Shown are photos from the 2010 Jazz on the River held Saturday, April 17, on the Red River. The Arna Bontemps African American Museum and Cultural Arts Center hosts the annual event that features the Bontempians Big Band made up of middle and high school students. Jazz Vocalist Kathy Wade along with the Khalid Moss QuartetMaynard Batiste & the Rhythm Nile Band with Wilmer Christophe entertained the crowd. The event was sponsored by City of Alexandria, Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority, Louisiana Office of Tourism, Paragon Casino Resort and the Communities of Color Network.

The lighT –May 1-14, 2010 Page 7

All Photos by Sherri L. Jackson

The lighT – May 1-14, 2010Page 8

It’s Graduation Time Salute your special graduate in The Light

Congratulations Chelsea

I’m so proud of you! The Best is Yet to Come

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Graduation ads will be published May 15. The deadline to purchase a congratulatory ad for your special graduate is May 10. For information, call Sherri at (318) 308-2334.

Honor mothers every day, all dayWithout a doubt, mothers

throughout this world have been the most inspirational, selfless, caring, and encouraging individual to us throughout our lives. Mothers remain the constant in their children’s lives no matter our journey, its outcome, or what we turned out to be (good/bad, successful/unsuccessful, educated/uneducated, productive citizen/criminal).

Many of us accomplished what we thought was unimaginable to us at one time. However, with our mother’s unending support, love, trust, and patience, we forged on knowing that she was behind us every step of the way. In many cases, she is still behind us. And because of her, we are now doctors, lawyers, successful businesspersons, bankers, educators, and other professionals. In other words, we are now living our hopes and dream thanks to our dear mothers.

Our mothers have taught us life lessons. From those lessons, we learned the value of what it is to truly live. They showed us how to be strong when we were weak, how to live when we thought that life was not worth living, and how

to be respectful and kind when we disrespected her, our elders, and others. Our mothers taught us how to survive when we were down and out and about to give up. Our mothers loved us unconditionally. They were our one constant who watched over us and guided us along life’s path.

The love shared between mothers and her children is a bond of the strongest kind. It never wavers. The journey we take together as child and mother binds us inseparable from one phase of our lives to the next creating fond memories along the way. The gift of a mother’s love is something

that each of us keeps and hold closest to our hearts.

On this Mother’s Day, let each of us pay tribute to, and honor our mothers. We each will do that in separate ways (sending her flowers, treating her to a fabulous lunch or dinner, telephoning her and wishing her a Happy Mother’s Day if you live out of town, buying her jewelry/nice gift, giving her money) However, what is most important is that we do something (no matter how small) for her to show her that we thank her for giving us the gift of life, her love, her support throughout the years, her kindness, and her wisdom.

To all of you commemorating Mother’s Day, I ask that you please take care of and love and respect your mother every single day of the year. If you haven’t been doing this, please begin to do so fairly soon because when she is gone, you will wish that you had done so earlier and had the opportunity to do it over and over again.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, Mary Ann Ford, who has always been there for me, and to my wife, Schryl Wrenn Ford, who is my best friend and my soul mate.

Who are the

2010

Men

of

Substance?

The answer is

coming

soon!

The lighT –May 1-14, 2010 Page 9

Annual Relay for Life brings out manyThe annual American Cancer So-

ciety Relay for Life was held from 6 p.m. Friday, April 16 until 6 a.m., Sat-urday, April 17, at Holy Savior Menard High School in Alexandria.

The highlight of the event was the Luminaria Ceremony held at 9 p.m.. The event gave participants an oppor-tunity to remember loved ones lost to cancer and honor those who have

won their battle.

The lighT – May 1-14, 2010Page 10

administration specifically that SAGE’s funds have increased considerably,” Roy said.

The mayor added that the city’s $100,000 one-time effort using sur-plus funds helped keep the Boys and Girls Club open. “They have specific needs too,” Roy said but noted “the record of what we’ve committed to speaks for itself.”

“It is a rainy day now but we are standing behind the employees in saying that the first-end money should go back to a bare bones employee complement that exists right now to provide for basic services, so that any new money that’s used, particularly if we’re talking about surplus, we think should go there first,” Roy said.

While complementing Dempsey for running a great program, “we just don’t have the revenue right now to support every request that everyone makes,” Roy said.

Discussion ensued, during which

at one point Lawson and Larvadain pushed for a additional cutbacks in Council and city Administration bud-gets, with Roy asking for specifics on where the cuts should fall that could involve layoffs.

“I’m not going to be the scalpel (for layoffs) … you have to be,” Roy said.

City attorney Chuck Johnson said he oversaw $124,000 in cuts for legal division expenses, including a $4,800 pay cut for himself. “We’re running a bare bones operation,” Johnson as-sured Council members.

In response to a question from resi-dent Von Jennings, who has already announced her intention to run for mayor, Hobbs repeated his amend-ment for restoring budget funds, to be triggered by a $1.5 million rise in sales taxes.

Jennings noted her point is whether or not such a trigger is achieved.

However, Roy said that indications are that sales taxes would improve in 2011.

“Right now, we have to prepare for the worse,” the mayor said.

BudgetContinued from Page 5

New Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church will celebrate its choir’s annual musical at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 15.

The theme is “Praising God in the Sanctuary” with scriptural text from Psalm 150.

The church is located at corner of 2936 Cypress & Dallas Streets, Alexandria.

The Rev. L. R. Hall is host pastor.

Guardrail rehabilitation is scheduled for six bridges on the Cottingham Expressway (U.S. Highway 167)in Pineville over the next two months, beginning Sunday, May 2.

The bridges are the pair over La. Highway 28 East, the pair over La. Highway 107 northbound and the pair over La. Highway 107 southbound.

Work is expected to continue for approximately two months, according to the stateDepartment of Transportation and Development.

Most of this work will require tem-porary lane closures which will limit the flow of traffic to one lane in each direction.

The majority of these lane closures will take place in the evening and nighttime hours. Typically laneclosures are expected nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

All daytime closures will be staggered in an effort to avoid peak travel times. The closure has no vehiclerestrictions. One lane will be accessible

at all times.

New Kingdom’s annual musical set for April 18

Constructionbegins on Pineville Expressway

Mason to lead Southern UniversityBy Jozef Syndicate

The Board of Supervisors for the Southern University System recently named Ronald Mason Jr. president of the Southern University System.

Mason brings to Southern University more than 20 years of experience in higher education, community development and law. Mason is currently the president of Jackson State University.

Mason has also served as the Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for the Urban Community at Tulane and Xavier Universities in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to his successful tenure at Jackson State, Mason held several positions at Tulane University, including senior vice president, general counsel, and vice president for finance and operations.

Murphy Bell, co-chair of the Southern University System Presidential Search Committee, said Mason’s breadth of experience, proven leadership, and developments in campus infrastructure during his

tenure at Jackson State attracted the attention of many members of the Search Committee.Mason also has extensive

involvement in public service and professional activities, including current membership on the White House Board of Advisors for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Boards of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

Additionally, he has served on the Boards of the American Council on Education and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, Office of Postsecondary Education.

“Ron Mason is the perfect candidate to lead the SU System,” said Tony Clayton, chairman of the SU Board of Supervisors.

Mason

The lighT –May 1-14, 2010 Page 11

2nd Evening Star dedicates new building

The members of Second Eve-ning Star Missionary Baptist Church dedicated their new church facility in a ceremony that featured singing, preaching, and eating.

The church is located at 150 Cooper Road in Alexandria. The congregation had been worshiping at their building located on Hot Wells Springs Road.

The theme of the celebration was “Dare to Trust, Dare to Believe,” taken from Psalm 27:3-5 and Mark 9:23.

The Rev. Ameal Jones, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Alexandria and former pastor of Second Evening Star, was the speaker.

During the celebration, Pastor Phil-lip Taylor presented a recognition to the family of the late John Feazell, who had been instrumental in helping the congregation get the necessary permits from the Health Department.

“We were dead in the water as we ran into a hurdle that we didn’t know how to get around,” Taylor said. “Someone told us about John Feazell,

who had helped them get an oxida-tion pond. Mr. Feazell worked with us to get what we needed to pass the Health Department requirement.”

“Unfortunately, God called Mr. Fea-zell home before we completed the church. His family his here with us today,” Taylor said. Feazell of Boyce died in September 2009.

Other program participants included Juliette Brown, Sarah Lloyd, Cornelius Smith, and Shelia Dupar.

The church’s building committee included Taylor, Eugene King, Alex Salters, Smith and George Jones. The Dedication Service Committee included Ethel Quinney, chairwoman; Eugene King, co-chair; Juliette Brown, Maggie Brown, Alma Fletcher, Carrie McKinney, Cheryl Ridley, Frankie Rosenthal, Ethel Salters, Susie Smith, Gwendolyn Williams, Joyce Williams, O’Neal Williams.

Photos by Sherri L. Jackson.NEW LOOK — Shown at left is the new church building for the congregation of Second Evening Star Baptist Church, now located at 150 Cooper Road in Alexandria. Members dedicated their new facility in a special worship service held Saturday, April 24. At right, Pastor Phillip Taylor presents a plaque to the family of the late John Feazell of Boyce. Feazell, who died in September 2009, helped the congregation secure the necessary requirements to get a pass from the Department of Health. Also during the service, the Rev. Ameal Jones, former pastor, preached.

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Analysis: Torch passes in civil rights struggle

Dr. Dorothy Heights and Dr. Benjamin Hooks

By Errin Haynes

ATLANTA (AP) — The recent deaths of Dorothy Height and Benjamin Hooks, two icons of the civil rights era, nudge those who have come behind them closer to the control for which they have clamored.

It is a prospect that is at once entic-ing and intimidating for the move-ment’s heirs, who have waited years for their turn and a chance to further the progress of black America. Those years have caught up with both groups, as the graying civil rights generation has no choice but to step aside.

The next generation must decide whether they will step up as the nature of the struggle is in question and the future fight takes on a new identity.

It’s put up or shut up now, said the Rev. Al Sharpton.

“I remember for years we said, ‘Give us a chance,’” Sharpton said. “Well, we’re center stage now. What are we gonna do?”

At 55, Sharpton is considered young among civil rights activists. He was

groomed by people like Height and Hooks to lead after they left.

“They knew the struggle would continue beyond them,” said Sharp-ton, who founded his National Action Network nearly 20 years ago. “We are facing more institutional inequities. These matters are not as dramatic as they were in their time, but they’re just as insidious.”

For years, the heroes of the 1950s and 1960s kept us connected to a time when the battle for equality in this country was real and present for millions of black Americans, decades away from the election of the first black president.

The larger-than-life examples of An-drew Young, Joseph Lowery and John Lewis — who marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and lived to tell us about it year after year — were constant reminders that the fight is not over.

When she died Tuesday, April 27, at 98, Height was one of the few female voices of the movement. Her activism stretched from the New Deal to marching alongside King before she witnessed the historic election of

President Barack Obama.Hooks led the National Association

for the Advancement of Colored Peo-ple for 15 years after he was inspired to fight against social injustice and bigotry as a young soldier guarding Italian prisoners of war while serving overseas in the Army during World War II. Foreign prisoners could eat in “for whites only” restaurants but he could not. He died Thursday at the age of 85.

The struggle they leave behind is far different from the one they inherited under a segregated America. Today, the Rev. Raphael Warnock of MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta is carrying the mantle of social justice theology, fighting for voting rights and financial literacy and against disparities in the criminal justice system — without the permission of his elders.

“I don’t know that anybody handed that generation the leadership,” said the 40-year-old Warnock. “I think they took it. And the onus is on us to assume leadership and not wait on somebody to give it to us. We are clearly witnessing the changing of the

guard.”This generation does not live in fear

of biting dogs or the sting of a fire hose, but must still fight to ensure equal access to education and em-ployment. Hundreds of black elected officials across the country do not eliminate the need to advocate the right to vote.

“Losing Dr. Height hurts immea-surably, but it also inspires uncon-ditionally,” said Julianne Malveaux, president of the all-female, historically black Bennett College. “When we think about the struggles she identi-fied with and the work that she did, she’s really left us with a social, eco-nomic and legislative agenda.”

Malveaux said that many young people are respectful of history and may be ready to carry on with Height’s mission, but others may see her labor as part of a bygone era.

“They have been seduced by our progress to feel that the civil rights movement may not be necessary,” she said.