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| Gloria Reuben at the Hollywood premiere of Lincoln |
From our friends at Rabinowitz-Dorf Communications...
Women who have made outstanding contributions in service to the lower Georgia Avenue communities of Pleasant Plans and Park View will soon be celebrated as the Emergence Community Arts Collective (ECAC), offers In Her Honor: The Third Annual Celebration of the Service of Women in Pleasant Plains/Park View March 21, 2013 at 6:00 pm at the Howard University Blackburn Center. The event will feature Lincoln actress and philanthropist Gloria Reuben as the keynote speaker, and honors six contemporary women who have been devoted to preserving and upholding the Pleasant Plains and Park View communities.
“Hidden gems are embedded in every community as teachers, mothers, activists, and volunteers, who work vigorously without recognition or fanfare,” said Sylvia Robinson, executive director of the ECAC, a cultural arts and community center located on Euclid Street, NW. “In Her Honor unearths these women’s stories and shares them with the community. As these contemporary women are honored, we will also pay tribute to women of the past who have built the foundation of our thriving community.” The event will highlight ECAC’s historical connection to Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd Lincoln’s seamstress and confidant, and the organization she founded 150 years ago to rescue formerly enslaved people from the streets of Washington DC.
The honorees are nominated and selected by the community and receive their awards in front of family, friends and colleagues. This year’s honorees will be:
Rev. Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness, ANC 1B commissioner
Ms. Monica Guyot, Founder of the GAP Community Childcare Center (awarded posthumously)
Ms. Jennifer Niles, Director, E. L. Haynes Public Charter School
Ms. Jackie Reyes, Ward 1 Latino affairs & community outreach director
Ms. Jo Strowder, community activist, teacher and volunteer
Ms. Shelore Williams, board chair, Development Corporation of Columbia Heights
The ECAC will also recognize one young woman who has demonstrated leadership in the community. This year’s young woman honoree is Sheika Nicole Reid, artist, social justice activist and Howard University student.
Since opening, the ECAC (www.campaign.ecacollective.org) has provided affordable community space, arts and education classes, support groups and social activities. As the Pleasant Plains/Park View communities are facing major redevelopment, the ECAC is striving to preserve and proclaim the stories of our past as we journey into the future. Our proactive community involvement led to the installation of the Georgia Avenue/Pleasant Plains Heritage Trail, which documents the history of Lower Georgia Avenue, and the Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force organized to ensure the residents have a voice in redevelopment.
What: In Her Honor: The Third Annual Celebration of the Service Of Women in Pleasant Plains/Park View
Where: Howard University Blackburn Center
When: March 21st at 6:00 p.m.
Who: Keynote speaker Gloria Reuben and six women honorees who have upheld the community
