By Michael Morton
Seven community leaders received awards for their contributions to Queens last Thursday at a dinner held at Citibank’s Long Island City building to honor Black History Month.
The borough president’s office, sponsor of the yearly event, also recognized 11 high school seniors for their work in an essay contest leading up to the evening. Five of those students, the top finishers, won $1,000 scholarships to further their education.
Awards for community leaders were handed out for six categories, with many of the honorees involved with several different projects or programs. Ken and Valerie Cohen, a married couple from Flushing, won the Civic Achievement award largely for their work with the 75th Avenue Playground Volunteer Group, an organization they started to clean up public parks. Ken Cohen is the president of the Flushing branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The Business Achievement award was given to Clinton Graham, the owner of a real estate and home improvement business in Jamaica. Graham was honored for providing jobs and affordable housing to hundreds of residents in his community.
“He helps people in any way he can,” Borough President Helen Marshall said.
City Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Harlem), co-founder of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, won the Education Achievement award for suing the state of New York to provide more funds for the city’s public schools. Though awards at the dinner are normally reserved for Queens residents, an exception was made for Jackson.
Marshall presented the Arts Achievement award to Kerri Edge, a community activist from Laurelton whose KECDE children’s dance company has won several awards.
The Lifetime Achievement award was given to the late James Davis, who served as chairman of Community Board 12 in Jamaica from 1992 until his death from a heart attack last year. Curtis Archer, co-chairman of the planning committee and the executive director of the Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corp., accepted the award for Davis. Archer said he worked with Davis during their association with the Queens Economic Development Corp.
“He was a serious taskmaster in making sure the (QEDC) fulfilled its mission of providing opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses,” Archer said.
The final award, a Special Recognition from Marshall, was presented to Cecil Watkins for his work in establishing recreational programs for youth and young adults in Elmhurst and Corona, among other neighborhoods. Marshall said that Watkins was so dedicated she worried years ago that he might neglect his then-girlfriend.
“Thank God Valerie finally married him,” Marshall joked.
For the students, five scholarships were handed out. The winners this year included Nekia Barrow of the private Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale; Michael Williams of Renaissance High School in Jackson Heights; Abigail Wray of Richmond Hill High School; Rasheena O’Quinn of Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside; and Ugo Eze of John Adams High School in Ozone Park.
Six other students were recognized for their essays but did not win scholarships: Aliya Allen of Richard R. Green High School in Manhattan, Sarah Goldberg of Business and Computer Applications Magnet High School in Cambria Heights, Orquidia Torres of St. Agnes Academic School in College Point, Candice Moore of Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, Yola Francois of Newtown High School in Elmhurst and Rael Clarke of St. John’s Preparatory School in Astoria.
William Nelson, the other co-chairman of the committee and president of the Southern Queens Park Association, said students were asked to write about an influential black author and that the quality of this year’s essays was very high. For the community awards, he said 20 to 25 qualified candidates were considered for the six categories.
“They’re folks who for years have been doing things for the community, who have respect, who might go under the radar screen,” he said of the winners. “We wanted to honor them.”
Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
