JACKSON, TN — On Sunday, May 28th at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in a sold out event in Jackson, Tennessee ten people who benefited their communities were honored. “We are very pleased to announce our Gallery of Legends for this year’s Freedom Fund Banquet,” chairperson Dr. Martha Robinson said in a news release.
These people are being recognized as “NAACP Legends.”
This year’s honorees include:
• Rosetta Miller Perry, founder and publisher of the Tennessee Tribune newspaper and civil rights activist
• Morris P. Fair Sr., retired teacher and community leader
• Mary Cunningham, founding member of the Top Ladies of Distinction
• Pastor Lee Wilkins, of the Next Level Cathedral of Praise
• Reginald Green, professor, interim chair, department of leadership, first African-American president of the faculty senate at the University of Memphis
• Arva Hildreth Robinson, teacher
• Margaret E. Savage, teacher and community activist
• James Howard Pearson, World War II veteran
• Helen Porter, first African-American crossing guard in Jackson
• W.T. Yarborough, deputy under Sheriff Buford Pusser
Honorees represent areas all across the state of Tennessee.
Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the national NAACP served as speaker, while the mistress and master of ceremonies were Dr. Martha Robinson, professor at University of Memphis Lambuth and Frank McMeen, president of West TN Healthcare Foundation. Honorary co-chairs are Rep. Johnny Shaw, House District 80 and Jimmy Eldridge, House District 73.
