Annual Juneteenth Ally Award Recipients

1996

Robert Newberry, former editorial writer for the Houston Post newspaper, wrote a number of articles about the Center during its early years. His columns played a large role in making the Center visible and bringing people to its first events.

Larry Payne, has served the Houston community with his public service, with not-for-profit, educational and religious, organizations and his activism in various social justice community organizations. As a host of a long-standing program on KPFT community radio, he often addressed issues involving race, sometimes featuring interviews of members of the Center.

Patricia Scott-Prater, Love of black history becomes full-time job `We do have a history and a culture,’ says Patricia Prather, co-founder of Texas Trailblazers association.

Chandler Davis – Rice Professor, for his civil rights work and his continued work as an activist for the rights of all people.

1997

The following Faith communities were honored for providing space for the Center to administer its work and to conduct Dialogue: Racism. They continue to be committed to anti-racism work.

Dominican Sisters of Houston

Bahá’í Faith of Houston

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston

Westbury United Methodist Church

1998

Drs. Maria and Krenie Stowe are a mother and daughter physician duo who are as committed to social justice and health care reform (on both sides of the US/Mexico border) as they are to practicing medicine. Maria ran a family health clinic in Ciudad Juárez where she treated indigent patients of all ages. After returning to the United States, Krenie earned her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and, subsequently, a lawl degree Harvard University. Krenie later worked for the Indian Health Service in North Dakota before she and her mother moved to Texas where they set up a nonprofit health clinic dedicated to serving low-income families.

1999

James Byrd , Jr. family, for showing courage in the face of the horrific lynching death of James Byrd, Jr. They subsequently established a non-profit organization, The Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing, to promote racial healing and cultural diversity through education.

Ada Edwards, an activist against racism and social injustice in the United States and South Africa, Edwards has hosted a talk show on KBHX radio and has owned a bookstore that sold books by Black writers

Maria Jimenez, Director of the American Friends Service Committee, a longtime Houston social justice activist who has spent decades championing the rights of women, minorities and immigrants in the Latin Community

2000

Ann Van Dyke, a civil-rights investigator for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, for her work for a monitoring project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. She tracked and reported hate crimes and groups in the state.

Native Americans, for serving as allies to many people of African descent, the first freedom for many of them. Indigenous people took in runaway slaves who then became part of their families.

2001

Robert Bianch, Crystal Gianelli, and Tarah Ortize, graduates of Quest High School partnered with the Center for the “Words Hurt” volunteer project.

Evelio Grillo, author of the book “Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir”

Maggi Kindshuh, a graduate of St. Agnes Academy High School, speaks out against racism, taking part in group demonstrations, and protests.

2002

Robert Jensen, an emeritus professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, has addressed questions of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized racism.

2003

Jane Elliott, a former third-grade schoolteacher, anti-racism activist, and educator, known for her “Blue eyes–Brown eyes” exercise, conducted for her class the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. After leaving her school, Elliott became a diversity educator full-time. She still holds the exercise and gives lectures about its effects all over the U.S. and in several locations overseas.

2004

Jennifer Daley, in memoriam, Houston Community College Central

Malcolm Gillis, President of Rice University

Lani Silvers, Teacher, Oral Historian, Activist spent much of her life documenting the stories of Holocaust survivals. In 1998 When James Byrd was lynch. She changed her focus to tell the stories of African Americans living their lives under a Racism system in this country.

2005

Linda Wallace, a journalist published in national newspapers and author of Cultural IQ, an on-line blog that provides practical tips for dealing with uncomfortable life situations such as hatred, sexual harassment, and fear.

2006

Debra Duncan, former reporter, TV news anchor, and talk show host on Channel 11, KHOU Houston presented the Ally Award for her role in keeping her fingers on the pulse of our city.

Patricia Gras, Emmy award-winning television journalist, host of Channel 8 PBS “Living Smart” and “Latina Voices”, Gras has produced a number of documentaries on Romanian orphans, Houston refugees, non-profit international medical services, and cultures as well as profiling the Center and its work on her programs

rofessor Joe R. Feagin, author, social activist, is a U.S. sociologist and social theorist who has conducted extensive research on racial and gender issues, especially in regard to the United States. He is at Texas A&M University. Feagin has done much research work on race and ethnic relations and has served as the scholar in residence at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He has written over 60 books, one of which (Ghetto Revolts) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

2007

Ruth Burgos-Sasscer, Ph.D., first woman president of San Antonio College and first female and first Hispanic chancellor of the Houston Community College System. She has done much to further the education for women and minorities.

Bruce Leslie, Ph.D., after 40 years in education, recently retired as Alamo Community College District Chancellor. He has been active in the World Affairs Council of San Antonio is to promote public understanding of world affairs and United States foreign policy, and to enhance the ability of its citizens and future leaders to participate in a global community.

2008

Chief Phil Lane, Jr. is an internationally recognized indigenous leader in human and community development. The founder and chairman of the Four World’s International Institute (FWII), an organization dedicated to “unifying the human family through the Fourth Way”. Lane is an enrolled member of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations and is a citizen of both Canada and the United States. He is a frequent speaker on behalf of indigenous rights and wisdom.

2009

Tim Wise, is among the most respected anti-racist writers and educators in the U.S., having spoken in 48 states and on over 600 college campuses. He has trained teachers, corporate employees, government, media, military and law enforcement officials on methods for addressing and dismantling racism in their institutions. He is the author of four books. Many of his talks can be accessed on YouTube.

2010

Katrina Browne, produced and directed “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North” (Sundance, 2008; PBS/POV, 2008; Emmy Award® nomination, 2009). In the feature documentary Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide. She founded the nonprofit organization Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery to spread the message of the film and to offer screenings, dialogues, and other programming on slavery, race, and privilege.

2011

Lee Mun Wah, an internationally renowned Chinese American? documentary filmmaker, author, poet, Asian folk teller, educator, community therapist, and master diversity trainer. He was chosen as the 2011 Ally Award recipient because of his work and contribution to dialogue on race and the elimination of racial discrimination. Mr. Wah is the Executive Director of Stirfry Seminars & Consulting and producer of the award winning documentaries such as “The Color of Fear,” “Stolen Ground” and “Last Chance for Eden.”  He’s the only one whose race you mentioned. Isn’t saying he’s an Asian folk teller and Chinese American redundant? I’d say pick one, but what do I know?

2012

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., Dr. Moore is the Founder/Program Director for the annual, national White Privilege Conference (WPC) for the past 13 years. Under his leadership the conference has become one of the leading social justice conferences in the world. The design and success of the WPC is based on building relationships. This design is viewed by many as the model to be followed for organizations advocating for peace, equity, justice and change.

2013

Micki Dickoff, an American director, writer and producer of social justice films, including her critically acclaimed feature documentary, Neshoba: The Price of Freedom, offering the unvarnished truth that is needed to achieve justice, healing and racial reconciliation.  The film includes Dickoff’s interview with KKK member, Edgar Ray Killen, about the Mississippi town still divided about the meaning of justice, 40 years after the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. (Robert can edit it grammatically and style-wise.)

YWCA of Houston, was honored for its 105 years of history of efforts at eliminating racism and empowering women.

Janis (Bus Lady) Scott, Community Service Ally Award, for aiding Houston citizens in navigating the Metro System

2014

William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), was given the award posthumously with his what was her relation to him? (relative) accepting the award on his and his family’s behalf. He was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, which he founded with Isaac Knapp in 1831 and published in Massachusetts until slavery was abolished by Constitutional amendment after the American Civil War. He was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and promoted “immediate emancipation” of slaves in the United States.

St. Agnes Academy High School, for 20 years of preparing young people for the real world in the “Healing Racism” class.

Holocaust Museum Houston,  is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and millions of other innocent victims and honoring the survivors’ legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, the Museum teaches the dangers of hatred prejudice and apathy to tens of thousands of people worldwide each year.

The Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum’s, mission is to promote “Cultural Understanding and Education through Historic Preservation and Archaeological Research into the enslaved and Freedmen’s experiences in the world.” Houston’s National Register Historic District of Freedmen’s Town in 4th Ward was considered the “Mother Ward” for African Americans. Some of the first doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers, blacksmiths, brick makers, and businessmen and women lived in Freedmen’s Town. The Ward had the largest cluster of historic homes, historic churches, and brick streets, all built by freed men after Emancipation in 1865.

Houston Peace and Justice Center’s mission is to provide networks and resources for organizations and individuals to advance peace and social justice throughout Houston.

2015

Frances E. Kendall, is a nationally known consultant who has focused for more than thirty-five years on organizational change, diversity, social justice, and white privilege. Author of Diversity in the Classroom and Understanding White Privilege: Creating Pathways to Authentic Relationships Across Race, Kendall was recently named a “Pioneer of Diversity” by Profiles in Diversity Journal and a “Legend of Diversity” by the International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals.

Professor Stephen L. Klineberg, Ph.D., for aiding Houston Citizens to understand our diversity is our greatest strength. In March 1982, he and his students at Rice University initiated the annual “Kinder Institute Houston Area Survey,” now in its 33rd year of tracking the remarkable changes in the demographic patterns, economic outlooks, experiences, and beliefs of Harris County residents.

2016

Yusef Salaam, was one of five accused teens who became known collectively as the “Central Park Five” after the brutal attack on a woman in New York City. One of those boys, Yusef Salaam, was just 15-years-old when his life was upended and changed forever. In 2002, after the Central Park Five spent between seven and 13 years of their lives behind bars, the sentences of the boys—now men—were overturned. A convicted murderer and rapist serving a life sentence confessed, and DNA confirmed his guilt. The Central Park Five were fully exonerated. Since his release from prison, Salaam has been educating others about the race-based inequity of the criminal justice system.

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Surviving family members of the nine victims of the Charleston Shooting June 17, 2015 

2017

Black Lives Matter Houston,  is part of the The Black Lives Matter Global Network whose mission is to build local power and to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities, working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise. Ashton Woods accepted the award for work done locally.

Justin Normand, was awarded an Individual Initiative Award. He stood in front of the Islamic Center of Irving, Texas, with a sign reading “You belong”. He said he had the urge to “share peace with [his] neighbors” after the election results rolled in Nov. 9., so he went out on his own last weekend and did just that.

United We Dream Houston, for standing for the protection of Dreamers and immigrants. It is the largest immigrant youth-led community in the country. They work to empower people to develop their leadership, their organizing skills, and to develop our own campaigns to fight for justice and dignity for immigrants and all people. 

Dara Silverman, founding director of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), built the organizing collective for white anti-racist allies from a group of 12 chapters to 150 during her tenure. She has been promoting socioeconomic and racial justice for more than 20 years.

2018

James W. Loewen, an American sociologist, historian, and author, best known for his 1995 book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. His book “Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism” was released in 2005.For 20 years, Loewen taught about racism at the University of Vermont, where he is now professor emeritus of sociology. 

Tahirih Justice Center, for its work promoting a safe world for immigrant women and girls fleeing violence in their native lands.

Lisa Falkenberg, 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Houston Chronicle, for groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses, egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems, racism, and human rights.

Ben and Sarah Becker, for their grassroots leadership of a movement to keep the schools open. 

2019

Tim Wise, is among the nation’s most prominent antiracism educators and writers and the only person to get the Ally Award two times. Since 1995, he has spoken on over 1000 college and high school campuses and to community groups across the country. He is the author of 7 books on race and racism, including his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, and Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority

S.H.A.P.E.  Community Center, 50 years of improving the quality of life for children, families and the community. 

Maya Ford, for a solo sit-in protest of children detention centers. 

2020

Kevin Locke, (Tokaheya Inajin in Lakota translation “First to Rise”) is a world famous visionary Hoop Dancer, preeminent player of the Indigenous Northern Plains flute, traditional storyteller, cultural ambassador, recording artist and educator.   Kevin is Lakota and Anishnabe.

2021

Mallory Keeler, from Kingwood, TX, was honored for directing and producing a 2020 Black Lives Matter concert fundraiser performed by a group of Kingwood students. Proceeds from the concert benefitted the Center for the Healing of Racism.

The Houston Coalition Against Hate, a network of community-based organizations, institutions and leaders, was honored for its work to reduce hate and encourage belonging in the city of Houston.

Lupita Nyongo, the Academy Award-winning actress and author of the New York Times best-selling children’s book Sulwe, was honored for being such a positive role model for young people of color throughout the world.

2022

Eldrewey Stearns and Houston’s Student leader in Civil Rights Movement (12/21/1931-12/23/2020)

SOJES – Society of Justice & Equality for the People of Sugar Land  for preserving the history and educating the community about the contributions of African Americans in the creation and progression of Sugar Land and Fort Bend County, Texas.  This includes memorializing the Sugar Land 95.

Seven Lakes High School Students voters of tomorrow. For the students organizing to distribute of banned books in Katy ISD books about racism and LGBTQ issues.