Rev. Dr. Ernest L. Reid, Jr., stands with his family and sings a hymn during a service where he was welcomed as the new pastor of the Second Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The church recently celebrated 149 years in operation and he is the 21st pastor in the church’s history. More Info
What: Ruby Hurley Image AwardsWhen: 6 p.m. Thursday. Doors open at 5.Where: Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center at 1150 Carter St.Admission: Sold out
2016 Ruby Hurley Image Award honorees
John Edwards III — Ruby Hurley Humanitarian of the YearCouncilman Moses Freeman — James R. Mapp Citizen of the YearChattanooga State College Police Chief Curtis L. Green —Ralph Cothran Civil Service Officer of the YearChattanooga Fire Lt. Vernon Lane — Ralph Cothran Civil Service Officer of the YearPatricia Shackelford-Gray— Hannah Martin Spirit AwardBusiness owner Sharon Kelly — Businessperson of the YearRetired educator Jennifer Woods — Education Initiative AwardWNOO-AM community talk show host Sam Terry — President AwardDr. Elenora Woods— Viola Mapp AwardChattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences junior William James Pierce III — Reginald “Reggie” White Athletic AwardChattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences freshman Jessica LeAnn Pierce — Reginald “Reggie” White Athletic Award
Responsibility rests on upwardly mobile residents to make the world a better place for those who are poor, disenfranchised and marginalized, the Rev. Ernest L. Reid Jr. says.
“I believe there is a great divide in the country as it relates to the haves and the have-nots and problems will continue to occur in different ways and areas until we begin to address racial issues and issues of economic disparity,” said Reid, the newly installed pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church.
He will speak Thursday at the NAACP’s 28th Annual Ruby Hurley Image Award Gala. The event is the largest fundraiser of the year for the civil rights organization and celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Chattanooga Hamilton County NAACP branch.
The theme, “Hats Off to the Heroes,” is in recognition of past NAACP presidents and the 12 Ruby Hurley award winners. Children of the late James R. Mapp, who led the local NAACP branch for decades, will attend the event and present the James R. Mapp Award.
NAACP officials want the gala to generate memberships and highlight the organization’s work in the community. Chapter president Dr. Elenora Woods said the organization focuses on ending racial, economic and educational disparities.
“When you talk about wanting to help poor folks, be ready to be ostracized, blackballed, kicked under the table,” she said. “It’s hard fighting for civil rights. It’s hard. But if God be for you, it doesn’t matter who is against you.”
This year the organization launched a Read to Lead Initiative emphasizing the importance of reading with children, hosted restorative practices workshops to prevent school suspensions and expulsions, and commissioned “The Unfinished Agenda,” a report that highlighted local economic and racial disparities and called for a citywide effort to address disparities. The study showed that 63.5 percent of people in the city’s 11 mostly black low-income neighborhoods live in poverty.
Reid replaced the Rev. Paul McDaniel, who pastored Second Missionary Baptist for more than 50 years and was in the forefront of civil rights efforts in the city.
Reid also is among new leaders advocating for social justice and equality after many civil rights pioneers and pastors of the previous generation retired or died within the past year.
Mapp died in July. The Rev. Oscar Lockhart, who led Thankful Missionary Baptist Church for 35 years, retired last month. The late Rev. H.H. Wright, pastor of Wesley Community Christian Chapel and another civil rights pioneer, died Oct. 28, 2014. Wright helped change Chattanooga’s form of government to increase minority representation and once held weekly protests at City Hall against police brutality. The Rev. John Loyd Edwards Jr., pastor of Cosmopolitan Community Church and founder of the Mary Walker Foundation Museum, died in April 2014.
Edwards’ son, John Edwards III, is being given the Ruby Hurley Humanitarian of the Year award at Thursday’s gala.
The new generation includes Latoya Holloman, founder of Loving My Community, who host rallies to end violence in East Lake Courts; the Rev. Charlotte Williams, pastor of Eastdale Village Community United Methodist Church and local Nation of Islam leader Kevin Muhammad, who held fundraisers for the families of homicide victims, hosted community food drives and led dozens of Chattanooga residents on buses to the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., this month.
Ash-Lee Henderson, co-founder of Concerned Citizens for Justice, the sacrifices made by past civil rights and social justice leaders motivate her to advocate for others.
“For every day we’re not changing the conditions of marginalized people in this country, I’m talking about black people, I’m talking about LBGTQ people, I’m talking about working class people, every day that we don’t win, their lives are negatively impacted to the point of death,” said Henderson.
Reid, 38, became the youngest elected official in Portsmouth, Va., in 2010 when he was elected to the Portsmouth City School Board. The husband and father of two was also the former NAACP president in Reading, Pa.
Reid said he’s motivated to work for social justice as long as he sees people in need.
“I would feel as if I’m not doing my duty if I came to church weekly and I’m doing well and maybe even my parishioners are doing well but I look at those outside of my faith community and they’re not doing well,” he said.
“I would have to think I am not adequately doing my job.”
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.