ABOVE: Dr. Muddassir Siddqi, HCC President Central Campus; Cesar Maldonado, HCC Chancellor; Tony Chase, Gene Locke and Robert Glaser, HCC Board Trustee
This past Saturday, February 25th, Houston Community College (HCC) hosted its annual Black History Scholarship Gala at Hotel ZaZa, where they raised the necessary funds to support scholarships for deserving African American students and students of African heritage to attend HCC. Recipients received a $1,000 scholarship to help cover the cost of tuition and books. The theme of the 2017 scholarship gala was Thinking Globally, Acting Locally, and this year’s gala took a more worldly view of the plight of African Americans, and examined ways in which average citizens and college students can help improve the lives of underserved people around the world. The Honorable Teta V. Banks, the internationally known chair of the United Nations Association, served as the keynote speaker of the gala. Nettie Washington Douglass, the great granddaughter of Booker T. Washington and the great, great granddaughter of Frederick Douglass, was also in attendance. One of the most-important aspects of the gala are the annual tributes to remarkable individuals making a difference in the Greater Houston area, known as the Joyce M. Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Awards and the Unstoppable Leadership Awards and Gallery during the Black History Gala. The Joyce M. Reynolds Lifetime Achievement Award recipients for 2017 are Tony Chase, Chairman & CEO of ChaseSource, LP and Attorney and former HCC Trustee Gene L. Locke. The Unstoppable Leadership Award recipients for 2017 are Rev. Byron C. Stevenson and First Lady Sonya Taylor Stevenson of The Fort Bend Church and award-winning radio announcer, Kandi Eastman of Majic 102.1 FM.
Karen Carter Richards, the Honorable Teta V. Banks and Linda Brown
Deepak Sane, Constable Gary Majors, Rep. Ron Reynolds, Neeta Sane, HCC Trustee; Dr. Jonita Reynolds and Commissioner Grady Prestage
Honoree Gene Locke, Brenda Dixon, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Honoree Tony Chase, Karen Carter Richards and Linda Brown
Karen Carter Richards, Linda Brown, Barbara Lewis, Kari Gray Smith and Kelly Hodges
Cydonii Miles, Nettie Washington Douglass, Senator Borris Miles and the Honorable Teta V. Banks
Fort Bend County Commissioner Grady Prestage and wife Fheryl Johnson Prestage
Christopher Oliver, Vice Chair HCC Board of Trustees and his son
Burl and Sheryl Jones and Michael and Glendora Chambers
Khambrel Marshall, Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Honoree Gene L Locke and Melanie Lawson
Unstoppable Leadership Awards Honorees: Rev. Byron Stevenson, First Lady Sonya Stevenson and Kandi Eastman
Nettie Washington Douglass, Dr. Kenneth Holden, HCC Northeast and Karen Carter Richards