MANATEE CHAPTER NAACP HOLDS FREEDOM FUND AWARDS DINNER

“When we fight, we win” was the theme of the Freedom Fund Awards Banquet sponsored by the Manatee County Branch NAACP on Saturday, October 12th at IMG Academy Golf Club. Over 150 guests were in attendance at the prestigious event which recognized residents for their involvement in Manatee County. The 2019 honorees were Keenan Wooten, Community Service; Cornelius Watkins, Businessperson of the Year; Charles B. Smith, Unsung Hero; Dr. Felecia D. Jett, Unsung Heroine; Representative Wengay “Newt” Newton, President’s Award and Dr. Napolean Mills, Lifetime Achievement. Wooten is the Student Support Specialist and Athletic Director at Electa Arcotte Lee Magnet Middle School. Continued on Page 10 Previously, he was the College and Career Advisor at Southeast High School and Administrative Parent Liaison at Lakewood Ranch High School. He is a member of Kappa Alphi Psi Fraternity. Watkins founded Real Vision Barber Academy after seeing a need for qualified barbers in his and local barber shops, providing the opportunity to improve the employability of people in the community. The Academy has graduated over 200 students and has helped to create over 35 new barber shops in surrounding communities. Smith is a former Manatee County Commissioner and Vice Mayor of Palmetto. At the age of 26, he became the first African American elected to the Palmetto City Commission. While on the commission, he established the first housing authority in the history of Palmetto. Dr. Jett recently retired from Tropicana Products, Inc., after 38 years in corporate America. She is a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. where she currently serves as Internal Audit Chair, and co-chair of the Social Action and Junior Cotillion committees. She recently became a Guardian ad Litem in Manatee County and is a member of the Manasota Black Chamber of Commerce. Representative Newton is currently serving his second term as State Representative of Florida House District 70, which encompasses portions of Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota Counties. His current committee assignments are Business and Professions Subcommittee, Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee, Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee and State Affairs Committee. Dr. Mills served as the first African American Director of the Manatee Area Vocational and Technical Center (MTI). He served as Assistant Principal at Lincoln Memorial Middle School for several years before retiring from the Manatee County School District after 35 years. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Keynote speaker was Alisia Adamson Profit, Esquire, a partner at HAWM Law, PLLC which concentrates on criminal defense. She previously worked as a trial attorney with the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the Office of the Public Defender. Born and raised in Bradenton, Attorney Adamson graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Marketing from Florida State University and continued her studies and received a Juris Doctorate from FSU’s College of Law. Tarnisha Cliatt is president of the Manatee County Branch and Michelle Grimsley served as Freedom Fund chairperson.