LYNN – 17 residents from Lynn, Peabody, Salem, Medford, and Gloucester were honored Tuesday evening inside City Hall for their involvement and achievements in their communities and careers during the North Shore Juneteenth Association (NSJA) Local Black Excellence ceremony.
The ceremony, which began in 2019, is a part of the observance of Black History Month in the city and aims to create a positive representation of the Black community and shine a spotlight on Black individuals who are making an impact in their careers and communities. This year marks the first in person award ceremony since its inception five years ago.
“This display of mobile Black excellency is important. It instills a sense of pride in us as adults, reminding us to look to the left and to the right because there are others in the Black community striving for success,” said Founder and President of the NSJA Nicole McClain in her opening speech at the ceremony.
After McClain, Guest speakers Tonya “T” Nash, Dr. Taiese Bingham- Hickman, and Terry E. Carter all spoke on behalf of the Local Black Excellence honorees.
Nash, an LGBTQ+ activist who was one of the Local Black Excellence honorees for the evening, was born and raised in Lynn and decided to switch career paths to become a certified nurse’s assistant (CNA) after the passing of her mother. In 2017, she opened Tops Passionate Private Home Care, located in Salem, which assists individuals in their daily lives at home.
Nash’s speech centered around the concept of worthiness and expressed throughout that everyone is worthy, no matter the person or situation that they are in.
“We all are worthy. It doesn’t matter what your race may be. Being an openly gay entrepreneur, community activist, and an author, I am worthy,” said Nash to begin her speech. “Sadly, there is too many people who are suffering from drug abuse, alcoholism, learning disabilities, and the list goes on and on, but at the end of the day, we are all worthy.”
Bingham-Hickman, a Lynn Classical graduate and Executive Director of the Leadership Alliance was next to speak. The Leadership Alliance was originally started at Brown University and seeks “to develop underrepresented students into outstanding leaders and role models in academia, the public, and the private sector.”
She stated that only 2 percent of the U.S population has a PhD, and of that, only 8 percent are African American. Bingham-Hickman went on to say that the Leadership Alliance is helping underrepresented students become inspired when they see people that look like them in the workforce.
“When I went on to graduate school, there weren’t a lot of people that looked like me,” she said. “So having an organization like this where you can actually see researchers, African American, Hispanic, Native American, LGBTQ, women, who are doing the research and look like you, and, as everyone already articulated, representation matters.”
Carter, a talented writer and poet who was named the inaugural Poet Laureate of Medford was third to speak. Carter’s poems involve a number of topics from Black history, to faith and contemporary culture, and read one of his poems, “Community Service,” during his speech.
To conclude the ceremony, Mayor Jared Nicholson, along with State Reps. Dan Cahill and Jenny Armini presented citations to each of the honorees.
“We are so grateful for all that you do all year long in your communities for our city,” said Nicholson about the honorees. “We are happy to be reminded every day we walk through this atrium to see the visual reminder of Black excellence and I’m sure those words that we heard tonight will be reverberated around this lobby for weeks to come.”
The following is the full list of the Local Black Excellence honorees:
Ticona Suggs, Arthur V. Akers Esq., Brian Vaughn, Jennifer Harris, Mariama Barry, Doreen Murray, Adriana Paz, Tonia Nash, Jason Taglieri, Nakia Navarro, Michelle La Poetica Richardson, Edwin Cabrera, Lev McClain, Rev. Andre Bennett, Kenann McKenzie-DeFranza, Michea McCaffrey, and Terry E. Carter.
