APRIL 8, 2006--Outside it might have been raining in Trenton, New Jersey but the sun was definitely shining inside one home on 219 S. Clinton Avenue, as a group of five African-American Brown University Alumni and their families, school and city officials and even the Mayor of Trenton were on hand to recognize the inaugural recipients of the Ethel Tremaine Robinson Foundation's Marie Moses grant--Nadee Lewis and Derek Dunlap Jr and their families.
It was an informal gathering where chips and chicken wings were in abundance. Once everybody filled their stomachs and got to know one another, words of support, encouragement and appreciation were given by the five alums(Hayward Vereen Jr. '88, Darren Collins '88 Steve Robertson '82, Leon Johnson '82 and Roland Laird Jr. '82) who helped organize the grant. Because he had such a busy schedule, the Mayor of Trenton, Douglas H. Palmer was unable to stay long enough to give a small speech but his presence was more than appreciated and he was well represented in words by his Director of Economic Development, Taneshia Nash Laird as well as the Vice Principal of Grace A. Dunn Middle School (Nadee and Derek's school), Jermaine E. Kamau. For all the words of granduer from the adults, the real highlight were the brief words of the students themselves: Nadee Lewis spoke about the importance of getting to know different students her age from different environments and how she was looking forward to studying forensics for a week and how this grant will enhance her job opportunities when she grows up.. Meanwhile Derek Dunlap Jr. was succinct, "he needs something to fall back on after his NFL Career". Ah the joy of youth.
Go to the Photos section of this website to see some fabulous pictures taken by Darren Collins (all except the cloudy one of the Mayor and Nadee).
Finally to paraphrase Leon Johnson, it feels great to offer support to lives that are still unfolding.
Welcome to the Boldly Black page. These are challenging times for our people and wherever possible, we'd like Brown University to be a resource to and a beneficiary of our individual and collective efforts in the strengthening and empowering of our community.