Ebony Aurora Awards
The Alaska Black Caucus is proud to celebrate Black excellence through the Ebony Aurora Awards.
The Ebony Aurora Awards are an opportunity to recognize and honor members of our community for their exceptional work. Awardees are unique, for they embody the values of service to others, productivity, excellence, commitment to change, advocacy, and leadership.
Awardees’ contributions to the city of Anchorage have allowed others to take steps toward a better tomorrow.
2023 Recipients
Roz’ilyn is a 5th generation Hairstylist of Annie Carol and Tessie Lee and was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Roz’lyn is a mother of five, President and Founder of The Alaska Coalition of Bipoc Educators, and an aspiring special education teacher. Regarding education, Roz’lyn works hard to build a supportive community for children to grow, develop and dream. Roz’lyn is a fierce advocator for her children and the children she teaches. She uses her voice using my voice to push the limits of society to create a valuable environment for others.
Vic is a law enforcement veteran who has served as an Alaska State Trooper and an Officer for Anchorage Police Department (APD).
Washington is passionate about uplifting black youths in the community through mentorship through programs such as Manhood 101. Washington’s goals are to make Anchorage a more accepting and safer place for all, and he does that by fearlessly challenging the status quo regarding policing and how it impacts communities of color.
Sheneè is the President/CEO of a nonprofit designed to support and uplift the underserved community, Shiloh Community Housing. Williams is a public servant at heart. Her tenacity and willingness to help others has always been a driving force in her actions. According to her, the work she does in the community is the most rewarding work she’s done. Although retired, Shiloh Housing has become her fulltime retirement job.
Rex, the Johnnie Cochran of Alaska is an attorney and a U.S. Navy veteran. Butler received his law degree from Howard University School of Law. After graduation from Howard, he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, to work as a Law Clerk for Alaska’s First Black Attorney, Mahila Ashley Dickerson. Butler has been featured in Black Enterprise magazine. He was awarded Outstanding Young Men of America. He received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award and Mayor Tony Knowles Public Service Award. Butler married Stephanie Renee Butler, and they have 4 Adult Children and 1 Grand Daughter.
Dr. Cal has spent a lifetime serving and volunteering in this community and others, working to make a better tomorrow. Williams is a Vietnam veteran and outspoken civil rights and social justice advocate. Williams is the chaplain for the American Legion Post 34 and a board member of the Anchorage unit of the NAACP. He was named a HistoryMaker by the National HistoryMakers Association. He was awarded the St. Francis Service Award for his work with the church and the homeless shelters.
Margo’s passion for civil rights and social justice started in Miami, Florida; she moved to Alaska and began teaching for the Anchorage school district in 1974. Bellamy is an Alaskan educator who has devoted over 50 years strengthening students and family through education. Currently serving a second 3-year term on the Anchorage School Board, Margo is in her third year as School Board President and remains focused on creating successful outcomes for all student regardless of their individual needs, life experiences, zip code or human difference.
Wesley is a reporter with Alaska Public Media, primarily covering city government and Anchorage life. Early graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a bachelor’s in Journalism and Public Communications. Some of Early’s work in journalism goes beyond the newsroom as Early has worked for the Alaska Public Radio Network since 2016, reporting in Anchorage and serving as news director of KOTZ-AM in Kotzebue for two years. Early’s passion for storytelling and community drives his work and love for reporting. Early strives to provide stories from various stakeholders in his news coverage while strongly advocating for more diverse representation in the newsrooms.
Jasmin is a serial entrepreneur and advocates for generational wealth-building and economic independence in the black community. Smith founded a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting communities of color in underrepresented neighborhoods, like Mountain View, her home community, all to show that innovation and opportunity can happen anywhere. Smith is a tireless advocate for black communities and the educational development of the younger generation. Smith owns Babyvend, a company that spans 18 states and two countries and is focused on business and economic development. Jasmin also is the president of Juneteenth, Inc. responsible for the successful Juneteenth celebrations in Anchorage.
Major April is a retired veteran and a Young Lions of Alaska mentor. He is also on the executive board of Special Olympics Alaska. April is the Region Six Immediate Past Vice President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. April made history in February 2022 as the first Alaskan to be invited to speak at the United States Military Academy at West Point. April’s tireless effort to provide selfless community service has made him a perfect nominee for this year’s prestigious Ebony Aurora Award.
Tavie owns Hamilton Enterprises & Resources and the newly launched Da HooDoos, the first Magic Works Design Studio line of toys and games. Hamilton’s Love for her people is evident in her want and need to help others whenever possible. Hamilton’s brand for her business is rooted in Love, family, support, community, and Faith, with imagery that normalizes Black Joy.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded on January 13, 1913, on the campus of Howard University by 22 young women. Since then, the organization has grown to over 300,000 women, with over 1000 chapters worldwide. Six women chartered The Alaska Alumnae Chapter on June 24, 1959. Since its conception, the Alaska Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority has worded to exemplify public service to the Anchorage community. Some examples of the chapter’s public service include scholarships to graduating seniors, youth programs, volunteering with Alaska Junior Theatre, registering voters, and working the polls. The Alaska Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority believes in advancing education, Sisterhood, Service, and Social Action.
Gamma Alpha Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated has been an active community partner in Anchorage since September 15, 1978. The focus on four cardinal principals: Manhood, Scholarship, Uplift, and Perseverance. Through these focal points, the Chapter has responded to the needs of the Anchorage community in many ways. The organization established a young boy’s mentoring program at Clark Middle School, Wendler Middle School and Begich Middle School and they continue to offer college scholarships to local youth. This past scholarship season, 32 youth received scholarships worth $2000.00 each. Recently, Gamma Alpha Alpha hosted the 12th District of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc annual district meeting bringing in more than $750,000 into the local community.
While we celebrated the Ebony Aurora Award Recipients, the Alaska Black Caucus was honored to announce the 2023 recipient of the Diversity and Equity Award from Channel 2 and the Anchorage Chamber, Nancy Johnson.
Nominate an Alaskan Black Trailblazer
I was proud that John Lewis was a friend of mine. I met him when I was in law school. He came to speak and I went up and I said, “Mr. Lewis, you are one of my heroes. What inspired me more than anything as a young man was to see what you and Reverend Lawson and Bob Moses and Diane Nash and others did.” And he got that kind of — aw shucks, thank you very much.
The next time I saw him, I had been elected to the United States Senate. And I told him, “John, I am here because of you.” On Inauguration Day in 2008, 2009, he was one of the first people that I greeted and hugged on that stand. I told him, “This is your day too.”
He was a good and kind and gentle man. And he believed in us — even when we don’t believe in ourselves. It’s fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was on Zoom. I am pretty sure that neither he nor I set up the Zoom call because we didn’t know how to work it. It was a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who had been helping to lead this summer’s demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s death. And afterwards, I spoke to John privately, and he could not have been prouder to see this new generation of activists standing up for freedom and equality; a new generation that was intent on voting and protecting the right to vote; in some cases, a new generation running for political office.
I told him, all those young people, John — of every race and every religion, from every background and gender and sexual orientation — John, those are your children. They learned from your example, even if they didn’t always know it. They had understood, through him, what American citizenship requires, even if they had only heard about his courage through the history books.
“By the thousands, faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, Black and white … have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”
Dr. King said that in the 1960s. And it came true again this summer.
We see it outside our windows, in big cities and rural towns, in men and women, young and old, straight Americans and LGBTQ Americans, Blacks who long for equal treatment and whites who can no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of their fellow Americans. We see it in everybody doing the hard work of overcoming complacency, of overcoming our own fears and our own prejudices, our own hatreds. You see it in people trying to be better, truer versions of ourselves.
And that’s what John Lewis teaches us.
That’s where real courage comes from. Not from turning on each other, but by turning towards one another.
Not by sowing hatred and division, but by spreading love and truth.
Not by avoiding our responsibilities to create a better America and a better world, but by embracing those responsibilities with joy and perseverance and discovering that in our beloved community, we do not walk alone.
What a gift John Lewis was. We are all so lucky to have had him walk with us for a while, and show us the way.
God bless you all. God bless America. God bless this gentle soul who pulled it closer to its promise.
— Barack Obama, 2020