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TO COMMEND AND HONOR XERNONA CLAYTON FOR HER SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AND TO WELCOME HER TO THE ELEVENTH ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY PROGRAM AT OLD MACEDONIA BAPTIST CHURCH OF AIKEN COUNTY.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Old Macedonia Baptist Church in North Augusta will host the 11th Annual Black History Program beginning at noon on February 11, 2012; and
Whereas, the keynote speaker for the program will be Xernona Clayton, founder, president, and CEO of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, Inc., and creator and executive producer of the foundation's Trumpet Awards, a prestigious event highlighting African-American accomplishments and contributions; and
Whereas, in 1965, she accepted a position in Atlanta with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and worked closely with Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., travelling extensively with Mrs. King on her nationwide concert tours; and
Whereas, Ms. Clayton began her television career in 1967 and became the South's first African American to have her own television show, which was a regular feature on WAGA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta; and
Whereas, employed at Turner Broadcasting, Inc., for nearly thirty years, she served as the corporate vice president for urban affairs from 1988, directing internal and external projects for the corporation and serving as liaison between Turner Broadcasting and civic groups in Atlanta and across the country; and
Whereas, dedicated to promoting racial understanding, she has been a life-long leader in civic projects and civil-rights activities such as coordinating the activities of the Atlanta project called Doctors' Committee for Implementation, which resulted in the desegregation of all hospital facilities in Atlanta; and
Whereas, in 2000, Clark/Atlanta University conferred an honorary doctorate of letters on Ms. Clayton, and she was additionally honored in 2004 with two awards: the first Local Community Service Award from Spelman College and the Leadership and Dedication in Civil Rights Award from the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity; and
Whereas, along with numerous other honors, she received the first Coretta Scott King Award from the SCLC, the Outstanding Corporate Professional Award from the PowerNetworking Family, the Madam C. J. Walker Award from Ebony's Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Tennessee State University; and
Whereas, through the Xernona Clayton Foundation, she opened a school in 2010 in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa, which today educates hundreds of students in the Atwima-Heman Village, an area with a paucity of educational opportunities; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to recognize Xernona Clayton as she visits the Palmetto State to address the 11th Annual Black History Program. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, commend and honor Xernona Clayton for her significant role in the Civil Rights Movement, and welcome her to the church's eleventh Annual Black History Program at Old Macedonia Baptist Church of Aiken County.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Xernona Clayton.
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