'The strides we're making': Cobb NAACP celebrates 41st annual gala

Nov. 3—After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, the Cobb County NAACP's Oscar Freeman Freedom Fund Awards Gala returned Saturday night for its 41st installment, honoring leaders throughout the county, from students and educators to religious and law enforcement leaders.

One of this year's honorees was Smyrna Police Lt. Louis Defense, a veteran of the department of more than two decades. Defense received the Cobb NAACP's Community Service Award, one he said goes beyond recognizing his work as the department's spokesperson, after being nominated by Smyrna Mayor Derek Norton and Councilwoman Latonia Hines.

"It was a surprise and I was honored to be amongst such great people in the room that evening," Defense said. "The award's really not my award, it's a community award. The things I do are for the people of Smyrna and without them, there's no me."

Defense said it was a joyous occasion to be together again with so many familiar faces after the ceremony's pandemic-induced hiatus. He noted the excitement of seeing Cobb NAACP President Emeritus Deane Bonner receive flowers, along with other "elders in the room."

Cobb school board member Leroy "Tre" Hutchins received the Education Award at the gala.

"I was shocked, needless to say," Hutchins told the MDJ. "My friends kept it from me so I did not know until I physically got there."

In his acceptance speech, Hutchins thanked Cobb NAACP President Jeriene Bonner Grimes and her mother, Deane Bonner, for their guidance during his first term as a member of the Cobb school board. Grimes, herself a former member of the Marietta school board, told the MDJ some of the advice she has given Hutchins.

"Listen to the students," she said. "As you represent a school board, and you become a policymaker, a change agent ... the students, they are the reason for this, so make sure you are always in tune with the students that you represent throughout the district."

Hutchins also gave a shoutout to Alisha Thomas Searcy, the former state legislator who is now the Democratic nominee for state school superintendent, during his speech.

In addition to Defense and Hutchins, other award recipients included:

—Heritage Funeral Home and Chapel, Inc., a family-owned business run by Marietta natives Reginald and Kara Johnson, won the Business Award.

—Rev. Dr. Christopher Chappell and his wife, Lynnon Chappel, won the Religious Award for their leadership of Grace Community Christian Church in Kennesaw, which has a second location in Austell. According to the Cobb NAACP, the church has grown from its initial eight members in 2002 to more than 2,800 today.

—Ryann Richards-Young, a graduate of Hillgrove High School, and Jordan Daniels of Pebblebrook High School received Youth Achievement Awards for essays submitted to the Cobb NAACP. They were each awarded Advocacy Empowerment Scholarships named after Bonner.

—Rev. Marie Emerson, a Marietta native, received the Elder Award for her ministry at Marietta's Zion Baptist Church.

Despite the two-year pause on the event, it was deemed a success by the organizers. Grimes said more than 300 people attended.

"We were quite pleased that we had a room full of people ... a ballroom full of people," Grimes said, noting it was "a premier evening" on the Saturday before Halloween and less than two weeks out from Election Day.

The gala took place in the ballroom of the Atlanta Marriott Northwest at Galleria. The event is named for the Cobb NAACP's president from 1983-1986, a minister who started the group's annual banquet in the early 1980s.

Freeman, while president of the chapter, led a march against the Ku Klux Klan in Forsyth County. Before becoming the branch's president, Freeman grew the group to more than 400 members from just 37 while serving as its membership chair from 1980 to 1982. The Cobb NAACP named the dinner after Freeman in 2010, a year after his death.

Bonner told the MDJ she chaired the Cobb Freedom Fund when Freeman implemented the gala.

"The leaders and the followers, we were all there together and had a wonderful time," Bonner said, noting the glamour of the women's dresses and the sharpness of the men's suits.

Bonner also said it was the first year Amazon sponsored the event, a partnership she said indicates the significance of the gala and that she hopes continues into the future.

Grimes said it was the first year the gala featured a silent auction, which included a collage of former President Barack Obama and Atlanta Braves memorabilia signed by outfielder Michael Harris II, a young star on the team. It was a big hit, she said, and a great prelude to the rest of the night's events.

Grimes echoed Defense in saying one of the night's highlights was gathering together after the pandemic prevented doing so for two years.

"Our theme was, 'This Is Power,'" Grimes said. "In spite of all the things that are going on in the world, we're still trying to mobilize our community."

To Grimes, the gala demonstrated just how far Cobb's communities of color have come.

"The banquet is representative of how we can unify ourselves as a nation and come with a common goal and a common mission to help move our future forward."

After COVID, Grimes added, the excitement in the room was palpable, with people glad to talk, eat and celebrate together, and she said Oscar Freeman's widow and children were there to witness his legacy carried forward.

"I think to see that we're carrying on his legacy, that he would be proud, proud and hopeful with the strides we're making," she said.