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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 1998

NEW ORLEANS -- The National Education Association (NEA) will recognize 11 individuals for their efforts to advance human and civil rights at NEA's 1998 Human and Civil Rights Awards Banquet, July 4, in the Regency Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

The event, held each year during the Association's July 3-6 Annual Meeting, is expected to attract a sellout crowd of 2,000 members and guests.

The awards are named in honor of outstanding human and civil rights pioneers, NEA activists and leaders in the fight for equality.

Recipients this year are:

• The Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award, presented for leadership in resolving social problems, particularly as they relate to individuals of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage: Leonelle Anderson Akana of Kapolei, Hawaii.
  Akana is an accomplished actress, songwriter, dancer and musician who devotes her talents to the revival of Hawaii's language, history and culture. Her songs, recorded in English, Hawaiian and Spanish, document Hawaiian social issues as well as the state's spiritual and cultural values. Akana is well known for her historical performances, including her inspiring stage portrayal of Hawaii's last queen, Lili'uokalani. Akana shares her love of Hawaiian history and culture with students too as she promotes understanding between Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian students.
• Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award, presented jointly by the National Education Association and the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, for leadership in promoting Black History Month, for furthering the understanding of Black Americans' heritage, and for accomplishing significant positive change: John Goodie, Mesa Arizona.
  Goodie, a former National Football League player turned high school security guard and assistant football coach, mobilized the community to get back the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that Mesa voters defeated at the ballot box in 1992. He is also known in the community for his work with young people. His silent witness program enables students to confess wrongdoing, and he works with the local police on gang prevention activities.
• Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights, presented for activities that have made a significant impact on education and promoted appreciation for diversity: Debra Johansen, Sartell, Minnesota.
  Johansen, who works as chair of developmental adapted physical education, occupational therapy, and physical therapy for the school district, developed and now directs an organization that gives children with physical disabilities the chance to participate in after-school recreational activities along with their able-bodied peers. The organization, dubbed ARISE (A Recreational Inclusion Support Endeavor), is a cooperative effort of the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA, the school district, and several youth service agencies. Through this program, thousands of children with and without disabilities have learned to appreciate each other's differences and similarities.
• Leo Reano Memorial Award, presented for leadership in resolving social problems, particularly as they relate to individuals of American Indian/Alaska Native heritage: Bruce Wayne Long Fox, Rapid City, South Dakota.
  Long Fox, executive director of a social services agency called Rural America Initiatives, works to strengthen the role of the male in Lakota society and helps its young people achieve success in school. He does this primarily through the Ateyapi ("fatherhood") Society, a men's group that mentors male students in grades six through twelve and offers instruction in the schools on topics ranging from career planning to drug prevention to Lakota traditions. The Ateyapi Society works with other community groups such as the YMCA's Midnight Alternatives basketball project and the public schools' efforts to highlight Native American culture.
• George I. S?nchez Memorial Award, presented for leadership in resolving social problems, particularly as they relate to individuals of Hispanic heritage: Dr. Ricardo Alegria, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  Alegria, an anthropologist, has contributed greatly to the understanding of Puerto Rican culture and history. He is best known for creating the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture nearly 40 years ago. Since then he has also founded and now directs the Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rican and the Caribbean as well as the Museum of the Americas. Alegria has published numerous books and articles on Puerto Rican archeology, history, arts, and folklore, many of which are included in the public school curriculum. In 1996 he received the Smithsonian Bicentennial Medal for his legacy to Puerto Rican culture and history.
• Councill Trenholm Memorial Award (Black), presented for leadership in advancing intergroup understanding within the education profession: Theresa Bazil, Texarkana, Texas.
  When Bazil began her career in education in 1942, teachers were in short supply, local schools were segregated, and students in all grade levels were taught in one building, often in double session, with classes of 45 students or more. During her teaching career, the educational landscape shifted dramatically as desegregation became the law of the land. Throughout these tumultuous years, Bazil won praise and devotion not only from students but also from her teaching colleagues. She also played a pivotal role in the history of the teaching profession in Arkansas. She served on the committee that facilitated the merger of the predominantly white Arkansas Education Association and the predominantly Black Arkansas Teachers Association.
• Councill Trenholm Award (Non-Black), presented for leadership in advancing intergroup understanding within the education profession: Deni Leonard, San Francisco, California.
  Leonard has spent nearly three decades working with indigenous people around the world. He has organized forums so those living under dominant cultures can share their experiences and he helps train indigenous people on public policy. Using his business and finance skills, he has also been a catalyst for economic advancement by American Indians and other groups. He offers training to tribes in the U.S. and Canada on creative financing to get the funding needed to educate their children, to further tribal economic development, to reclaim their resources, and to sustain themselves. Leonard was a key player in the presidential signing of the 1996 Tribal Colleges and Universities Executive Order, a directive that has had a significant impact on American Indians and Alaska Natives.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Award, presented for leadership and perseverance in applying the nonviolent philosophy and techniques of Martin Luther King, Jr., toward the achievement of human relations and civil rights goals: Charles Price, Montgomery, Alabama.
  Montgomery Circuit Judge Charles Price took the courageous step of supporting the nation's historic separation of church and state by ordering another Circuit Judge to end courtroom prayer and to remove a Ten Commandments display from his courtoom. As a result of the ruling, Price received death threats and hate mail, and Alabama's governor even threatened to bring out the National Guard to keep the order from being carried out. But Judge Price persevered. On a more personal level, the judge has gotten involved in the lives of some of those who come before him. He has established a mentoring program that mandates his own participation as part of some of the sentences he hands down. Price currently serve as a mentor for three male offenders, ages 17 to 23.
• C?sar Ch?vez Acci?n y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award, presented for leadership and perseverance in applying the nonviolent philosophy and techniques of C?sar Ch?vez toward the achievement of dignity, hope, and livable wages and working conditions for labor: Patricia Lemaire, Lewiston, Maine.
  Lemaire, a state legislator and former teacher, has improved working conditions for agricultural laborers in Maine. A member of the Senate Labor Committee, she investigated the working conditions at the DeCoster Egg Farm in Turner, Maine. The results of that investigation prompted Lemaire to sponsor and promote legislation that allows agricultural workers to bargain collectively, secures overtime pay for workers at large farms, and sets minimum standards for farm workers' housing. The immediate beneficiaries are some 300 workers at Turner who are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and immigrants from other Central American and Caribbean countries.
• Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award, presented for furthering the cause of international understanding: Eleanor Kenyon, Orlando, Florida.
  A retired high school social studies teacher, Kenyon is now a full-time advocate for world peace and justice. In this second career, she is active in international organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International. In 1997 she met with European space scientists in England and Germany to discuss the presence of U.S. spy ssatellites, the fallout of radioactive debris from failed spacecraft, and the need to use solar cells rather than plutonium to power the Casini Probe mission to Saturn. At home she is best known for her peer mediatrion training in the education and criminal justice systems, particularly in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties.
• Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award, presented to individuals whose books promote an understanding and appreciation of human and civil rights: Mildred Taylor, New York, New York.
  In her eight books of fiction, Taylor tells young readers about the Depression Era struggles of Southern Black families who care for each other and show courage and resourcefulness in the face of racial indignities. Seven of these books have received many national awards, including the Coretta Scott King Author Award, the New York Times Notable Book of the Year Award, and the Newberry Medal. In 1978, ABC adapted Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, her most acclaimed book, into a three-part miniseries. Born in Mississippi and reared in Ohio, Taylor says she is part of a transitional generation of blacks who witnessed blatant discrimination and efforts to end it and who experienced the different racial climates of the South and the North.