Nassau honors 6 for Black History Month

They are among some of the most noted African-Americans on Long Island, and in honor of Black History Month, which begins on Tuesday, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano started the celebration by honoring six men and women for their leadership.

The group, including a retired brigadier general and the head of a drug and shelter program for women, received citations and much applause at an hour-long ceremony Thursday at the county executive and legislative building in Mineola.

The national celebration began in 1926 as a week in February, but since 1976 covers the entire month. It commemorates people and events related to African heritage.

"Every year, Americans come together to reflect on how far we have come in the fight for equality," Mangano told his audience. . . . Today, we remember some Americans who fought to change our nation for the better . . . [including] our honorees."

Each of the honorees - equally divided between registered Republicans and Democrats - were asked what they thought was a defining moment in race relations in the county. Here are their comments.

 Jim Garner, 66, Long Island's first black mayor, ran the state's largest village - Hempstead - from 1988 to 2005. In 2003, he was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He is the co-leader of the Republican Party in the village.

"My election was a defining moment, for although African-Americans had been the largest segment of the village population for about 10 years, few thought one could be elected," he said.

Robert Olden, 79, of Roosevelt, a former officer in the U.S. Air Force, worked for the New York City Board of Education for 30 years before serving as a commissioner with the Town of Hempstead, chairman of the board of Nassau Community College and a Nassau deputy county executive.

Olden, who did not attend the event because he was snowbound, said later that his role as NCC board chairman, along with his closeness to school president Sean Fanelli, helped bring "significant improvements for minority students and faculty. My target was to increase the numbers of minorities in nursing. We did that."

Bob Carter, 72, of Dix Hills, a nationally recognized artist, former professor of art at Nassau Community College, and president of the Friends of the African American Museum of Nassau County in Hempstead. A dozen of his paintings adorned the area at yesterday's celebration.

"When black cultural programs began to proliferate in Nassau's colleges in the 1970s, I thought it led to a better understanding between and for the races. That was defining. There also was a housing program . . . where black and white couples would look at the same house, but get different responses from the Realtors. That program was very meaningful, but not enough, in changing" how blacks were treated.

Emily Moore, 69, of Roosevelt, an educator and community and civil rights activist who joined the Peace Corps and eventually served in a half-dozen African nations. She is the founder and head of the Alliance Junior Tennis Development Program and has taught at the Roosevelt School District for more than 30 years.

She agreed with Carter that the rise of black cultural programs in Nassau schools was a major event in strengthening the black self-image, but added: "That has declined so much in our schools, though, that I'm really concerned about how black youth see themselves."

Brig. Gen. George A. Jones, 87, of Roosevelt, served in World War II and the Korean War, and retired from the New York Army National Guard. He retired from the New York Fire Department after 31 years and was the first president of the Vulcan Society, the nation's first major organization of black firefighters. He served in administrative posts under four Nassau County executives and is chairman of the Urban League of Long Island.

"I think the defining moment for me was when I went to work for [then Nassau County Executive] Eugene Nickerson," he said. "I was the first black in his administration, and it worked well."

Terenna Williams, 43, of Uniondale, is chief executive and founder of Glory House Recovery Inc. in Hempstead, a supervised residence program for women suffering from the diseases of alcoholism or drug addiction, or from homelessness. She is active in the Girl Scouts of the USA and the NAACP.

"That I, as an African-American woman, was able to get a county contract for my program was a defining moment," she said. "It came after a long struggle and, to the best of my knowledge, was a first."