By ADAM BOWLES
Norwich Bulletin
Posted May 14, 2009 @ 11:30 PM
Norwich, Conn. —
When Michael Ansarra prepared his keynote speech for the Norwich NAACP’s first youth freedom fund dinner, he turned to the dictionary and the Bible for words of wisdom.
“Jesus said, ‘If the blind lead the blind, they all fall in the ditch,’” Ansarra said of the Scripture he read Thursday morning. “I thought that was appropriate, because a leader has to be a visionary.”
Ansarra, the associate athletic director at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain , discussed leadership qualities Thursday night at the NAACP’s Robertsine Duncan Youth Council banquet, which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the group.
The theme of the event was, “The Bridge from Yesterday to the Future,” and it coincided with the 100th anniversary of the NAACP.
Ansarra said everyone has the potential to lead and have a positive, lasting influence on others, a point NAACP Youth Council President Derell Wilson made about every attendee.
Among the honors bestowed at the banquet were “pioneer awards” to 12 members of the Norwich NAACP who have served the group for more than 45 years.
Those members included James Etta Boulware, Amanda Howard Braboy, Roosevelt Oliver, Norma Parrish, Martha Montgomery, Ruby Fletcher, Mattye Thompson Lanier, Sarah Thompson Dupree, Dorothy Brown, Thomas Dupree, Macie Jarmon, and Burchard Marshall.
In their biographies listed in the evening’s program, several of the pioneers asked to include their favorite Bible verses.
That impressed Terell Wilson, president of the Connecticut youth chapter of the NAACP, who said
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