Monday’s Osceola County Commission meeting featured a honoring nod to its African-American population, with a proclamation of Black History Month, and giving an annual service award to a member of the community.lped
Then Tuesday, the Kissimmee City Commission offered up a similar proclamation to the black community, accepted by Doloris McMillon, who helped integrate St. Cloud High School as an administrator in the 1960s.
"I want to stress, black history is American history," McMillon said Tuesday.
“We continue to improve society, so that we all live up to the ideals of freedom, equality and justice, and celebrate the contributions of Black Americans of generations past, correct injustices of the past and confront any injustices that still foster today … everyone deserves to be treated with equal dignity at all times,” Commissioner Brandon Arrington read from the proclamation.
Ann Jones, who represents the Osceola Visionaries and the local NAACP chapter, accepted the award on behalf of Osceola’s black community, which is still mourning the loss of longtime activist Anna Pinellas, a former director of Osceola’s affordable housing department who recently passed away.
“We appreciate you thinking of us, and are proud of our County Commission for recognizing us with this great honor,” she said.
“(Ms. Pinellas) exemplified the meaning of civic duty,” Commissioner Viviana Janer said. “She will be missed by all.”
Monday, the county debuted the first of five videos that highlight the significant role of the African-American community. (The rest will be available to view at www.osceola.org/blackhistorymonth.)
As part of honoring the contributions made by African-Americans in our community, Commissioner Viviana Janer presented the Lloyd Burton Jr. Award, given by the county since 2016, to Dr. R. LeWayne Johnson, a retired military officer, Bronze Star recipient, and combat veteran who now makes it his mission to ensure the country’s veterans and service heroes have access to assistance, particularly those who find housing difficult to come by. He serves as the CEO of The Florida Coalition to Prevent Veteran Homelessness, Inc.
“His efforts to help veterans are an exemplary example of citizens inspired to take action to help others,” Janer said. “We’re lucky that he calls Osceola County home.”
He spoke of service being the “rent” we pay as citizens to our community.
“It’s a duty to provide a better society than we were born into,” Johnson said.
He spoke of the 1950s and ‘60s as a tumultuous time, especially in the South, when his uncle and best friend were killed in racially-motivated shootings Mississippi in 1964.
“Martin Luther King once said the measure of a man is where he stands in a time of courage and challenge. Lt. Burton was in the middle of the Jim Crow South and faced many challenges and controversies. This is the same South I was born into.
“He truly paid his rent to live on this Earth. I feel honored to be part of the list of honorees.”
Burton was the first black Osceola County Sheriff’s deputy, and served for 30 years. He was the inaugural awardee, and past recipients include Pinellas, Dr. Eugenia Agard, Nelson Winbush, Belinda Johnson-Cornett and Deloris McMillon.
