2014 Winner

Lewis Diuguid
Kansas City Star

Lewis W. Diuguid is an Editorial Board member and columnist for The Kansas City Star and letters editor. He has written columns for The Star since 1987. From 1995 to 2009 he co-chaired the diversity initiative at The Star, and starting in 1993 he has facilitated diversity workshops for Star Co. staffers, colleges and community organizations.

Diuguid joined the staff of The Kansas City Star-Times in May 1977 after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. He has worked as a reporter, photographer, copy editor, automotive editor, assistant bureau chief, bureau chief, assistant city editor, associate editor and vice president of community resources.

Diuguid is the author of the 2004 award-winning book, A Teacher’s Cry: Expose the Truth About Education Today. The book offers ways to improve public schools, particularly in urban areas. A Teacher’s Cry is rooted in his studies with the Class of 1999 from the students’ freshman year until graduation at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kan. He wrote about 100 columns for The Star chronicling the experiences of being a teenager and teacher in today’s society. In 2007, Diuguid published his second book, Discovering the Real America: Toward a More Perfect Union; it focuses on diversity issues, which for more than 20 years has been a central theme of his columns in The Kansas City Star.

Diuguid is a founding member, president, newsletter editor and Media Awards Committee chairman of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists. He is a member of the following: National Association of Black Journalists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, National Association for Multicultural Education, Monroe Trotter Group of Black Voices in Commentary, Missourian Publishing Association Board of Directors with the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and a member of the William Allen White Foundation Board of Trustees with the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. He is a certified diversity facilitator with the Newspaper Association of America. Diuguid presents numerous lectures and speeches a year on behalf of The Star. He has received more than 60 awards, including the 2000 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, the 2007 University of Missouri-Columbia Faculty-Alumni Award and the 2008 Catalyst Award – Print from the National Association of Multicultural Media Executives.

2013 Winner

Celina Echols

The Carter Godwin Woodson Service Award is presented to an individual whose career has been highlighted with service to multicultural education that continuously corrects the deficiencies in American history where African American History and the history of other cultures is misinterpreted, distorted, or ignored.  The 2013 recipient is Dr. Celina Echols.

As a student enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi, Echols fought to have the Pan-Hellenic Dorms integrated, discontinue the playing of Dixie at football games, and organize the creation of the Clyde Kennard Scholarship.  Kennard was an African American soldier who was killed for attempting to enroll in USM.  As a Wesleyan student, Celina lobbied Congress against US support of Contra aid and the many human rights violations against the Sandinista supporters.  Echols’ graduate thesis addresses Voter Registration in Mississippi; while her dissertation addresses Affirmative Action in Higher Education.

Echols joined the faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University in 1998.  She has been a member of NAME since 1998 and has served on NAME’s Regional Board of Directors.  Echols has taught at Southeastern Louisiana University for approximately 16 years.  She is the first African American to obtain the title of full professor.

She holds the title of Schleider Endowed Professor.  Her works include; Mentoring newcomers in academia: A case in point, Challenges facing Black American principals: A conversation about coping, Building cultural literacy through readers theater and bibliotherapy.

Dr. Echols espouses the ideals of a socially equitable society and is committed to the core values and principles of NAME.

 

 

2012 Winner

Anaida Colón-Muñiz
Chapman University

Because of her devotion to the community and her indefatigable commitment to improving education for all children, Anaida Colón-Muñiz is recognized with this award. She has been a bilingual teacher, as well as a top administrator in various public school systems from New York to Massachusetts to California. She has been an outspoken advocate for all issues related to diversity. She was instrumental in helping to establish the Paulo Freire Archive, developing award winning bilingual programs, and providing advocacy for recognition of the Mendez family in the Civil Rights Movement. In the manner of Carter Woodson, she has taken it upon herself to always fight the good fight and to work on behalf of those who may not have the means to fight for themselves.

 

2011 Winner

Woodrow B. Grant

Maryland State Department (Retired)