By Aria Brent 

AFRO Staff Writer 

abrent@afro.com

On Jan.11 the 36th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards program will be held at the Casino Live Hotel Ballroom, located at 7002 Arundel Mills Cir, Hanover, Md. The event will honor trailblazing activists from the Baltimore community for their service and unwavering commitment to the upliftment of the community. 

A total of 12 honorees will be receiving different awards for the work they’ve done all across the state of Maryland.

Midshipman First Class Kaylah Gillums is being honored with the Drum Major Award for her continuous service throughout the community. Gillums has volunteered for four years with the Midshipman Black Studies Club and the MAG among many other things like mentoring and tutoring local youth in Anne Arundel County as part of Mids for Kids.
It’s almost been a full year since Roslyn Johnson was hired as City of Annapolis’ director of the Annapolis Department of Recreation and Parks. Prior to this position Johnson worked for years on civil rights initiatives in Annapolis, including the historic Stanton Center Capital Improvements plan and the famous Carrs and Elktonia Beaches revival. This year she is the recipient of the Dream Keepers Award. 
Ralph Thomas is this year’s recipient of the Drum Major Award for his continued work and unwavering dedication to the Anne Arundel chapter of the NAACP and their voter registration efforts.
The Harris Family Foundation will receive the Coretta Scott King Award in recognition of their work supporting local churches, little league sports and other local clubs.
Jarred Littman, an entrepreneur and community leader , will receive the We Share the Dream Award on Jan. 11 from the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Anne Arundel County in Maryland.
Midshipman First Class Max Josef Bueno is president of the largest and most impactful community outreach organization on campus, the Midshipmen Action Group (MAG). One of many examples of Bueno’s support of MAG is his work relaunching in-person programs for local youth in public schools post-COVID-19. He is a recipient of the Drum Major award this year for his outstanding service in his community.
Joseph Butler is the recipient of the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Award. Butler has devoted hours to volunteer work and community service by helping prepare income taxes for senior citizens with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.
James Spearman is receiving this year’s Peacemaker Award at the MLK Jr. Awards for his 33 years of service to the Annapolis Police Department and community.
Dana Schallheim will be honored with the Alan Legum Civil Rights Award for her work on the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County.
Delegate Bonnie Cullison  is the recipient of the Courageous Leadership Award for her four terms of service representing District 19, Montgomery County, in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Erica Griswold works for Anne Arundel County’s Orphan’s Court as the Register of Wills. She is passionate about this opportunity to serve her community and will be one of four recipients of the Drum Major Award for her service.
Rep Jonathan Jackson – Keynote Speaker

Leading up to the event the AFRO got the chance to speak with some of this year’s honorees about the work they are doing, how it’s helping the community and what this honor means to them. 

“I’m a very humble person and I was surprised,” said Ralph Thomas, who will be an honoree for the evening. “Everybody keeps telling me it’s well deserved, but to me it’s what I do.”

Thomas is a silver life member of the NAACP and has served as the treasurer of the Anne Arundel chapter for about 10 years. In addition to this he has also served as the voter registration coordinator for the chapter for the last 20 years. 

Through his work as a voter registration coordinator, Thomas has been able to inform his community about their right to vote, all the while assuring they’re in the position to cast their vote when elections come around. Although Thomas is retired, he is still very active in his work with the NAACP. He shared with the AFRO that he doesn’t think the work he does is especially exceptional and he’s simply doing his part in giving back to his community. 

“My father would always say ‘you can’t always receive, you got to give back’ and to me, it’s giving back,” said Thomas.  “I don’t get paid for this, I do this because I enjoy doing it.”

Thomas isn’ the only honoree from this year’s award program looking forward to humbly accepting the recognition. Retired Annapolis Police Sergeant James Spearman, who will also be recognized at the program, spoke of his surprise to receive such an honor.

Spearman said his community-oriented mindset came to him early in his career as a cadet. He recognized the stigma that was attached to the police and he knew that the only way he could dispel that was to gain the trust of the community. 

“Standing in the criminal justice system, I’m able to connect people and provide them with resources, where they’re needed and all of that,” said Spearman. “I learned that you have to develop relationships and it’s not just within the agency. You have to be able to relate to people outside of the department and over time I’ve developed many different relationships with many different people.” 

Spearman is this year’s Peacemaker Award recipient and well within reason. Throughout his time with the Annapolis police department he was known for his kind heart and understanding mindset that helped the citizens he served not only trust but look to him as a resource for their needs. The former HotSpot Team Leader spent over three decades serving the Annapolis community. His work has been recognized by the governor’s office, the Annapolis mayor’s office and the Annapolis city council.

Spearman noted that although some of the situations he’s faced during his career weren’t easy to handle, having the trust and respect of the community helped a lot. Approaching every situation with the want to empathize on his agenda and compassion in his heart, the former law enforcement leader noted that he was able to successfully serve his community because he took the time to learn what they needed. 

“We developed relationships with members of the community. The focus was to deal with the people who were causing problems in the neighborhood, whether it be through enforcement, or through getting them help,” explained Spearman. “Over time, we gained a lot of trust with the members of the community because we were there all the time. People got to know us, we got to know them.They didn’t see the badge in a uniform anymore, they saw the human being, and vice versa.”

Although Spearman is retired, he currently mentors youth through programs like Brandon’s Coalition for Success and the Be Present Program, both of which are keeping him very in tune with the issues that the youth in his community are facing. 

“There are a lot of things that kids go through that we overlook, and we take for granted,” Spearman explained. “It’s very important through dealing with our kids that they have somebody that they can talk to. having somebody they can they can rely on and confide in”

Aside from local members of the community, this year’s honoree list also includes Wes Moore, who is due to receive the Morris H. Blum award for his commitment to preserving Black history in the state. 

I couldn’t be prouder to receive an award in honor of Morris H. Blum, a champion for civil rights in the state. As governor, I am committed to working together with all Marylanders to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time and restore a spirit of community within us all

GOV. WES MOORE

Moore told the AFRO how much the award means to him and how honored he is to continue the legacy of King and Morris. L Blum.

“I couldn’t be prouder to receive an award in honor of Morris H. Blum, a champion for civil rights in the state. As governor, I am committed to working together with all Marylanders to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time and restore a spirit of community within us all,” said Gov. Moore, in a statement sent to the AFRO. “Through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, we learned about the power every citizen has to make change.We’re going to make Maryland the state that those who came before us hoped for, and those who come after us deserve.” 

Gov. Wes Moore will receive the Morris H. Blum award for his commitment to preserving Black contributions and history in the state of Maryland.

Other community leaders due to be honored at the Jan. 11 program include Jared Littmann; Retired Lt. Col. Joseph Butler; Delegate Bonnie Cullison; Midshipman First Class Kaylah Gillums; Erica Griswold; The Harris Family Foundation Inc.; Roslyn Johnson; Dana Schallheim and Midshipman First Class Max Josef Bueno.

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