Featured Story - February 2005

VolunteerLEON Youth Corps, presented the 2nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. DREAM award to Mrs. Anita Davis on Tuesday, January 25th. The DREAM award is presented to an individual who best represents the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. including but not limited to diversity, non-violence, civil rights, leadership, and/or goodwill towards people. Mrs. Davis’ daily life greatly reflects the values and ethics of Dr. King.

Mrs. Anita Davis grew up promoting civil rights and goodwill towards others. As a child, Anita L. Davis, wasn’t at the playground, she was attending marches and rallies with her mother. At the age of sixteen, she began to participate as an active member of the NAACP. From 1963-1969, Mrs. Davis worked for the NAACP as a freedom rider in Buffalo NY, taking busses and cars to West Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee to help black communities with voter registration. We have Leland Jones Jr., a city commissioner in Buffalo, N.Y to thank for the work that’s done by Anita Davis-she said that’s who inspired her to become so active in her community.

Ms. Davis is a strong civil rights activist. She dedicates much of her time for the betterment of others and she is incredibly active within her community. She is currently the secretary on the Board of Directors at the John Gilmore Riley Center, she is a former Leon County Commissioner as well as the former NAACP President. Mrs. Davis was the very first vice president of the NAACP in Tallahassee, and is also an outreach coordinator for FAMU’s Community Development Corporation. Davis once said “There is no such thing as a race-neutral. People still do things based on friendship, what you look like, where you live. Usually we’re left out of the mix when it comes to making decisions on things that affect our lives.” Well, get ready because it won’t be like that for long, as long as we, the people, are being blessed by the work done by Mrs. Anita Davis. Mrs. Davis molds raw clay into something beautiful and we thank her for that.