Community Legends Luncheon & Annual Meeting Honors Local Legends
The Kent County Black Caucus held a Community Legends Luncheon on Saturday, May 8, 2021 at The Candied Yam Restaurant, located at 2305 44th Street SE in Grand Rapids. In this interview, organizer Michael Booker talks about the evolution of the awards, the honorees and more.
GRT: What was the origin of these awards?
Booker: It came just came to me. I think that it is important for us to honor our elders as we remember those who paved the way before us. My goal was to honor those who I grew up with and are still living, so I cam up with the title, Honoring Our Community Living Legends of Kent County and it went from their. On my Face Book page I wrote some semi-biographical information on each of the honorees. That included Elias Lumpkins, Pat Pulliam, Margo Anderson, Ahmad Robinson. It is a background of what they did and what they accomplished in the city of Grand Rapids. The main reason was because of Patricia Pulliam because she was highlighting those who had come and gone in the city. Every Black person in Grand Rapids owes her a debt of gratitude because we wouldn't know our people in this city if it had not been for the Grand Rapids Times. I put her on top of the list because it is well deserved and she was never recognized for it but she doesn't even want the recognition because she is very humble and wants to stay out of the lime-light. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids and I know how this city is and they don't honor those who have really made an impact on our lives and she was one of them.
GRT: How did the luncheon come about?
Booker: The luncheon was at Candied Yams in Kentwood, Michigan but what amazed me is that a lot of people don't know the achievements of people like Ahmad Robinson who had a big impact on the city back in the 1960's. The fact that we had the Model Cities program was because of him. That was about beautifying the neighborhoods since gentrification. He was also instrumental in the Rosa Parks Circle and raising funds to put the Rosa Parks statue in downtown Grand Rapids. That history needs to be told. Mr. Robinson is still around, although he is quiet and laid back but he contributed a lot to the progress to Grand Rapids in the Black community.
GRT: Who else was among the honorees?
Booker: The honorees included. Pat Pulliam, Elias Lumpkins, Margo Anderson, Paul Mayhue, Jim Vaughn, Patrick Miles, Sr. Armand Robinson. James Vaughn who just survived a liver transplant was one of the commissioners who started programs for ex-offenders and I wanted to highlight that. My tribute is for those who are still with us. I know that we lost Reuben Smartt, but we still have others like Elias Lumpkins and others in the city who were major contributors to helping the Black community.
GRT: Will there be for luncheon celebrating others in the city?
Booker: This was our first event and I was surprised that in the senators recognition he used my words, "Living Legends" in his proclamation. So for me that was confirmation that this is a good thing that we are doing and I like it so we will be doing more luncheons and we will be celebrating more people who help shape this city who are still living among us. We are going to make it an annual thing. I know some people in the community who are worthy of this honor and I will be reaching out to them to let them know that I will be recognizing anyone I see who made a major impact back in the day up until the present time. I told our chairman of the Black Caucus that this was just the begging because as long as we are on this earth and in this city, we are going to try to make a difference and let the masses know that we are viable. We need this for our young people to leave a legacy as well as to let them know that they too can survive under the hardships that we were brought up under.
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