A sea of colorful African prints brightened Antun’s Queens Village on Feb. 1, when students, educators and activists gathered for the 16th annual UFT African Heritage Committee Awards Dinner. Guided by the theme “The dream still demands,” the event was both a celebration of the gains made and a reflection on the work still to be done for civil rights causes including racial equality and education equity. Lisa Tempro, a special education teacher at PS 4 in Queens, the winner of the Mary McLeod Bethune Award for Teacher Excellence, called it a joy to be associated with the “educator, civil rights activist and a person who was instrumental in furthering women’s rights.” Also honored were UFT Brooklyn Borough Representative Elizabeth Perez, who won the Trailblazer Award, and Lavon Chambers of the Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, who received the Frederick Douglass Award for Civil and Human Rights. Students Zion Hosang and Leila Mohamed received UFT scholarships. Anthony Harmon, the committee’s chairman, said the event helped him “reflect on our many achievements and look forward to doing so much more.”

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