White House recognizes young, black volunteers for service to N.O.

By Nayita Wilson
Contributing Writer

Fourteen New Orleans residents are recipients of 2012 Drum Major for Service Awards presented by the White House and the Corp­oration for National and Com­munity Services. The awards are named in respect of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 “The Drum Major Instinct” speech, which encouraged humility in service and warned of being self-seeking in causes and life.

The commendations were extended to volunteer members of the IMANI Team — a low key effort that has increased Black youth, adult and young adult participation in the New Orleans’ Catholic church community’s leadership and youth ministries for the past five years.

The recipients are: John Sme­stad, Jr., Ansel Augustine, Ben­netta Horne, Kevin Coleman, Jr., Ayana Boudreaux, Helen Blood­worth, Brian Cooper, Daniel Green, Remy Jones, Mary Boutte, Tiffany Martin, Gabrielle Freels, Felicia Boucree and Chris Keys.

Ansel Augustine, 34, is associate director and coordinator of Black Youth and Young Adult Mini­stries for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He founded IMANI after Hurricane Katrina to give black youth a stronger presence and voice in New Orleans’ Catholic Church community. Since inception, the team has helped cultivate leadership skills in more than 110 youth.

Because of IMANI, many participants have secured leadership roles with Teen Cross, on an Archdiocesan leadership board and participated in a Catholic Lead­ership Institute.

Augustine told The Louisiana Weekly, “[T]he youth, young adults and adults that make up the IMANI team work double-time in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Not only do they help build up the Black Catholic Youth Ministry Community here, but they also serve as leaders within the Arch­diocese as a whole with other events as well. ”

He adds, “Also, in the spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the IMANI team ‘builds bridges’ of understanding between communities that used to be separate. Thus, connecting different groups of people that didn’t work together before under the spirit of love.”

Felicia Boucree, 19, is a sophomore pre-occupational therapy major at Dillard University. She became involved with the program during her sophomore year in high school and says the experience has taught her how to be a better team leader and how to work with many people from diverse backgrounds.

“It helped me to be a better person, to expand my horizons … and better my faith,” she said.

Chris Keys, 20, is a junior physics major at Dillard University. He became involved with IMANI at the beckoning of his mother and Augustine. Keys said that being a part of something that focused on predominantly Black youth involvement meant a lot to him. He said he was surprised at learning that he and his peers were being awarded and is “very happy that IMANI has been recognized nationally.”

More than 2,000 volunteers received the award nationwide.

This article was originally published in the January 16, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper