Partner Content
January 11, 2024
6 –10 p.m.
Maryland Live! Casino Hall
Thirty-six years ago, then Annapolis alderman Carl Snowden founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee and began its annual awards dinner honoring local citizens for their work in civil rights. That dinner is now known as the largest celebration of Dr. King’s birthday in Anne Arundel County. In fact—with a guest list of some 650 attendees this year—the dinner had to move to a larger venue, finding a home at the Maryland Live! Casino Hall. New home, but old friends. For many there, this was a long-time tradition: “I’ve come to this event every year for 36 years,” said Dimitri Sfakiyanudis. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Left to right: Reverend Dr. Andrée Mountain-Campbell, Living Hope Outreach Ministry founder; DeRonda Corbin, retired Muskogee, OK, public school system employee
Left to right: William Pratt, Firm Foundation Landscaping LLC owner; Toni Strong Pratt, People Builders Consulting owner; Everett Sesker, Anne Arundel County Sheriff
Left to right: James Spearman, retired Annapolis Polive Sargeant/event honoree; Dimitri Sfakiyanudis, civil engineer; Joseph Johnson, former Annapolis Police Chief; André Atkins, Annapolis Housing Authority board chairman
Left to right: Carl Snowden, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee chair/founder; Lewis Bracy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee member emeritus
Left to right: St. John’s College colleagues (plus one): Sue Gelenter, human resources director; Chief Michael Boston, public safety and emergency management director; Nancy Calabrese, student health services director; Lakeshia Wesby, Maryland Capitol Police communications supervisor; Gail Hewitt-Clarke, registrar; Nora Demleitner, president; Bruce Douglas, special assistant to the president
Left to right: Thornell Jones, World Class Grads president; Shawn Ashworth, Anne Arundel County Public Schools Office of Safe and Orderly Schools treasure hunter/program specialist; Dr. Maisha Gillins, Anne Arundel County Public School chief equity officer; Larry Diggs, Caucus of African American Leaders member
Left to right: Janssen E. Evelyn, Anne Arundel County Office of County Executive Steuart Pittman deputy chief administrative officer; Moyah Panda, Anne Arunde County Office of Police Accountability executive director
Left to right: Crystal Brownlee, Bello Machre program director; Cassandra Vauls, Equifax client success manager
Left to right: ACLU of Maryland colleagues: Amy Cruice, legal manager; Lorena Diaz, campaign strategist
The evening’s honorees included Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who was given the Morris H. Blum Humanitarian Award.
