Attending the YNHHS Black History Month Book Award ceremony were (l-r): Denise Morris, vice president, Inclusion, Belonging, Employee & Labor Relations, YNHHS; Christopher O’Connor, CEO, YNHHS; Katherine Heilpern, MD, president, YNHH; awardees Elissa Matthews, Kaeleigh Graham-Purdy, Janiya Greene, G. Brown Gervil and Raymond Lomax, Jr.; Ena Williams, RN, PhD, chief nurse executive, YNHHS; Jorge Rodriguez, executive vice president, chief ambulatory officer, YNHHS; Pamela Sutton-Wallace, president, YNHHS; and Melissa Turner, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, YNHHS.
On Feb. 17, Yale New Haven Health honored five area high school seniors with the health system’s first Black History Month Book Awards.
The award, created by the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, was available to students in communities across Connecticut and neighboring regions where Yale New Haven Health provides services. Honorees received a one-time $1,000 award to use toward book expenses incurred during their first year of higher education.
In addition to demonstrating a commitment to higher education, recipients wrote inspiring essays on Black historical figures who have influenced them. Recipients presented their essays at the awards ceremony.
“This momentous occasion is a wonderful opportunity to remember the remarkable individuals who took action in all areas of life to make change happen,” Christopher O’Connor, CEO, YNHHS, said at the ceremony. “It’s also an opportunity to look forward – to appreciate how far we have come while acknowledging the work that still lies ahead.”
Awardees and excerpts from their essays are:
- G. Brown Gervil, Central High School, Bridgeport, who presented on political activist Bayard Rustin. “His ability to bring discipline, strategy and unity to the civil rights movement reminded me of my current experience as a student-athlete, where teamwork and discipline are essential.”
- Kaeleigh Graham-Purdy, Greenwich High School, who delved into the life of biologist and cancer researcher Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb. “What drew me to her was her incredible excellence and unwavering determination. ...walking in Dr. Cobb’s footsteps has taught me the power of perseverance, innovation and giving back.”
- Janiya Greene, Metropolitan Business Academy, New Haven, who presented on Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and to run for U.S. president, noted in her remarks: [I was] “drawn to her fearlessness, courage and unwavering commitment to social justice. She inspired me to use my voice to advocate for positive change and make a difference in my community.”
- Raymond Lomax, Jr., Nonnewaug High School, Woodbury, focused on baseball player Jackie Robinson. He wrote that “[Robinson] faced a multitude of challenges throughout his life … His ability to walk with integrity amid racial oppression and persevere is a firm example for how I am called to approach these situations.”
- Elissa Matthews, Hopkins School, New Haven, who wrote about William Grimes, a former slave who escaped to New Haven and published his autobiography in 1825, noted “... he exposed slavery’s brutality while unwittingly bringing history and origin to future generations of African-Americans living without stories. ... Grimes gave me a key to my past and a deeper understanding of who I came from.”
