Durham Committee Installs New Officers

On Sunday Jan. 22 the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP) installed officers for the 2017-2018 term. With the theme “Only Together” the Installation ceremony took place at First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, NC.

The installation of officers was conducted by Durham County Superior Court Judge Elaine M. O’Neal. The Keynote speaker was Associate Justice Michael Morgan of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Minister Deborah Bryson, past chair of the Durham Committee of the Affairs of Black People’s Education Committee, presided.

On August 15, 1935 a group of men gathered at a Durham Tennis Club to discuss black affairs and creating a new civic organization in Durham, North Carolina.  On that day, The Durham Committee on Negro Affairs was formed.  These founders, Charles Clinton Spaulding, James E. Shepard, Rencher N. Harris, W.D. Hill, R.L. McDougald, J.T. Taylor and L.E. Austin were referred to as “a committee of influential Negroes”.

In 1939, the Durham Committee adopted a creed drafted by R. N. Harris.  Its emphasis was to register voters, run and support candidates that they indicated would most benefit our race.  This creed also vowed to work for the betterment of several initiatives in the black community which included education, health, housing and economic power.

The name of the organization was later changed to the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.

The 2017-2018 Officers are (left to right):

Front Row 

Omar Beasley Chairman; Ricky Hart 1st Vice Chairman; Sharon Mullen, 2nd Vice Chairwoman; Thelma White, 3rd Vice Chairwoman 

2nd Row

Clarence Birkhead, Sargent At-Arms; Dr. Richard Watkins, Vice Health Chair; Keith Bishop, Political Chair; Nigel Brown, Youth Vice Chair; Melodie Scarborough, Youth Chair, Angie Steele, Executive Secretary; Tyronne Johnson, Treasurer; 

3rd Row

Joy Spencer, Recording Secretary; Cheryl Brown, Education Chair; Pebbles Lucas, Education Vice Chair; Fred Davis II, Economics & Finance Vice Chair; Clayton Jones, Legal Redress Vice Chair; Joy Mickle, Housing Chair; Henry McKoy, Economics & Finance Vice Chair

Not Pictured

A. Leon Stanback, Legal Redress Chair, Dr. Jim Harper Historian, Dr. Carlous Caple, Civic Chair, Jan Cromartie, Health Chair