LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Three leaders in Lexington's Black community were honored for their work downtown Tuesday evening.
This is the third year for the Grassroots Black Leadership Awards. It's put on by the Bluegrass Community Foundation and the Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative.
This evening, they honored three people who they said have been on the frontlines of work to address racial equity and social justice in the community - Shawn Ka'Ron Bumpase of Kentucky Black Pride, Kayla Chambers-Reed of the African-American Ballet Troupe, and Latarika Young, of the Fayette Education Foundation.
"I feel like I'm in a room with giants!" Bumpase said.
Bumpase is the founder of Kentucky Black Pride. The organization works to promote unity and positive awareness of queer and trans people of color in Kentucky.
"Kentucky Black Pride does, every other month, a 'Let's Talk' and we deal with real-life issues. We deal with molestation, domestic violence, gun violence. Any subject that we have, we deal with it," Bumpase said.
15-year-old Kayla Chambers-Reed founded the African-American Ballet Troupe after noticing she was the only dancer of color in her ballet classes. She wants to help increase diversity in ballet. LEX 18 highlighted her efforts last fall.
“Seeing classes, and you barely see any Black or brown kids, and I know there’s kids out there who want to do ballet,” Chambers-Reed told LEX 18. “They just don’t have the means, or the time, or the transportation to get there to take those classes.”
Latarika Young's been involved in the Fayette Education Foundation, the Black Male Working Academy, and a new effort called the Sneakers with Everything project.
"The mission is to use sneaker culture to connect with teens in the community and provide mental and emotional health resources as well as develop core skills through the sneaker culture," Young said.
Young said people like the ones at the event tonight are doing critical work in the city.
"It means that they are identifying the gaps that need to be filled within the community. They are recognizing individuals that are committed to addressing those gaps that are not only important to us in the Black community, but critical to the growth of the city of Lexington. That's what I believe is represented in that room," Young said.
Each honoree will get a $5,000 stipend in recognition of their efforts.
