Bay Area

NAACP Oakland Imani Youth Council Celebrates 2024 ACT-SO Winners

The NAACP Oakland Imani Youth Council congratulated its 2024 ACT-SO winners and participants at the Oakland Mormon Temple on May 4. Forty guests attended the event, moderated by the council co-chairs Natre Burks and Maleah Flournoy.

Published

1 year ago

June 7, 2024

Oakland Post

Students Rayland Albert, Neveah Pittman, Jasmine Bell, Taylor Hill, Messiah Birks, Elaina Thomas, and Camren Lipson were all recognized for their academic achievements and talent. Photo By Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The NAACP Oakland Imani Youth Council congratulated its 2024 ACT-SO winners and participants at the Oakland Mormon Temple on May 4.

Forty guests attended the event, moderated by the council co-chairs Natre Burks and Maleah Flournoy.

The program opened with a prayer by Minister Brandon Waugh, a former president of the Imani Youth Council and newly elected president of the Imani Youth Council. Rayland Albert led the singing of the Black National Anthem.

“We have great students in Oakland, and we are proud of them,” said Patrice Waugh. “We have young folks doing great things.”

During the post-event reception, family members congratulated the youth. Rayna Lett, the proud parent of ACT-SO winner Jasmine Bell, said, “Jasmine has been a part of the NAACP Imani Youth Council for several years and I’ve seen nothing but growth. This year she stepped up with her gift of photography.”

Bell shared how the NAACP helped her build her develop her presentation skills.

“The NAACP supported me with many opportunities to get out of my shell and be able to speak before crowds,” Bell said. “It used to be hard for me to speak publicly, so the NAACP has given me opportunities to speak publicly, and I now have a scholarship from the NAACP to travel to Vegas.”

Mentor Leticia Pinn of Acts Full Gospel Church said she considered it a privilege to pour into the program’s youth.

“It’s important to let our youth know that they bring hope and inspiration to not only their generation, but generations before them,” Pinn said, adding that a big part of mentoring is letting the youth know who they really are on their way to becoming “who God has called them to be.”

“The youth are way movers, that are here to allow God to use them as vessels to bring about change and show that through their resilience they become whatever God has them to be, unapologetically,” Pinn continued.

Pinn also shared the importance of organizational partnerships with the church and that unity in the community creates “strength in numbers.”

“Without God we can do nothing,” said Pinn. “When we come together in the church, and we come together with people of action in the community you have a non-stop force that says ‘we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.’ We are better together.”

The local ACT-SO competitions and ceremonies showcase the results of the students’ hard work. Competition winners receive medals and prizes provided by the local and regional sponsors and contributors. The local Gold Medalists advance to the national competition and have the opportunity to receive scholarships and other rewards provided by national sponsors.

ACT-SO was founded in 1978 by author and journalist Vernon Jarrett.

The program’s goal is to provide recognition to young people who could demonstrate academic, scientific and artistic achievement, allowing young people to gain recognition equal to that often gained by entertainers and athletes.