AACC’s Annual Dr. King Memorial Breakfast Honors Six Community Members

Six People From The Annapolis Area Recognized For Their Community Activism

Each year during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast, local residents are recognized for carrying on the mission of King and other community activists for whom the awards are named. The 2018 ceremony, to be held January 15, will spotlight a group of distinguished leaders.

Claudia J. Postell
George H. Phelps Jr. Distinguished Public Service Award

Born in Annapolis, Claudia Postell is a lifelong Anne Arundel County resident. She has earned several degrees, including a bachelor’s in communication and a Juris Doctor.

Now, Postell is a career Senior Executive Service employee. She meets with national and community leaders to discuss concerns of groups protected by Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws. Postell then develops and reviews policies and procedures that control the EEO program.

Previously, Postell served as the first African-American associate editor at Trial Magazine, a national monthly legal publication, where she published more than 100 legal articles.

Postell was named one of the “25 Influential Minority Women in Business” in the Washington, D.C., and metropolitan area. She is married with three children and three grandchildren.

Postell did not want to comment for this article, instead wishing for the focus to remain on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mary Dadone
Alan Hilliard Legum Humanitarian Award

Originally from California, Mary Dadone has lived in Anne Arundel County since 1994. She studied biology and biostatistics, and spent several years as a research genetic epidemiologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

“As recipient of the Alan Hilliard Legum Humanitarian Award, named for one of the boldest and most enduring civil rights activists in Anne Arundel County, I am especially aware of joining a long march of persons who have worked their whole lives for justice,” Dadone said. “This is my time to join the march, and I am grateful and humbled to become a part of it.”

For the last 30 years, Dadone’s professional life has focused on medical device regulatory affairs and quality assurance. She also spends time in program and project management, which includes the civilian side of government contracting.

Now, late in her career, Dadone is able to focus on social justice issues. For her, social justice is a necessary part of living her faith.

”I see this as an award not for what I have already done, but rather for what I may do in the future,” Dadone said. “It is both an honor and an obligation, one I gratefully accept.”

Dianne Crews
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award

“I am both honored and humbled to receive the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award,” Dianne Crews said. “Like him, I believe in living together in community and know we can make our community a better place by coming together in love, justice, peace and brotherhood.”

One of Crews’ favorite Dr. King quotes is, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”

Crews has spent 45 years in Anne Arundel County doing public service. She moved to Maryland in the ‘70s with her husband and young family.

“It was a time when we thought we could change the world with hope and our activism,” Crews said. “We have been trying ever since.”

She worked at the former Anne Arundel General Hospital, and then moved to the Anne Arundel County Department of Health. She retired after 26 years as a community health nurse.

For many years, Crews served on the executive board of the Greater Annapolis Interfaith Network (GAIN) as a secretary and communications liaison. Crews joined a coalition of church representatives and the Eastport Civic Association, so she works with the Eastport Community Center Team to provide monthly family dinners and activities for the young people of Eastport Terrace and Harbor House.

For the last 12 years, Crews has coordinated the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (Eastport) Food Pantry, which provides supplement food to roughly 50 households each week.

The Rev. George Sharps
Leon H. White Clergy Memorial Award

“I feel blessed and honored to win this award,” the Rev. George Sharps said. “I'm thankful for Bishop Shinklin and those who worked on the committee in helping to make this possible.”

In 1999, Sharps was ordained as a minister. In 2002, under the leadership of the Rev. Arthur Lewis, Sharps became the first assistant pastor of Christ is the Answer Full Gospel Church. In December 2004, Sharps founded the Jesus Lives Ministry Fellowship, where he teaches and preaches.

As part of his service, Sharps visits those in nursing homes, prisons and hospitals, and the homeless.

Previously, Sharps worked for the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration for more than 31 years. In 2017, he retired from the SHA to spend more of his time on ministry.

“It means a lot to know that I'm able to help others,” Sharps said. “To be getting recognized alongside Martin Luther king Jr. means a lot.”

Sharps is married with two sons and seven grandchildren.

Raynaldo “Duce” Brown
Dallas G. Pace Humanitarian Award

Born in Annapolis, Raynaldo “Duce” Brown attended Anne Arundel County Public Schools and graduated in 1982. Brown works part time at the Hope House, a drug and alcohol treatment facility, as a treatment aide.

In 2006, Brown received the City of Annapolis Human Relations Commission Award. In 2007, he received the Governor's Citation Outstanding Service to Community Award. In 2017, Brown received a citation for a backpack giveaway.

In 2017, Brown launched his 16th annual back-to-school celebration in Oxford Landing. He took more than 1,000 kids, all of whom received school supplies.

For the last five years, Brown and his family have participated in the Winter Relief program at Asbury Broadneck United Methodist Church.

“It means a lot that someone is recognizing my work,” said Brown, who plans to continue his work in the community.

Brown is married to his wife of 23 years, and they have a son and two granddaughters.

Regina Patton Macklin
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Zeitgeist Award

Regina Macklin said she is “extremely grateful and incredibly humbled” to be chosen for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Zeitgeist Award.

“I am extremely grateful and incredibly humbled. In many respects, it seems a little premature to be acknowledged for doing social justice work that I just began a little over three years ago,” Macklin said. “There is so much to be done and I'm really just getting started. Being acknowledged at this point sets the bar pretty high, but I'm thrilled at the thought of discovering what comes next.”

In 1992, Macklin was recruited by the FBI as a management analyst, technical writer and coordinator of the FBI’s Adopt-A-School program. While working for the FBI, Macklin also served in the U.S. Army Reserves Military Police Corp. from 1993 to 1999. She is an Operation Desert Shield veteran.

In 2002, Macklin formed MeetingHouse Corporation, in conjunction with the Greater Prince William Community Development Center in Virginia. The corporation enables the development of faith-based, mixed-use/mixed-income affordable housing.

In 2010, Macklin started working at the School of Health Sciences at Anne Arundel Community College. In 2016, she introduced her colleagues across the campus to a summit-style “Race in the Workplace” dialogue to provide a place for victims to share workplace discrimination. As a result, a multicultural advocacy group was created and surveyed the campus climate in regards to bias, stereotypes and inequities.

Macklin is a magna cum laude alumnus of Anne Arundel Community College and George Mason University. She is currently enrolled at Georgetown University, where she is earning a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and a master’s of professional studies in organized development and transformational leadership.

“Being associated with anything that has Dr. King's name attached to it legitimizes my efforts as a part of the larger movement for civil rights and social justice,” Macklin said.

Macklin is married with three sons and a grandson.