The stamp, which features a…
By Betsy Scheinbart
Hundreds of school children, politicians and community leaders gathered in south Jamaica last Thursday to celebrate the life of civil rights pioneer Roy Wilkins as the Jamaica Post Office unveiled a stamp in his honor.
The stamp, which features a blue-tinted portrait of a handsome, dark-haired and mustachioed Wilkins, was the 24th in the Postal Service’s Black Heritage series. The series was developed in celebration of Black History Month and commemorates remarkable African-American activists, writers, educators, theorists and leaders.
Wilkins, who lived in south Jamaica for most of his life, was widely acknowledged as one of the greatest civil rights leaders of the 20th century. He died in 1981 at the age of 80.
“He’s a black leader we all respect,” said Yvonne Reddick, the district manager of Community Board 12 and a member of the Roy Wilkins Ad Hoc Committee, which selected the portrait used on the stamp.
Wilkins, who was born in St. Louis and raised in Minnesota, was involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the oldest civil rights group in the country, for most of his adult life beginning in 1931 when he was 30.
He succeeded NAACP founder W.E.B. Du Bois as the editor of the “The Crisis” magazine and led the organization from 1955 to 1977 as executive secretary and director.
The unveiling ceremony was held at the Roy Wilkins Family Center in the park off 177th Street and Baisley Boulevard in south Jamaica.
The keynote speaker, Paul Gibson, who is an attorney and former deputy mayor as well as the chairman of the board at the Roy Wilkins Park, described Wilkins’ role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s.
Gibson said that while newly formed groups like the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Council were drawing national media attention by staging protests where many were arrested, the NAACP under Wilkins’ leadership was working behind the scenes.
“We felt we were being left out,” Gibson said, “but Roy Wilkins would say, ‘everyone has a role to play and our role is to back up those at the front.’”
During his tenure as executive secretary, Wilkins and the NAACP helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and campaigned for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
But even before he served as executive secretary, Wilkins helped the NAACP make numerous strides in the fight for racial equality, including the historic Brown vs. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1954, which made school segregation illegal.
Robert Weiss, the principal of PS 136, the Roy Wilkins Elementary School, said Wilkins always mentioned the Board of Education decision when asked about what his greatest achievements were.
“It is fitting that we have our school named in honor of Roy Wilkins,” Weiss said.
The Wilkins school held an essay and art contest in honor of the stamp unveiling, and winners from each class attended the ceremony.
The winner of the art contest, fifth-grader Todd Pierre, and the runner-up, fifth-grader Tabiti Pottinger, had their work displayed at the foot of the stage.
Essay winner fifth-grader Shellie Dick and the runner-up, Brittany Franklin, a fourth-grade poet, read their work.
There were several musical performances during the ceremony, including the “Black National Anthem,” sung by the NAACP Children’s Chorale and several songs from the Roy Wilkins Park Choir.
The Roy Wilkins School cheerleaders, coached by Grade 5 teacher Stasia Dennison, performed several cheers, including special ones in honor of the Wilkins stamp.
The grade 5 cheerleaders, who will graduate from the school this spring, were outfitted in blue and yellow uniforms, complete with pompoms on their shoes. Their cheers included elaborate stepping-out moves.
Dennison, who holds practices every Saturday, said cheerleading is an excellent opportunity for the girls to attend community events and start early training for high school cheerleading teams.
Leroy Comrie Jr., the district manager for City Councilman Archie Spigner (D-St. Albans), praised the cheerleaders for their hard work.
“They showed that with motivation, children can do anything,” Comrie said. “I am especially proud of the teachers and the children.
Finally, Jamaica Postmaster Gino S. Gentilini unveiled the stamp to thunderous applause and the event concluded with the entire audience holding hands and singing “We Shall Overcome.”
After the ceremony, the Rev. Ollie Joiner, who is also a Springfield Gardens postal clerk, gave the invocation, praised the postmaster for his role in the stamp dedication and recounted her experiences with Wilkins.
“Roy Wilkins was a peaceful man,” Joiner said. “I remember him coming to NAACP meetings and telling us we have work left undone, but each of us has a role in that work.”
Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 138.
