The Wichita NAACP Blog: Branch VP Lavonta Williams elected Vice-Mayor of the City of Wichita!!!

Profile in Courage: Dr. Ronald W Walters

As the President of the Wichita NAACP Youth Council in July of 1958, Dr. Walters led the group as they conducted the first successful student-led sit-in of the Civil Rights movement. Sit-Ins were not an approved tactic of the NAACP in 1958 so when the Branch and Youth council asked for the support of the National Office, they were turned down. It required an extraordinary amount of courage for Ron as the Youth President and Chester I Lewis, the branch President, to press forward over the objections of the National Office. When the sit-in ended in August of that same year, the Dockum drug store on the corner of Broadway and Douglass in Wichita Kansas was integrated - along with the entire Rexall Drug store chain and all its subsidiaries. Following the success of the Dockum Sit-In, the Oklahoma City Branch Youth Council conducted a sit-in that August. From there, the tactic spread throughout the Midwest. In 1960, a group of young men and women from SNCC conducted a sit-in in Greensboro North Carolina which many mistakenly believe to have been the first... Dr. Walters went on to become known throughout the world for his knowledge of African American politics and leadership. He headed the African American Leadership Institute and Scholar Practitioner Program of the University of Maryland, served as Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, and retired as Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Walters was a dear friend, a supporter, and a mentor, and he will be sorely missed... July 1938 - September 2010

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Branch VP Lavonta Williams elected Vice-Mayor of the City of Wichita!!!

This morning, Lavonta Williams, who currently serves as the City Councilwoman for Wichita District 1, the Vice President of the Wichita Branch NAACP, the Secretary for the Kansas State Conference of the NAACP, and a host of other positions, was elected to her newest post. By a unanimous 7-0 vote, Lavonta Williams was elected to serve as the Vice Mayor for the City of Wichita! Her election was historic; already the first African American Woman elected to the City Council, she is now the first African American Woman to serve as Vice Mayor for the City. What's next for Vice Mayor Williams??? We'll keep you posted!

Comments (3)

Logging you in...

Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout

Logged in as

0 Vote up Vote down

Duane Walters · 737 weeks ago

Just wanted to say Congratulations! to Lavonta. If I were there, I would give you a big Bear Hug! It's about time for Wichita, and about time for you! Keep doing what you obviously do so well. On another note, I was also pleased to see the selection for this week's Community Hero, my brother, May He Rest in Peace, Ron Walters. As you all will soon be made aware, we are in the process of establishing in conjunction with Howard University, the Ronald W. Walters institute (name yet to be specifically agreed upon). Th Institute will provide outstanding opportunities for young aspiring and talented African American students from around the world to distinguish themselves in many areas of world politics, and provide an idealogical "think tank" for issues as they affect Africans and African Americans around the globe. We will keep you all informed. Thank you again, Duane A. Walters

0 Vote up Vote down

Mortgage Net Branch · 590 weeks ago

Congrats! Still there?

0 Vote up Vote down

bᴜy essay in ᴜk · 495 weeks ago

Process and assignment of the times are significant and important. It is significance of the system which is taking forward the skills and fortunes of the students. The institutes of the research and schools for that matter that is inquired and implemented.