Coahoma Community College News December 5, 2018 11 Honors College Students Attend Black Leadership Summit Members of the CCC Honors College recently joined elected and school officials, as well as religious and community leaders at the Mississippi Black Leadership Summit, an annual event sponsored by the non-profit One Voice Mississippi. With Honors College director Jeremy Pittman and Patricia Furdge, Math and Natural Science department chair, the students learned how they can follow in the footsteps of a political leader. They were enlightened on the issues surrounding redistricting, the 2020 census, the impact of millennials on their communities and other topics of importance. Coahoma Community College received recognition for consistent participation since 2014. Executive director of One Voice, Nsombi Lambright thanked Pittman for staying true to his commitment that he would take a group of students to the conference each year. Pittman, who is also a Business and Computer Information Systems instructor, was privileged to have graduated from the Mississippi Black Leadership Institute in 2013. Organized by Congressman Bennie Thompson and One Voice Mississippi, the institute is an organization devoted to the achievement of equality and justice, offering a leadership development course on weekends. "It is important for our students to understand how leaders tackle the most pressing problems in their community and do so with passion, drive and knowledge," said Pittman. "The Mississippi Black Leadership Summit gives our students affirmation of what is learned in the classroom from individuals they can relate to. I am thankful for the work of One Voice Mississippi in developing leadership across various generations of Mississippians." LaShasa Griffin, the assistant director of student engagement and enrollment management at Coahoma Community College, is set to graduate from MBLI next year. CCC freshmen Miltesha Nelson, Dynasty Latham, Ben Baltimore, Jr., Dedrick Gates, Aerial Glasper, Portia Trotter and Taylor Harris, along with sophomores Karinton Johnson, Kymbranecia Richard, Rameshia Martin and Brianna James gained insight from politicians striving toward change in their local cities and across the state of Mississippi. Sophomore Briana James stated that the summit was overall very informative and impactful. The session led by newly elected mayors showed that Mississippi has some progressive thinking leaders ready to tackle the challenges in their communities, she said. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/