MILWAUKEE — In recognition of Black History Month, Milwaukee business leaders were honored for their dedication to the community and their leadership.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson presented four awards at Bader Philanthropies, which is located in the city’s Five Points Neighborhood.
The recipients of the awards for Present Day Black History Makers were:
- JCP Construction’s Clifton, Jalin, and James Phelps for Minority Business Champions
- Dr. Robert Davis, president and CEO of America’s Black Holocaust Museum, for Tenacious Business Leader
- Alicia Smith-McCants, vice president of development and analytics for Advocate Aurora Health Foundations and SD Foundation Board president, for Charitable Contributions
- Otis Winstead, Great Lakes Dryhootch president and CEO, for Outstanding Citizen
- Dr. Davis of America’s Black Holocaust Museum said Black History Month is essential to telling the stories of African Americans and other minorities.
But he said these stories can’t be limited to just one month a year.
“You can’t take the history and culture and contributions of a people and squeeze it into one month, that’s just not possible,” said Dr. Davis. “This should be a continuous celebration and recognition of all the work that we do as Americans, because that’s what we’re about. We are about the contributions of all Americans to the United States of America.”
Dr. Davis said these awards are bigger than what the recipients accomplish professionally.
“This is a celebration of not only what we have done at work, but how we as individuals and the collective have improved the quality of life for all of Milwaukee,” said Dr. Davis.