By Kylie Marsh
Kylie.marsh@triangletribune.com
RALEIGH – Raleigh’s historical Black communities of Idlewild, Tarboro Road and College Park are significant to North Carolina’s history.
These communities in Southeast Raleigh are home to trailblazers. This year’s 36th annual Black History Month Celebration honored many such notables.
Wilbur Brown, Carrie Mae Rogers, Pastor Nathaniel Cox, Alan J. Wiggs, Archie Willie Lacy Pipkins, Leotha and Mary J. Chavis, Everett B. Ward and St. Augustine’s president emeritus Prezell R. Robinson were the trailblazers honored at the Tarboro Road Community Center.
“For generations, African Americans in this community have shaped the fabric, culture and success for all of Raleigh,” Congresswoman Deborah Ross. “It is so important that we learn and that we tell history for the future generation.”
“For us, Tarboro Road symbolizes a lot and means a lot,” said Raleigh Council member Corey Branch, who specifically lauded dedicated community member Octavia Rainey for her hard work and civic engagement.
The Reverend John Alexander Leaston delivered the keynote address, describing the significance of the communities and their history.
“There are places where you live, and then there are some places that live in you,” he said. “They are not just places on a map; but they are memories, they are sacrifices, they are proof that people can build stability even when society tries to build limits.”
Leaston said businesses opened, churches and communities organized “for a better tomorrow,” mentioning St. Aug’s, Shaw University and St. Agnes Hospital as landmarks that have created generations of Black scholars.
“Because educating our community was never limited to a campus,” he said.
The honorees were celebrated for opening their homes to the community, treating each other like family and making safe spaces for Black people in Raleigh.
Several people, including former Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane and Wake County Commissioner Tara Waters, spoke in honor of Robinson.
Robinson was born in South Carolina in 1922. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and sociology from St. Aug’s before continuing to earn a master’s degree and doctorate of rural education and sociology-economics at Cornell University. After becoming dean and professor of sociology at St. Aug’s, he was named president in 1967 and presided until 1995.
He still lives across the street from the university and is being cared for by his family at the age of 105.
“Dr. Robinson did not only serve as president; he served as a steward of possibility,” Waters said. “He led with vision, courage and an unwavering belief that education is a powerful instrument of justice.”
Robinson’s daughter, JesSanne Robinson Johnson, received the certificate of recognition in his honor. She recalled a story about her father’s dedication to education and belief that it could change anyone’s life.
