SYLDI 2023 Youth Summit

The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute Takes Students to Houston, TX

Montgomery, AL- The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute (SYLDI) has taken students from its summer camp to visit Houston, Texas. The trip, sponsored by Alabama native and Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub and the company’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) team , provided students the opportunity to apply SYLDI’s six pillars and gain real-world experience. 

SYLDI focuses on six pillars of development for students that participate in the program. The six pillars are 1) Leadership: Building skills through mentoring and yearlong leadership development by the founder of the organization and other influential community leaders, 2) Career Readiness: providing college preparation, and facilitating soft skill sessions. Also resume building, interview skills, employment each, and how to articulate your goals, 3) Civic Engagement: learning about government and how democracy works by visiting local, state, and federal officials. Learning how to write a bill and how to bring it to the floor and the importance of voting, 4) Health and Wellness: addressing physical and mental trauma and education on ways they can take control of their health challenges. Also teaching food preparation and how to shop and eat healthy, 5) Communication: working on projects that involve the students’ written and verbal skills like debate and debate preparation, as well as an Arts and Film Camp, and 6) Financial Literacy: How to create a checking and savings account, as well as how to develop a budget. Students participate in an intense training on the future of investing and financial independence from experts. 

With the support of Occidental’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) team and the Black Employee Network (BEN), executives  provided the SYLDI students with an overview of the oil and gas industry, the company’s operations,  and examples of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM jobs in the industry. . Babatunde Cole, President & GM of Occidental’s Delaware Basin oil and gas operations, was the keynote for this event. The visit also included a demonstration of the robotic dog that Occidental uses for surveillance at its facilities to ensure systems are operating properly or test for potential issues, without putting employees in harm’s way. 

“We were very pleased to host Doris Crenshaw and the SYLDI students during their first-ever visit to Houston, home of NASA and the heart of the U.S. energy industry,” Vicki Hollub said. “It was a chance for the students to engage, face-to-face with professionals from their community, which sparks hope and provides impact and influence that we hope changes the trajectory of their futures.” 

While on the trip, students visited Dillard University and  Texas Southern University, as well as the NASA Johnson Space Center and Occidental’s corporate headquarters, . At each location, students worked  with individuals and groups to use the parts of the six pillars and gain real world experience. 

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The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute (SYLDI) was established, by civil rights leader Doris Crenshaw, in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2004, to train youth to combat the inequalities of education. SYLDI inspires, cultivates, and trains youth with leadership potential to bring about a more disciplined approach to problem identification and resolution of issues that impact education policies. 

SYLDI Students HBCU Tour: First Stop is Tuskegee University

Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute kicked off their HBCU Student Tour with a visit to Tuskegee University on July 20th, 2023. The students toured the Tuskegee University campus, visited the Tuskegee University Legacy Museum, received insight on Tuskegee admissions, and engaged in a compelling presentation titled ‘What Makes a Good Leader?’, presented by Dr. Albert E. Russell (pictured).

Students loading the bus

Tiger’s Den featuring Ms. Chiquita Lee

Dr. Albert E. Russell

Booker T. Washington Lifting the Veil of Ignorance Statue

Students and Dr. Albert E. Russell

Students in Tuskegee University cafeteria for lunch

Students pictured by The Polio Eradication Monument

The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute Holds a Book Drive Donating to Youth Ministries at Participating Churches

Thank you to the American Federation of Teachers for their generous book donation to the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute in Montgomery, Alabama. On Saturday, June 17, 2023, the book drive served the purpose of combatting censorship and exposing the youth to their culture and true history, enabling them to become knowledgeable leaders.

The book selection includes: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Stacey’s Extraordinary Words, Sing a Song: How “Lift Every Voice and Sing” inspired Generations, Rosa, Juneteenth, Let the Children March, Build a House, The Hill We Climb, Shirley Chisholm Dared, Black Boy Black Boy Celebrate the Power of You, The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States, I Too Sing America, and The Faith of Elijah Cummings: the North Star of Equal Justice.

Freewill Missionary Baptist Church

Resurrection Catholic Church

St. Paul CME Church

St. Paul CME Church

First Baptist Church of White Hall

Living Faith Tabernacle Church

New Home Baptist Church

True Divine Baptist Church

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw Joins CBS Travel Editor Peter Greenberg on "Eye On Travel"

Montgomery, AL- Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw discusses Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the future of the civil rights movement with CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg on Saturday's episode of "Eye on Travel."

Peter Greenberg is America's most recognized, honored, and respected front-line travel news journalist. Peter is Travel Editor for CBS News, appearing on CBS This Morning and The CBS Evening News, among other broadcast platforms. Eye on Travel is a travel news show originating from a different location every week, featuring local experts sharing their favorite gems.

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw founded the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2004. She trains youth to combat the inequalities in education. SYLDI inspires, cultivates, and teaches youth with leadership potential to bring a more disciplined approach to problem identification and resolution of issues that impact education policies.

To listen to this week's episode of "Eye on Travel," click here.

The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute will host the Montgomery Bus Boycott Celebration.

Montgomery, AL- The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute will host a Montgomery Bus Boycott Celebration December 2-3, 2022, in Montgomery, Alabama. The celebration will include the Montgomery premiere of the “Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks,” in partnership with NBC Universal, and the Rosa Parks Gala, honoring extraordinary women from Alabama.

The Schedule of Events is:

Rebellious Life of Rosa Parks
December 2, 2023, 4:30pm
Rosa Parks Museum
252 Montgomery Street
Montgomery, AL 36104

Rosa Park Gala
December 3, 2023, 7:00pm
Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center
201 Tallapoosa Street
Montgomery, AL 36104

The women honored during the gala are the Honorable Alexis Herman, former United States Secretary of Labor, Vicki Holub, President and CEO of Occidental Petroleum, Laurie Weil, Ph.D., Jennifer Lawson, Latosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter, Alexia Borden, Sr. Vice President, and General Counsel for Alabama Power, Katie Britt, United States Senator-elect for Alabama, the Honorable Nekima Williams, United States House of Representative for Georgia, Tanya Lombard, Vice President for Global External Public Affairs and Head of Multicultural Engagement & Strategic Alliances for AT&T, the Honorable Ann Berry, Secretary of the United States Senate, Elaine Flowers Duncan, NASA Engineer, Bobbie Knight, President of Miles College, and Ti’Ara Turner.

The National Host Committee for the weekend is chaired by the Honorable Stephanie Nellons Paige, CEO of the Nellons-Paige Group and consist of  Janice Frazier, Ph.D., Board Chairman of Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute, the Honorable Rodney Slater, former United States Secretary of Transportation, the Honorable Terri Sewell, United States Representative for Alabama, the Honorable Steven L. Reed, Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of the King Center, Honorable Lottie Shackelford, former Mayor of Little Rock Arkansas, John Danielson, Chairman and CEO of the Chartwell Hamilton Group, Darren Peters, Founder and Managing Partner of the Peter Damon Group, Jim Courtovich, Founder of Sphere Consulting, and Alvin Brown, former Mayor of Jacksonville Florida.

 Coco Brown, from the motion picture "Single Moms Club" will emcee the gala, and Mavis Staples, Nuria Fernandez, Administrator for the United States Department of Transportation, and Ambassador Andrew Young are scheduled to attend.

The title sponsor for the celebration is Occidental Petroleum. Other sponsors include Toyota Motors North America and Wells Fargo.

 For more information or to purchase a ticket, go to www.syldi.org.

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The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute (SYLDI) was established, by civil rights leader Doris Crenshaw, in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2004, to train youth to combat the inequalities of education. SYLDI inspires, cultivates, and trains youth with leadership potential to bring about a more disciplined approach to problem identification and resolution of issues that impact education policies.

SYLDI Hosts Spotlight Arts Film Camp at Black Seed Academy with Dr. Tonea Stewart

Students participating in the Spotlight Arts Film Camp at Black Seed Academy produced by Tonea Stewart, Inc. and directed by The Wazi Group learn about various aspects of the film industry including script writing, directing, acting, makeup, lighting, and camerawork. 

The students attending the film camp in 2022 produced a short film titled, Brighter Days. View it here. 

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw: Women, Soul of the Nation: Then and Now!

Join Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 6:00 pm ET, as the King Center commemorates the 95th birthday of their founder, Coretta Scott King, with a special Beloved Community Talk, ‘Women, Soul of the Nation: Then and Now!’ Streaming on Facebook and YouTube.

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw honored by the People’s Agenda

Montgomery, Al- Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw was honored by the People’s Agenda as one of the unsung women of the civil rights movement.

In 1955, at the age of 12, Doris served as vice president of the NAACP Youth Council, when Mrs. Rosa Parks was an advisor to the Youth Council. After completing her degree at Clark College, she continued her community outreach in Chicago with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Open Housing Campaign.

Doris began her professional career as Southern Field Representative for the National Council of Negro Women organizing chapters, designing rural economic programs (credit unions, quilting bees, grocery stores, and big banks), and health and housing programs.

In 1977, Doris joined the Carter White House Domestic Policy staff for the Small and Minority Business Issue Division, then moved on to serve as Deputy Director for the 1980 South East Region Carter Presidential Campaign. In the early 1980s, she was Special Assistant to Rev. Jesse Jackson and also served as his Mobilization Director for his Special Projects. In this capacity, Mrs. Crenshaw worked extensively in Washington, DC, and nationwide with black businesses for the PUSH Trade Bureau. Doris then served as a consultant to Vice President Walter Mondale and was later named National Political Director for the ‘Mondale for President Campaign’ in 1983.

In 1985, Doris was asked by Mrs. Coretta Scott King to serve as Director of Mobilization for the First National holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday was officially celebrated in January 1986. Doris was then asked by Mrs. Dorothy Height to serve as the Director of the Mobilization for the First National Black Family Reunion, which was attended by more than 600,000 people, and then served as Director of Mobilization of the Black Family Reunion in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Detroit.

In 2008, Doris Crenshaw founded the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute, SYLDI. SYLDI was created to address educational policy issues affecting our community.

"I am pleased to accept this honor from the People’s Agenda. The work of the Civil Rights movement is not over and it is time that we get back around the table to discuss the issues that are important to everyone," stated Doris during her acceptance of the award.

The People’s Agenda was founded in 1998 by Reverend Joseph Lowery, The Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda is an umbrella organization of human rights, civil rights, labor, women’s, youth, and peace and justice groups that advocate for voting rights protection, elimination of barriers to the ballot box, criminal justice reform, quality education, affordable housing, economic development and equal participation in the political process for Georgians of color and underrepresented communities.

Community Leaders Talk About Autonomous Driving and Mobility Equity

Dr. Charles Steele is president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Doris Crenshaw is Founder & CEO of The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute.

Waymo welcomed SCLC as an educational thought partner of Let’s Talk Autonomous Driving last year, and these community leaders recently traveled to the Phoenix East Valley to ride with Waymo One. 

Discover why Dr. Steele and Ms. Crenshaw say they believe fully autonomous driving technology is a good first step toward expanding mobility options and improving safety for the communities they’ve worked with their entire lives. 

“In order to build a house, you have to start on the ground floor; you can't start at the roof. I want to be at the base, the foundation, and that's what this presents. I welcome this opportunity.” - Dr. Steele, President & CEO, SCLC

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw discusses Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott with Darley Newman

For Immediate Release
May 22,2021

Media Contact
Contact: Ashley D. Roseboro
Phone: (202) 780-7064
Email: aroseboro@roseboroholdings.com

Montgomery, AL- Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw discusses Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott with Darley Newman on Travels With Darley on this week’s episode of Travels with Darley: The Alabama Civil Rights Trail. 

Travels with Darley is a PBS and Amazon Prime travel television series. The show is hosted by Darley Newman and documents Newman's experiences with locals around the world. It premiered on PBS in 2016, taking audiences to Europe, the Caribbean and the United States. It can also be viewed on demand on Amazon Prime and has appeared on international broadcast networks as well as on over 2,000 partner sites such as MSN and HuffPost. Since its debut, the program has aired 36-half hour episodes over the span of six seasons and is currently shooting its seventh season.

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw, is the founder of the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2004. She trains youth to combat the inequalities of education. SYLDI inspires, cultivates, and trains youth with leadership potential to bring about a more disciplined approach to problem identification and resolution of issues that impact education policies.

The Episode will air this Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 3:30 CT on your local PBS station. 

Rosa Parks Awards Gala

Montgomery, AL-The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute will hold the Rosa Parks Awards Gala on December 3, 2022. Learn more about the event and sponsorship opportunities at the link below.

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw discusses Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott with Peter Greenberg

For Immediate Release
May 22,2021

Media Contact
Contact: Ashley D. Roseboro
Phone: (202) 780-7064
Email: aroseboro@roseboroholdings.com

Montgomery, AL- Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw discusses Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott with Peter Greenberg on his CBS Radio show Eye on Travel. 

Peter Greenberg’s Eye on Travel is a travel news show originating from different locations every week, featuring local experts sharing their favorite gems. This episode focuses on the Civil Rights Trail from bloody Sunday to Doris Crenshaw’s experience with Rosa Parks during and after the bus boycott. Peter Greenberg is America’s most recognized, honored, and respected front0-line travel news journalist. He is a travel editor for CBS News, appearing on CBS This Morning and The CBS Evening News, among other broadcast Platforms. 

Civil Rights Activist Doris Crenshaw, is the founder of the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2004. She trains youth to combat the inequalities of education. SYLDI inspires, cultivates, and trains youth with leadership potential to bring about a more disciplined approach to problem identification and resolution of issues that impact education policies.

You can listen to the episode here. 

Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute Hosts Bricklayers Hall Historic Marker Unveiling with Special Guest Dr. Bernice A. King and other Special Guests

For Immediate Release
June 3, 2021


Media Contact
Contact: Ashley D. Roseboro
Phone: (202) 780-7064
Email: aroseboro@roseboroholdings.com

Montgomery, AL- The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute host the historic marker unveiling of the Bricklayers Hall with special guest Dr. Bernice A. King, the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. and Coretta Scott King, and other Special Guest  on Saturday, June 5, 2021, at 10:00 am.

Built-in the early 1950s, the Bricklayers Hall was constructed by a Black Union and was the site of many meetings of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Improvement Association. Within the walls of the building members of the Montgomery Improvement Association organized the 1955 Bus Boycott, cut the checks for the Black-owned gas stations who fueled the carpools during the, and Dr. King called for the end of the 381-day bus boycott in the upstairs room of the building.

Dr. Bernice A. King is a global thought leader, orator, peace advocate, and Chief Executive Officer of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which was founded by her mother, Coretta Scott King, in 1968. She was appointed CEO of The King Center in January 2012, by the Board of Trustees. From this position, the same one once held by her mother, this transformative leader steadfastly continues her efforts to advance her parents’ legacy of Kingian Nonviolence, which Dr. King re-branded Nonviolence365™️.

The other guest in attendance will be State Senator Kirk Hatcher, State Representative Tashina Morris, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, Chairman of the Montgomery County Commission Elton Dean, Montgomery Councilwoman Marche Johnson, and Alabama Tourism Lee Sentell.

The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute (SYLDI) was established, by civil rights leader Doris Crenshaw, in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2004, to train youth to combat the inequalities of education. SYLDI inspires, cultivates, and trains youth with leadership potential to bring about a more disciplined approach to problem identification and resolution of issues that impact education policies.

Montgomery's Bricklayers Hall was the birthplace where many significant changes began

As published in the Montgomery Advertiser

Decades of history exist inside the walls of an unsuspecting two-story building along Montgomery's Union Street. Upstairs are the same chairs the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. used when meeting with other pastors during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Out front are roses that are named after his wife, Coretta Scott King.

Downstairs the walls are lined with pictures of past U.S. presidents posing next to Doris Crenshaw, who was mentored by Rosa Parks at a young age and has passed that mentorship on to generations of Montgomery's youth. 

From its creation, the missions of people who have worked within the Bricklayers Hall have been rooted in pushing against the grain in the pursuit of making change. Built in the early 1950s, the Bricklayers Hall was constructed by a Black union despite the lack of popularity for unions in the South. 

Because of this connection to the civil rights movement and the important decision making that occurred inside its walls, the hall was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. 

For the first few months of the bus boycott, the Montgomery Improvement Association, led by the Rev. King and others, operated out of churches until moving its headquarters to the Bricklayers Hall. Within those walls, MIA staff members cut the checks for the Black-owned gas stations who fueled the carpools during the boycott. The MIA Newsletter was printed at the hall and when King called for an end to the 381-day boycott, it was from within the hall.

The building served as the MIA's headquarters until 1960, when it then became the office of civil rights lawyer Charles S. Conley Jr.

State Rep. Thad McClammy remembers the numerous trips he made between the hall and the Montgomery airport while a student at Alabama State University, volunteering his time to bring other lawyers from out of town to meet with Conley. 

To McClammy, the building is one of Montgomery's most historically significant places. In the four years Conley operated out of it, he'd work multiple cases that made national changes. 

In 1961, Conley joined attorneys Fred Gray and S.S. Seay Jr., along with two white lawyers in defending the Freedom Riders, arguing segregation on interstate buses was a violation of their 14th Amendment rights. 

Judge Frank M. Johnson would go on to rule in Conley's favor. 

More:The distance ahead: John Lewis, Gov. John Patterson and the challenges of reconciliation

Amid working that case, Conley defended Willie Seals Jr., a Black man who had been sentenced to death by an all-white jury in Mobile for allegedly raping a white woman. Seals case was overturned, and his case would give future lawyers the precedent to challenge the exclusion of Black jury members in trials. 

Conley was also the lawyer who represented Robert Cobb, who challenged segregation in Montgomery's public libraries. 

The most popular case Conley worked was in 1964 when Montgomery's police commissioner L.B. Sullivan sued the New York Times and four pastors. The libel suit came — with Conley joining two attorneys to defend the pastors — in response to the Times refusal to issue a retraction to an ad that criticized Montgomery police's treatment of the ASU students who protested segregation within the state Capitol's snack bar. 

People across the country are familiar with The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, McClammy said, but they rarely realize its connection to Montgomery. 

"So many significant decisions came out of Alabama and out of this building," he said about the Bricklayers Hall. 

Today, the hall is home to McClammy's daughter's law office on the left and the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute on the right, if you're facing the front of the building. 

To Courtney Meadows, director of student programs for the institute and pastor at Hutchison Missionary Baptist Church, the Bricklayers Hall and all of its history symbolizes the strength in partnership and in unity. 

"The movement is in the paint, the walls, the bricks," he said. 

Meadows met Crenshaw, Parks' mentee, when he was 12 and she immediately began pouring the lessons she'd gained during the civil rights movement into him. 

Crenshaw recalled going to the Bricklayers Hall as a child with Parks to pick up voter registration forms when it still housed the MIA. 

"She had a lot of courage and she was kind of radical in terms of some of the people around here. She instilled a lot in me. ... I developed a strong interest in the betterment of our people, and I still have that in me," Crenshaw said of Parks. 

Both she and Meadows view the institute as a way to continue on the mission of civil rights leaders like Parks, King and Conley. Bringing in a cohort of 30 young people each year, they are developing emerging leaders, Meadows said. 

Moving to the hall about six years ago assists in that. Those chairs upstairs that King and other pastors sat in during the bus boycott are the ones the institute's students sit in today. 

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.