116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
‘Unsung Heroes’ celebrates Black Iowan trailblazers in education, music
Event commemorates 5 community leaders amid retelling of history
Feb. 21, 2024 3:34 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — Trailblazers like Tawana Grover, Cedar Rapids schools’ first Black woman superintendent, and Nancy Humbles, the first Black woman elected to the Cedar Rapids school board, were celebrated Tuesday evening amid a night of music and the retelling of history.
Five community leaders were commemorated during the “Unsung Heroes” event — a celebration of music and Black history — organized by Empowering Youths of Iowa and the Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity at Mount Mercy University
Empowering Youths of Iowa is an education nonprofit that helps students graduate high school by providing them a safe space to learn and lunch during the week.
The other honorees were:
- Simon Estes, an international opera star born in Centerville;
- Ruth White, founder of the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success, which offers Black and biracial students an education they can’t find in a public school classroom;
- And Brandon Jackson, founder of Dreeam Sports, which makes it possible for more children to afford access to youth sports and provides youth and community services such as mentorships.
Grover — who began as superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District in April 2023 — said she became the first Black woman to lead the district “because there were (school) board members who were courageous enough to demonstrate what was possible.”
A timeline of Black history in Cedar Rapids schools was shared Tuesday, going back to 1964 when Nelson Evans was hired as the first Black teacher in Cedar Rapids.
In 2009, Humbles became the first Black person elected to the Cedar Rapids school board. She was reelected in 2013, 2017 and 2021. Her current term expires next year.
“Did you see the lapses in time?” Grover said, referencing the timeline of Black history in the Cedar Rapids school district. “It was 2023 by the time we got to my name. … No matter what the color of our skin, what I want us to take away from tonight is that we are in positions of what’s possible. It is up to us to add to this timeline. We don’t want another 10-15 years before we add something to the Cedar Rapids timeline.”
Other moments on the timeline included Darius Ballard becoming the first Black principal in Cedar Rapids in 2020 and students at Washington High School forming the school’s first majorette dance team in 2022, a traditionally Black style of dance.
Ballard has since become the district’s chief human resource officer.
“It is often said that education is a fundamental right, a human right, even a civil right,” Grover said. “Some people would even argue that education is the great equalizer, but I am reminded here tonight that education is only just one step. Oftentimes, it will get you to the door, but it has to be somebody on the other side that is willing to open the door.”
In accepting her award, Humbles told the audience of about 60 to “never give up.”
“Even if you’re convinced it’s over. It’s not over until you say it is,” Humbles said.
Humbles was inducted in 2019 into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame. She was director of the University of Iowa's Center for Diversity and Enrichment until 2014. After retiring, she has organized events for the NAACP and served on the Area Substance Abuse Council.
Also honored was White, who founded the Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success in Cedar Rapids over 30 years ago. The academy offers a six-week summer program for high school students. It teaches students about Black history, literature, math and science, and offers a postsecondary seminar to help students prepare for college and succeed once they get there.
There also are after-school programs for elementary and middle school students in Cedar Rapids schools. Another free program called Critical Conversations invites adult learners to learn about Black history, ask questions and have discussions with experts in a safe environment.
The academy’s goal is “to encourage Black and biracial students to do more than they think they can do,” White said.
Keynote speaker for the evening was Estes, who spoke about his journey to becoming an international opera star. Estes, the grandson of a slave who was sold for $500 whose father could not read or write, has sung for kings and queens, presidents and popes. He has performed in 84 of the world’s greatest opera houses and with 115 symphony orchestras.
Estes talked reading through the entire Bible with his mother — a feat he has since accomplished more than once. He reminisced on learning for the first time was opera is, how it opened up a “talent for languages” he said was given to him by God and what it’s like to be able to project — without a microphone — to an audience of 4,000.
“I had no idea that God had given me these gives … it’s been one of the greatest educations I’ve ever had in my life to travel around the world and see God’s great creation,” Estes said.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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