Scholar | Educator | Green Belt Reparations Commission
About the Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Taylor is a Citizen of the United States, a resident of the City of Greenbelt, Maryland, and a member of “that class of persons only whose ancestors were negroes of the African race, and imported into this country and sold and held as slaves” (hereafter referred to as ‘the Class’ c/o Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 403).
He also is one of 21 Greenbelt residents appointed by the Greenbelt City Council to serve on the Greenbelt Reparations Commission, which was established in 2021 by city referendum to review, discuss, and make recommendations related to local reparations for African American and Native American residents of Greenbelt.
At the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch we love to recognize and celebrate those who demonstrate a strong commitment to engage with the local community and beyond.
FEBRUARY 26, 2026: Rev. Welch gave an outstanding Black History Month Presentation at AARP Chapter 4542 at St James Church on Black Boys.
McKenzie Branch members shown (l-r): Evelyn Ford, Ruth Ann Still, Ronald F. Saunders, and Judith Sanders
The plaque Rev. Welch is holding was given to her by President Saunders at her retirement dinner on January 14, 2026 at the Sheraton at Station Square for outstanding contributions to her faith community and community at large.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
FEBRUARY 21: “All You Can Eat (Free!) Pancake Breakfast” atSt. Matthews AME Zion Churchin Sewickly PA followed by Tuskegee Airmen Outdoor Memorial Visit.
Our branch has partnered with St. Matthews AME Zion Church on three previous “All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast” events during Black History Month. Note that St. Matthew’s AME Zion Church played a key support role for our McKenzie Branch Tuskegee Airmen Salute in 2018.
FEBRUARY 7: Pittsburgh African American “Read In” | Carnegie Library Homewood Branch
“We want to extend our thanks and congratulations to the United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh(UBBCP)for presenting its twenty-first year of the International African American Read In. An event of this magnitude requires a lot of behind-the-scenes heart. We thank Rena, Bonita, Toni, and everyone for their dedication to making this year’s African Read In a resounding success.
Image Courtesy of the New Pittsburgh Courier
Further, I would like to thank all the participants and attendees who joined us for the African American Read In. By showing up, you’ve helped us celebrate the rich tapestry of Black authors, readers, poets and literacy. Each participant did an outstanding job of presenting their respective works and for that we are most grateful.” —Ronald B. Saunders, President of the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch
Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch Participants: Cheryl Biggs Carlotta Black Judge Kim Clark Martha Richards Conley Ronald Lawrence Bonita Lee Penn Anita D. Russell Dr. Beatrice Vasser Ronald B. Saunders
Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. A tenured faculty member at Harvard since 1993, she chaired Harvard’s Department of African and African Americans Studies from 2006-2013, and chaired Harvard’s History Department from 2018-2020.
Dr. Higginbotham served from 2016-2021 as the national president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which was founded in 1915 by Carter G. Woodson, the “Father of Black History. A pioneering scholar in African American women’s history, she authored the prizewinning book Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920, from which came her widely discussed conceptualization “the politics of respectability.” Higginbotham is also co-author with the late John Hope Franklin of the classic text From Slavery to Freedom, which was first published in 1947. She continues the book’s long life, having written the ninth edition (2011), tenth edition (2021), and now the 2026 release.
We live in a world built on extraction, not relationship.
It’s a world designed to consume people, land, labor, and spirit in the name of profit, power, and dominance. It taught us competition instead of cooperation, hoarding instead of sharing, and alienation instead of belonging. It has told us that our worth is measured by productivity. That our humanity is conditional. And that some lives are disposable.
Reimagine We exists to help us to unlearn internalized inferiority, supremacy, scarcity, and fear, and reclaim sacred agency.
“I reject the principles of extraction and embrace the principles of relationship and engagement. I believe the greatest revolution is not political — it is relational. I accept the ideal of sovereign psych in that every human being is born with inherent dignity, imagination, and the right to self-determination. No race, no empire, no ideology has the authority to declare any person less than human. We are not broken. We have been conditioned.” — Anita D Russell, MEd
Anita D. Russell is a transformation coach, social impact leader, and founder of The Place to SOAR. Her work bridges personal development and community liberation, helping people move from awareness to empowered action.
Through workshops, writing, and her InflexionPoint Podcast, Anita guides individuals and communities in reclaiming agency, healing internal narratives, and building collective power. Anita is also an author whose signature message — “Cultivating Change from the Inside Out: The Power of Being Human” — calls people to awaken, act, and lead with purpose. She brings a liberatory voice rooted in justice, spirituality, cooperative economics, and cultural truth-telling.
“We needed a black press because there was no way to get our story out to the general American public.” — Dr. Edna B. McKenzie
The Desk of the President
On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14151 titled: ” Ending Radical Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” Prior to the advent of the modern day Civil Rights Movement, there were no significant conversations surrounding DEI, DEAI, JEDI, DEIB which are consequences of that evolving Movement.
One should be cognizant that the modern day Civil Rights Movement is part of the broader Black Freedom Struggle which is one of the most important stories in American history. The Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement are elements of the Black Freedom Struggle or African American Freedom Struggle.
Wherein, on January 23, 2025, President Trump revoked Executive Order 11246 which was one of the most important Executive Orders in the history of the United States of America. It was signed at the height of the modern day Civil Rights Movement. The African American leadership class persistently, vigorously, relentlessly, enthusiastically pushed President Johnson to sign the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 11246 which complimented the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
March is Women’s History Month, and on March 8, 2025, from 11:30 AM EST to 1:30 PM EST, the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH will present an exciting program featuring two phenomenal and significant speakers.
Rev. B. De Niece Welch, PhD, the First Vice President of the Dr. Edna B McKenzie branch will present “Black Women Strikers at the Cigar Plant in Charleston South Carolina 1945-1946.”
Dr. Margaret Bristow, Historian of Hampton Roads branch of ASALH will present “10,000 Striking Nigerian Women in 1929.”
This program promises to be enriching and informative. Join us to honor the legacy and contribution of women.
“Former Georgia Representative Julian Bond and Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver once said that when Rosa Parks chose to stay seated on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, somewhere in the universe, a gear in the machinery shifted, and everything changed.” —ASALH National
The 2025 Black History Month theme, African Americans and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Indeed, work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture…Black people’s work has been transformational throughout the U.S., Africa, and the Diaspora. The 2025 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” sets out to highlight and celebrate the potent impact of this work.
From the Desk of the Branch President, Ronald B. Saunders
Dear Edna B. McKenzie Branch and National Members,
We have launched a branch speakers bureau in 2024! We are inviting all Branch and National ASALH dues paying members to consider participating.
As you may know, the national organization has a speakers bureau. Like this bureau, we aim to assist organizations, institutions, and corporations seeking presenters for their programming. We are calling on you as speakers that are distinguished in your field. Together, our content knowledge spans a broad range of topics related to African American history and contemporary experience.
At a time when Black history is being taken out of schools and books are being banned, people need reliable sources for content on Black history. We want our branch to help fill this gap.
We value your time and contribution to this series.To participate in the branch speakers bureau, complete the form below. Once we have your materials, we will reach out to you to send a photo. This photo will only be used for our speakers bureau website.
Ronald B, Saunders, President Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH
On Saturday, November 16, 2024, from 11:00 AM ET to 1:00 PM ET, the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch of ASALH Presents “Reading of the Names”
Members of the Dr. Edna B. McKenzie branch read the names and honor Branch members and their family members that are veterans. We present this program with gratitude, and we thank our veterans for their service.
Opening of Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive at the Carnegie Museum of Art
On November 2nd the Carnegie Museum of Art opened a new presentation of the Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive in the gallery. The exhibit includes newly digitized color photographs and moving images taken by iconic photographer and Pittsburgh legend, Charles “Teenie” Harris.
To mark the occasion the Carnegie Museum of the Arts hosted a free concert and celebration featuring Roger Humphries and the R.H. Factor in the Carnegie Music Hall. In addition local organizations were invited to share their work at a table set up in the Music Hall Foyer. The Dr. Edna McKenzie Pittsburgh Branch of ASALH was honored to present a table represented our organization. The table was hosted by President, Ronald Saunders; Judith Saunders, Treasurer; Alonna Carter, Historian; and Anita Russell, VP Media Relations.
About The Exhibit
The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has launched a new, comprehensive presentation of the Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive. The installation, housed in the Scaife Galleries, showcases an extensive collection of Harris’s work, including iconic black-and-white photographs, previously unseen color images, film negatives, and moving images. Visitors can explore over 70,000 negatives, thousands of film feet, and oral histories, offering an immersive view of Harris’s documentation of mid-20th-century Black life and Pittsburgh’s evolving communities.
The gallery introduces interactive features, such as light tables for examining negatives and multichannel projections of Harris’s photos and videos. For the first time, the exhibition highlights Harris’s self-portraits and newspaper-style prints of his photos, emphasizing his role as both an artist and a community historian. The museum also integrates Harris’s work into broader historical timelines, reflecting his unique ability to capture the richness of Black life alongside pivotal historical moment.
Dr. Edna B. McKenzie Branch Table Presenters
Ronald Saunders, President | Judith Saunders, Treasurer | Alonna Carter, Historian | Anita D Russell, VP Media Relations
DR. EDNA B. MCKENZIE BRANCH OF ASALH 