The elegant Koury Center in Greensboro recently set the stage for the 2025 International Civil Rights Center and Museum (ICRCM) Awards Gala on Saturday, July 19, a night dedicated to honoring champions of justice. Six remarkable individuals were celebrated for their profound contributions to civil and human rights.
Honoring Courage and Service
The first to be recognized was VonDeleath Kersey, a proud Bennett College graduate and a participant in the pivotal 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, where she and her peers courageously picketed the F.W. Woolworth Building. A native of Norfolk, Va., who now resides in West Chester, Pa., Kersey earned her bachelor’s in history and sociology in 1961 before dedicating her career to social work and special education. She received the Sit-in Participant Award, a poignant tribute to her early acts of defiance that helped ignite a movement…