Trio Gets Top Honors at MLK Reception

For three New Jersey women living by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s virtue of community service isn't limited to just one day a year – it's one they've built their lives around.

Marcia Brown, Mary Weaver and Lynda Lloyd will be recognized for their hard work and dedication as community leaders during a special Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration reception Thursday night at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Brown and Weaver, vice chancellor for student and community affairs at Rutgers University-Newark and vice chairwoman of internal affairs for People Organization's for Progress, respectively, will each receive the Steward of the Dream award, while Lynda Lloyd, founder of Newark-based program Young Urbanites Unite, will receive the Visionary of the Future award.

Candidates for each award are nominated by past honorees and then chosen by a committee made up of NJPAC and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People representatives.

Read more about the recipients and their contributions to the community below.

Mary Weaver, Steward of the Dream award recipient
Vice Chairwoman of Internal Affairs, People's Organization for Progress

Instead of recoiling after East Orange police gunned down her 21-year-old son Randy Weaver in 1999, Mary Weaver chose to fight back. Weaver, now 65, of East Orange, teamed up with activist group People's Organization for Progress in 2000 to support grieving mothers whose children are victims of police brutality. As the group's vice chairwoman of internal affairs, she helps fundraise and mobilize POP members but also coaches families that have lost loved ones through things like legal processes and grief.

"I encourage them to come out and fight for their child because they're now the voice of their child," said Weaver, who does everything from organizing candle-lit vigils to accompanying families in court.

With the support of the American Civil Liberties Union and POP President Lawrence Hamm, Weaver also fought the City of East Orange's permit process, which formerly required a $1 million insurance policy to hold public events, including rallies and memorials.

Calling the Steward of the Dream award a "humbling surprise," Weaver knows how proud her only child Randy would've been to see her receive the prestigious distinction.

"He loved the community and loved people," said Weaver, a retired sergeant of the United States National Guard. "He would be proud."

"It's a lot to show for and a lot to think about because you have to live up to a lot of great people who came before you, especially Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," she added.

Marcia Brown, Steward of the Dream award recipient
Vice Chancellor for Student and Community Affairs, Rutgers University-Newark

Providing city youth with educational opportunities is an obligation for Marcia Brown, who's clocked more than 25 years of community service. Under her tenure as vice chancellor for student and community affairs at Rutgers University-Newark, Newark public school students as young as sixth grade can work toward a free college education through the Rutger's Future Scholar program, which provides a scholarship to the university.

"A large part of what I try to do is to facilitate opportunity," said Brown.

Brown, who lived in Newark for 30 years before moving to Long Branch, has a soft spot for youth debate leagues, saying they're a "gateway" to adulthood for youngsters. She also oversees the Newark Mentoring Coalition, run out of Rutgers.

In the late 1980s, Brown co-founded South Ward Junior Crimefighters and Harriet Tubman Girls Club, now-defunct Newark-based programs designed to help keep city youth crime- and violence-free. She also started Citizens for a Better Newark, a politically active program run by a band of lawyers to encourage residents to partake in the electoral process.

The modest Brown, who earned a law degree from Rutgers, said the Steward of the Dream award serves as a reminder to continue doing what rightly earned her the honor.

"I'm the one who should be thanking the community for enabling me to have an opportunity like this," said Brown, 61. "The award for me is the inverse – it's a reminder that what I'm doing is about giving back and paying it forward."

Lynda Lloyd, Visionary of the Future award recipient
Founder, Young Urbanites Unit

Visionary of the Future is a fitting award for 26-year-old Lynda Lloyd, who conceived the idea of mentoring and professional networking program Young Urbanites Unite while studying at Howard University.

"This award was a shocker to me," said Lloyd. "The title 'Visionary of the Future' is important because you're carrying the torch of tradition."

The nonprofit organization, incorporated in December 2009, focuses on high school students in the South Ward of Newark, guiding them to a secondary education or college degree. This year, Young Urbanites Unite is assisting students at Shabazz and University high schools with the college application process, Lloyd said. Young Urbanites Unite also provides its members networking opportunities with other young professionals who are from, live or work in an urban area.

Lloyd, a born and raised Newarker and graduate of West Side High School, also serves as the youngest-ever South Ward District leader. She has spent recent days going block by block in the South Ward to inform residents of an upcoming Black History event to encourage the community to rally around something "celebratory," she said.

Lloyd, who works as aide to South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka, said she's empowered to be honored Thursday alongside two influential women.

"The award means that people are taking interest in the things that I'm proposing to do in the community and that they really believe in it," said Lloyd.