Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
Greensboro’s Tau Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated, concluded its annual Achievement Week festivities on Sunday, November 16, with an awards celebration held at the Global Learning Center on Bennett College’s campus. The event, held under the theme “Impactful Service through Intentional Friendship,” honored both distinguished community leaders and dedicated fraternity members.
The fraternity honored community leader, philanthropist, and social advocate Mae Douglas with the prestigious 2025 John Marshall Kilimanjaro Trailblazer Award. This award is named in memory of the late Dr. John Marshall Kilimanjaro, a distinguished professor, founding director of the Paul Robeson Theatre at N.C. A&T State University, and the founding publisher of this news publication, the Carolina Peacemaker.
Douglas was recognized for her deep dedication to community uplift following a four-decade corporate career with firms like Ciba-Geigy Corporation and Cox Communications, Inc. After retiring and returning to Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumna has focused her efforts on personal philanthropy and community service to benefit the most vulnerable and marginalized. Notably, Douglas was also appointed by the Greensboro City Council as the first leader and administrator for the Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women.
The afternoon’s keynote address was delivered by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the renowned investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of “The 1619 Project.” In a historic first for the chapter, Hannah-Jones was the first woman in the 102-year history of the Tau Omega Chapter to serve as the keynote speaker for Achievement Week.
During her discussion, moderated by fraternity member Bernard Bell, Hannah-Jones emphasized the critical role of historical narrative in shaping national identity and power. She argued that the ongoing opposition to works like “The 1619 Project” is rooted in the power structure’s desire to control an often-untrue historical narrative that systematically excludes African American lives and contributions.
Hannah-Jones stressed that Black history forms the foundation of the American narrative and should not be banned from study, stating a profound belief: “If we are truly a great nation, the truth cannot destroy us.” Hannah-Jones, a native of Iowa, began her journalism career in North Carolina with the Raleigh News and Observer covering issues of race and school segregation, and is now the founder of the Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard University.
Achievement Week is one of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s signature national programs, created to reaffirm the fraternity’s commitment to its cardinal principles of manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplift.
Sean Young, a financial coach and N.C. A&T alumnus received the Omega Man of the Year Award for his dedicated service to the fraternity. Other distinguished Tau Omega Chapter award recipients included: Gerry McCants (Superior Service), Alvin Powell, M.D. (Citizen of the Year), Eric Eley (Founders Award), Marlin Dabney (Manhood Award), Antonio Blackley (Scholarship Award), Arnold “Zeke” Mazyck (Perseverance Award), Clay Barow, Ph.D. (Uplift Award) and James King Jr. (Basileus Award).
The event was organized by the Achievement Week Committee led by fraternity member Wilmote Gibbs, who summed up the spirit of the event: “We honor the men who came before us not by repeating their steps, but by expanding their vision. Tau Omega’s Achievement Week stands as a call to every Omega Man to lead boldly, serve humbly, and keep raising the bar
