Greetings! Please join me this coming Monday morning in downtown Atlanta, when on behalf of the Fellowship of Reconciliation I will be honored to present Atlanta activist & community leader Dee Dee Chamblee with FOR's 2017 Local Hero Award . The ceremony will be held during the annual Rustin-Lorde Breakfast on Martin Luther King Day; this year's event begins at 10:00 a.m. at the Loudermilk Center, located at 40 Courtland Street Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Local hero award: Dee Dee Chamblee, Atlanta, GA

The Local Hero Award recognizes groups and individuals in the United States who work tirelessly for justice and reconciliation in their local communities and regions, engaging an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Dee Dee Chamblee promotes peace and justice by raising the visibility of transgender people, especially Black transgender women, in the metro Atlanta area, by serving their HIV prevention, intervention, education, and other related needs. Through her work as executive director of LaGender, Inc. , Ms. Chamblee promotes education and awareness about transgender people, even as they deal with pervasive discrimination and oppression in employment, housing, and the criminal justice system. LaGender, Inc. envisions “a sisterhood and a world free from HIV/AIDS, homelessness, mass incarceration, police profiling, mental health duress, and racial and gender discrimination.” Most recently, through her work in partnership with the Solutions Not Punishment Coalition (SNaPCo), Chamblee advocates for Standard Operating Procedures for local police departments in the cities of East Point and Atlanta that treat transgender and gender non-conforming individuals with dignity and respect. She also advocates with SNaPCo for a pre-trial diversion program at Atlanta Municipal Court for individuals accused of crimes such as solicitation, shoplifting, and other offenses. LaGender’s Facebook page  states, “We Are No Longer Invisible.” Congratulations on this recognition of your steadfast work for justice!

P.S., My colleague Mori Hitchcock, who was one of our dynamic young adult FOR interns last summer, is joining me in traveling from New York to Atlanta this weekend for Monday's special events. Mori will be conducting short video interviews with FOR members and allies, and we'd love to capture your voice on camera that day. Mori and I hope to see you Monday morning at the Rustin-Lorde Breakfast to help us congratulate Dee Dee Chamblee, or to walk alongside you in the streets of Atlanta for the MLK Day march & rally thereafter! Max Hess Interim Executive Director Fellowship of Reconciliation Atlanta FOR Chapter Member

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