African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey leaders John Harmon Sr., and Jacqueline Baptiste welcome guests at the annual Black History Month gala at the Venetian in Garfield, NJ. (Photo by Christina C. Rivera)
(Garfield, NJ) – The night was full of Black excellence, powerful keynote speakers, and splendor at this year’s African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey’s (AACCNJ) 13th Annual Circle of Achievement Awards Gala, which was held on Thursday, February 16th at the Venetian. The theme of this year’s special occasion was Raising the Bar, honoring five outstanding individuals who’ve exemplified remarkable leadership in business, community service, sports, and politics. The award recipients included Kenneth Bentley with the Diversity in Sports Award; Natalya Johnson, Esq. and Brenda Ross-Dulan with the Community Service Award; The Honorable Atlantic City Mayor, Marty Small Sr., with the Politics Award; and Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn with the Gus Heningburg Award.
“[Raising the Bar] symbolizes one, accountability amongst Black people that we cannot be complacent, we cannot be complicit, we always must strive for excellence, and there are perceptions that exist in the marketplace about Black people, we must shatter those perceptions to show that we’re great people who’ve done great things,” AACCNJ Chamber President and CEO John Harmon said. “The challenge is on us to be at the highest level possible, so we can push back on adversity, and really negotiate a better coexistence in society.”
It’s only fitting that this highly esteemed and cherished event took place during Black History Month, with the gala having a whopping 600-plus people in attendance and selling out tickets over a month prior. Not only does this Black-Tie Event occur in conjunction with Black History Month every year, but the 2023 celebratory affair happened to coincide with AACCNJ celebrating its 15-year anniversary. For well over a decade, AACCNJ has staunchly promoted Black unification, health, education, and financial equity among New Jersey’s 1.2 million Black residents, accelerating diversity and inclusion for people of color in multiple sectors and industries, facilitating free enterprise activities, instilling youth mentorship and workforce training with job readiness programs, decreasing poverty and unemployment, bridging the wealth gap between median white household incomes and Black ones, rectifying systemic racial issues, and promoting more Black people into leadership and entrepreneurial positions.
