CCHHAARRLLIIEE MMOORRRRIISSEEYY EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN CCEENNTTEERR

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Admasu Shunkuri...............................................................PresidentDr. Marleyne Chula...........................................................Vice PresidentMs. Tammy Scarlott Maynard................................Secretary/TreasurerReverend John Hill.....................................................................MemberDr. Shiame Okunor................................Executive Director, Ex. Officio

STAFF

Ms. Tammy Scarlott Maynard...............Finance & International AffairsDr. Gustav Ntiforo.............................................................Art InstructorMs. Amaris Miranda...........................Fine Arts & Ceramics InstructorDr. Nia Harris................................................................Dance InstructorMs. Alyson Steinman..................................Program Assistant (Dance)Dr. Shiame Okunor....................................................Executive Director

CHARLIE MORRISEY SCHOLARSHIP FUND

SUPPORTERS

Ron HinsonLaverne HanksRuthie Owens

Rev. N.D. SmithSheryl Williams-Stapleton

Kenneth & Dianne WilliamsShirley Alexander

Don & Ruby HulingAndra McCorckle

Zarrie WatersLouise Edmon

Dr. Shiame Okunor - Fund Administrator

A special gratitude to:

for their invaluable professional support.

WWHHOO IISS CCHHAARRLLIIEE MMOORRRRIISSEEYY??The daughter of a Pentecostal preach-er in Champagne, Illinois, Charlie wasdelivered by a mid-wife that chargedtwenty-five cents a day, the most thefamily could afford. Charlie never setout for recognition from her peers;only to show others that allAmericans, whether of color or not,have a way up the ladder of success.The secret was education.

Charlie, the mother of three boys,was married to Doc Morrisey, an attor-ney and a retired serviceman. She wasa devout Christian and tireless com-munity activist. She spent manydecades volunteering daily for variouscauses including observation of courtproceedings involving minority youth.Charlie occupied the Presidencies of

the American Red Cross, Special Olympics, Children Have Potential,Women In Community Service, National Council of Negro Women,United Way, The Links Incorporated, Martin Luther King HolidayCommission, NAACP, Church Women United, Museum of Albuquerque,Job Corps and many more. In addition, she was actively involved in localand national politics, rural housing and support groups such as Livingthrough Cancer.

Had Charlie being paid for half the hours she volunteered, she wouldhave been a billionaire. “Volunteering is a ball,” she proudly proclaimed.“It’s like going to a different job each day, setting my own pace and goals.”In spite of her deliberate attempts to avoid awards and positions of honor,they followed her. The many awards conferred on her included NewMexico Distinguished Public Service Award, Governor’s Volunteer ServiceAward, Outstanding New Mexico Black Women Award, AlbuquerquePeace and Justice Award, Job Corp Rosa Parks award and many more. Shewas inducted into the Democratic Hall of Fame.

As she brought joy and peace to individuals and her community,Charlie engaged a battle of her own. She suffered through two mastec-tomies, chemotherapies, radiations, severe loss of appetite and constantpain. Her untimely death was a very significant loss to the State of NewMexico, to all those who loved her and to the many voiceless people whosecauses she championed. Charlie was priceless.

TTHHEE CCHHAARRLLIIEE MMOORRRRIISSEEYY EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN CCEENNTTEERR PPRROOGGRRAAMMSSEducating about the past, the present, and for the future, The Charlie

Morrisey Education Center, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a comprehensive edu-cational instrument utilizing programs in research, the fine and performingarts to recover, nurture and advance the culture of people of African descent.In addition, it is an exclusive repository of rare documents, books, mono-graphs, video and audio tapes, photographs, African art pieces, including rareartifacts reflecting the accomplishments of people of African descent in theSouthwest, the West, and the old and New Mexico. The center houses theVisiting Scholars, New Mexico Junior Research Fellows, The CharlieMorrisey Scholarship Fund, the Community Workshop for the PerformingArts, the Community Fine Arts Programs, and the “People to People” Africaprogram. It organizes symposia, debates, and panel discussions and publishesa biannual scholarly journal of the research and the public presentations.Also, the Center promotes higher education by organizing SAT, MCAT, GRE& LSAT workshops and tutoring sessions for the youth to improve scholasticperformances.

TTHHEE CCHHAARRLLIIEE MMOORRRRIISSEEYYSSCCHHOOLLAARRSSHHIIPP FFUUNNDD

A Committee was formed in January 1991 com-prising of members representing all the organiza-tions with which Charlie Morrisey worked dili-gently for over twenty years. The intent of thegroup was to establish a scholarship in honor ofCharlie.

The purpose is to award scholarships for apost secondary education to Black women, 35years or older, who are compassionate, reliable,dependable, and possess a sense of humor. Therecipients should be active in the community,display an unselfish attitude and be a visionary.Charlie embodied all these qualities and more.Applications are available at the Center.

TTHHEE CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYYWWOORRKKSSHHOOPP FFOORR

TTHHEE PPEERRFFOORRMMIINNGG AARRTTSSA major component of the CharlieMorrisey Education Center programis its Community Workshop in thePerforming Arts program. It harness-es the community’s artistic talents indance, singing and drama and usesthem as instruments to improve thescholastic performance of the com-munity youth. Also, performance isused to preserve and nurture thecommunity’s cultural history. The

workshop’s flexibility to encompass multiple genres of dancing, singing anddrama is its hallmark. Classes in acting, singing, poetry, set designing, stagelighting and other production skills will debut in the very near future. TheWorkshop established the “AAPAC Youth Ensemble” for dancing, singing andproduces two shows every year.

TTHHEE YYOOUUTTHH && CCHHIILLDDRREENN EENNSSEEMMBBLLEEThe establishment of the Youth Ensemble is rooted in the need to recip-

rocate two incidents. First, the Ensemble is a response to the AfricanChildren’s Choir, which perennially tours through Albuquerque and second,the incredible singing, dancing, and dramatic performance by the BawaleshieElementary students during the 2008 “People to People” tour of Ghana. It isenvisioned that the AAPAC Youth Ensemble comprising of about 15 students,8 to 15 years old from Albuquerque will tour Ghana, West Africa to dance, singand perform skits in response to similar performance by Ghanaian elementaryschool students in the villages and towns the “People to People” program visits.

The benefits for traveling to Africa are manifold. The youth of Albuquerquewill be exposed and immersed in the Ghanaian culture and interact with theirGhanaian peers. Equally important, the Ensemble will be involved in great civicactivity of gifting several hundred pounds of needy school supplies to villageschools.

The Ensemble which embraces internationalism is focused on African dancesnow, but expects to expand into other cultural and national dances. All classes are

offered free to the community. The AAPAC Youth Ensemble enjoys residency atthe Sheryl Williams Stapleton African American Performing Arts Center.

TTHHEE ““PPEEOOPPLLEE TTOO PPEEOOPPLLEE””PPRROOGGRRAAMM

For decades, news about Africa is ever present ontelevision screens. The news has been varied butmost have been about poverty, civil war or HIV. Inresponse, other news programs have featuredworld leaders conferencing to find solutions topoverty and famines, civil wars and epidemics. Lostin these news programs are the Africans them-selves – their industriousness, their dynamism,their fabled friendliness and their constant searchfor peace and harmony. Also lost is informationabout the richness of the land and culture -- thearts, the philosophies, spirituality and all othercharacteristics that define the African and Africa.

The “PEOPLE to PEOPLE” Program wasdesigned to pierce through this constant fog ofnews about Africa’s deficiencies - to unclog Africaallowing the world to touch and know Africa andits people in their homes and neighborhoods, intheir churches and mosques, at work and at play.Specifically, a group of American friends visitGhana annually, using Accra, the capital city asbase, the group visits small villages and towns andtheir school systems, small village Chiefs and theirCouncil of Elders, carving and weaving villages andother historical, cultural and political sites. In addi-tion, the program meets on a very small scale, someneeds of the village educational systems by donat-ing several hundred pounds of school supplies –notebooks, calculators, pens and pencils, crayons,erasers, soccer balls and uniforms, books on teach-ing methods, some funds for teachers to attendconferences and defray transportation cost for stu-dents to visit libraries in nearby towns or cities.

As an important corollary, the Program cooperates with Universities andColleges to design Ghana-specific research projects for graduate and undergradu-ate student members of the group who receive academic credits towards theirrespective degrees.

TTHHEE CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYY AARRTT PPRROOGGRRAAMM

The program engenders the renaissance of the community’s visual arts cultureand is the venue for spotlighting the rich reservoir of youth artistic skills availablein the local community. It organizes classes in painting, sculpturing, weaving, pot-tery, and jewelry making, for the youth and the community. In addition, the pro-gram organizes biannual art exhibitions featuring works by local youth and someregional, national and international artists.

VVIISSIITTIINNGG RREESSEEAARRCCHH SSCCHHOOLLAARRSS && JJUUNNIIOORR RREESSEEAARRCCHHFFEELLLLOOWWSS PPRROOGGRRAAMM

The Visiting Research Scholars are established scholars with research inter-ests in Blacks in the Southwest or the US West, invited as Scholars-In-Residenceat the Charlie Morrisey Education Center to continue their research emphasizingissues pertinent to New Mexico. In addition, the Scholars mentor and supervisethe research projects of the New Mexican Junior Research Fellows who are agroup of New Mexican High School Seniors and College Freshmen with similarinterests. Residencies culminate in public presentations and panel discussions.Researched materials from these research activities and presentations are pub-lished in the Center’s bi-annual scholarly journal to increase the body of knowl-edge about Blacks in the Southwest, the West and New Mexico. Presently, TheCenter cooperated with the Africana Studies, University of New Mexico and hasselected its first interns who are now researching the history about the CharlieMorrisey Collection of rare photographs.

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