Thru Grief & Joy, Gala Honors Public Servants

The 12th annual Black and Hispanic Caucus gala honored community stalwarts both living and gone, in a night of dancing, selfies, hugs, and tears.

Six hundred guests gathered at Anthony’s Ocean View on Thursday evening for the gala, hosted by a coalition of Black and Latino representatives on the Board of Alders. 

The event — centered around the theme of ​“Viva La Cultura” — raised thousands of dollars for the Atwater Senior Center, the Dixwell-Newhallville Senior Center, the East Shore Senior Center, the New Haven Hispanic Firefighters Scholarship Fund, the New Haven Scholarship Fund, and the Sickle Cell Association of America, Connecticut.

The alders honored six living stalwarts of New Haven civic life, as planned. But they also remembered Bella Vista Alder Renee Haywood and former Hill Alder and State Rep. Andrea Jackson-Brooks, two colleagues who died within the last two weeks.

“I am still in shock,” said Dixwell Alder and President Pro Tem Jeanette Morrison about Haywood, who passed away due to kidney disease days earlier at age 60, while still serving her third two-year term in office. 

“We were her political family,” said Morrison. ​“When one of the links of our chain is removed, it’s hard.”

“Have you ever seen her frown?” interjected Westville Alder and Majority Leader Richard Furlow. ​“She was always smiling.”

“We loved her,” he said, adding that he couldn’t say more without crying.

Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez thought of Jackson-Brooks — who represented the Hill’s Ward 4 on the Board of Alders for 15 years — when construction on the forthcoming Trowbridge Community Center broke ground recently. ​“When I touched that brick, that was because of her.”

In a speech to the entire room, Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers asked attendees to stand in honor of Haywood and Jackson-Brooks.

The room fell silent as Beyoncé’s ​“Heaven” played. Some alders cried and hugged one another.

“You got to give people their flowers while they’re here,” Walker-Myers said as the event transitioned to an awards ceremony.

She added that when it comes to public service, ​“a lot of times, the job is thankless.” The event, she said, was a way of saying ​“thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The night’s honorees were the food rescue organization Haven’s Harvest, New Haven Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Linda Hannans, Assistant Police Chief David Zannelli, Fire Chief John Alston, the city’s Youth and Recreation Department (YARD), and the Spanish language newspaper La Voz Hispana.

The awardees spoke one by one.

“We are trying to promote our people — the Black and Brown people,” said Norma Rodriguez-Reyes, La Voz’ publisher. (Editor Abelardo King was unable to be there for the award, as he was putting together the newspaper at that very moment.)

Zannelli celebrated a ​“five-year low” in internal affairs and use-of-force incidents within the police department.

“New Haven is a great city with a great culture and great schools,” said Hannans.

In the audience, Beverly Barnes represented the Dixwell-Newhallville Senior Center — one of the gala’s fundraising recipients.

“I love the fact that there’s two different cultures working together,” she said.

In addition to the official award and donation recipients, Board President Walker-Myers received some metaphorical flowers of her own — from esteemed guest (and her granddaughter) Taitum, who was beaming with pride.

“Nana is the best,” Taitum said in an interview. ​“I love her so much. She’s my best friend.”

After a feast of Italian food, attendees made their way to the dance floor in celebration of one another, along with those who couldn’t be there but who worked to make New Haven a better city.