Hundreds Celebrate 51st Links Gala

The crowd listened, rapt, as Diane X Brown told her story. 

The scene was a lavish Saturday-night black-tie affair in the ballroom of Hamden’s Cascade Fine Catering to celebrate the 51st anniversary of the New Haven Chapter of The Links, a historic Black female advocacy organization rooted in community service and philanthropy.

“I was that little Black girl born and raised in Newhallville,” said Brown, among the six honorees at the gala. ​“I was that young person that damaged her credit and needed to get it repaired, that single mother who needed some place for their child to go after school, for tutoring, for mentoring.”

Which is why, Brown, the long-time branch manager at Stetson Library, told an animated dressed-to-the-nines audience of 300, ​“people don’t see me as a librarian. They see me as family, as community, as someone that cares. They see me as them.” 

The New Haven chapter, the oldest in the state, is composed of more than 40 members, and has distributed over $400,000 in scholarships to local students in its 51 years of existence, according to event co-chair Sheila Carmon.

“Our programs are designed to empower and uplift those in marginalized communities,” she said amid the lush stylings of the David Davis Trio in the chandelier-lit ballroom. 

Emceed with keen wit by longtime arts champion John Motley, who also served as live auctioneer, it was a ​“party with a purpose,” as Shuana Tucker-Sims, national vice president of The Links, put it. 

That purpose: to raise funds, including those from the live auction and live donations, ​“to enhance the quality of life in the New Haven community and create brighter tomorrows for deserving scholars to continue their education beyond high school.” 

Dr. Chaka Felder-McEntire brought a group of high school students with her to the podium to accept her award. 

“I don’t go anywhere without them,” said Felder-McEntire, the founder and executive director of Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Programs, a statewide nonprofit college access organization that offers free SAT test prep, one-on-one tutoring, and a summer college application boot camp, among other programs, to promote post-secondary success for underrepresented students.

Felder-McEntire said her organization, founded in 2004, has helped over 10,000 students achieve a 100% graduate rate, while securing over $10 million in college scholarships and grants. 

“I was always the only Black woman in all of my classes,” said Felder-McEntire. ​“That was extremely discouraging and encouraging, discouraging because I couldn’t be my true authentic self, and encouraging because it empowered me to say I had no choice but to do this, so I could open up the door for whoever else was coming through.” 

“I brought these students with me,” she added, ​“so they could learn this space.” 

In accepting her award, Rise Nelson, director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at Yale Library, recalled how she drew inspiration from a portrait of Edward Bouchet, the son of former enslaved people, first Black graduate of Yale College, and the first Black person to receive a Ph.D. in physics from an American university. 

“I said surely if he could make it through that experience, I could do it,” she said.

“Growing up [in New Haven], this was kind of an intimidating place, this wasn’t for us,” she said. ​“And so this is about being able to be on the inside, opening doors, and not just propping them open, but inviting people in, going out and saying I need you to be a part of this as well.” 

Anthony McDonald, who was recognized for ​“providing access to programming for many different audiences throughout greater New Haven” as executive director of Shubert Theatre, sounded a similar refrain. 

“We want to make sure this community sees themselves represented on our stage and it’s the same reason we bring 2,000 kids per season to the Shubert for zero dollars,” said McDonald, who’s brought to the Shubert the National Dance Theater company of Jamaica and the Dance Theater of Harlem, as well as companies from Puerto Rico and India. 

“I am one of four people of color to run a broadly-presenting touring house in America, and oftentimes us folks of color, all we need is opportunity,” said McDonald, a first generation American with degrees from Howard University and Columbia.

“An organization like The Links is living proof that when you give people opportunity, when you give them a chance to do what they do, amazing magical things will happen,” he said.

Dr. Keith Churchwell, outgoing president of Yale New Haven Hospital, discussed the adversity of ​“newness” in his postgraduate training in cardiovascular disease and nuclear cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and then on his arrival at Yale in 2015. 

“As an African American physician, as a gentleman of color, there was a learning on both sides of the street,” said Churchwell, who was known for his ​“Walk with a Doc” sessions on Saturday mornings in the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods of New Haven. 

Karaine Holness, owner of Hair’s Kay Beauty Salon on Ashmun Street, co-founded the Jamaican-American Connection, an organization that has as its mission to support and empower those of the Jamaican and Caribbean diaspora.

“We have properties here, businesses, so this gives us a voice, and a way to support immigrants in jobs, or settling in,” said Holness, who also founded the New Haven Caribbean Heritage Festival.

One example is Shamar Wilson, a native of Jamaica, golf prodigy, and Albertus Magnus student. When Shamar unexpectedly lost financing for his education last year, her organization initiated a vigorous fundraising campaign to ensure that Shamar could continue his studies and pursue golf professionally. 

“The difference between the haves and have-nots is opportunity,” she said. ​“Shamar came into our life and we realized we could not allow him to lose this opportunity. He knows he has a community behind him, so it’s a good feeling to know we’re a part of his story.” 

Soon the live auction was concluding and Chapter president Toni Harp was exhorting attendees to ​“get down.” 

“Our motto is connection and friendship,” said co-chair Carmon, as DJ Herman Ham transformed the celebration to dance mode. ​“Linked in friendship, connected in service. That hasn’t changed in 51 years, and that’s because it’s everything.”