CBTU St. Louis Chapter hosting 34th Annual Ernest and De Verne Calloway Awards Banquet Oct. 16

Dr. Donald Suggs, publisher of the St. Louis American, to be honored

The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) St. Louis Chapter will celebrate the 34th Annual Ernest and De Verne Calloway Awards Banquet Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Marriott Grand Hotel in St. Louis.

The annual awards are given in honor and memory of the husband and wife team of Ernest and De Verne Calloway, who dedicated themselves to the struggle for human, civil and Labor rights.

Ernest Calloway worked in the Kentucky coal mines and as an organizer for the Congress of Industrial Organizations before moving to St. Louis in 1950, where he later became director of education for Teamster’s Local 688, president of the St. Louis NAACP and a professor of urban studies at St. Louis University.

De Verne Calloway taught school in Georgia and Mississippi before joining the American Red Cross and traveling to China, Burma, and India during World War II.  While in India she led a protest against the segregation of black soldiers in Red Cross facilities. In 1962, she became the first African American woman state representative elected to the Missouri Legislature and championed the causes of civil rights, equal rights, jobs, Labor rights, fair housing and prison reform.

2021 AWARDEE: DR. DONALD SUGGS
This year’s awardee is Dr. Donald Suggs, publisher of the award-winning St. Louis American newspaper.  He will be honored for his civic, political, Labor and media leadership in the St. Louis African American communities. The weekly St. Louis American newspaper was voted Best 2021 Black Newspaper in the Nation by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Terry Melvin, president of International Coalition of Black Trade Unionist and secretary-treasurer of the New York AFL-CIO, will provide the keynote address.

TICKETS
The evening will start with a reception and cash bar at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards program at 7 p.m.

Donations for the banquet are $95 per person or $950 for a table of 10.

Make checks payable to: CBTU, P.O. Box 5034, St Louis, MO 63115.

R.S.V.P. by Oct. 9, 2021.

For tickets and information, contact Lew Moye at 314-495-5635, or email lewcbtu@aol.com.