Tuesday night in Las Vegas African Americans for Obama held their second leadership meeting at the North Las Vegas office. The participants were graced with the grassroots experience of Michael Strautmanis, a senior advisor at Obama for America.
Listen to this inspirational story from Mr. Strautmanis on how he developed a relationship with the Obama family:
The leadership meeting lived up to the high standards set by the previous hosts, Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson and Senator Steven Horsford, while several new members were brought up to speed on the group’s outreach efforts and their work with African American leaders all across the state.
One of the members of the leadership committee is Alice Key, a 95 year old community activist, who created the Las Vegas chapter of the NAACP and was the executive director for several years. She spent a decade as deputy labor commissioner for the State of Nevada, appointed by Governor Richard Bryan in 1983.
Alice started her community activism while working as a journalist for the The Los Angeles Tribune in 1943, Alice discovered, during a visit to Fort Huachuca in Arizona, that the blood plasma of black soldiers was indeed separated from that of whites. In 1954, Alice moved to Las Vegas to work for the Las Vegas Voice, owned by a long-time acquaintance, Dr. Charles I. West (who helped to end segregation on the strip in 1960). Simultaneously, she started the first black television show, Talk of the Town.
Mrs. Key has been a vocal activist for African American issues her whole life, and has been known to proudly state, “I voted for FDR… the first time!”
Mrs. Key’s catchphrase is especially funny within our leadership group because one of our precinct captains is named Roosevelt and he has over 40 years of political experience. They are both great admirers of our 32nd president and work tirelessly to honor his legacy.
The work of the African American Leadership committee is reaching out to their extensive contacts all across the state as they grow their grassroots organization and build support for Senator Obama. The passion from this group is contagious, and we have no doubt that their work will continue to grow our grassroots all across Nevada.
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