The former director of Cleveland, Ohio’s NAACP and the Urban League will be the keynote speaker at the 13th annual banquet hosted by Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, at Drumlins Country Club, 800 Nottingham Road.
Dr. Marvin McMickle, now president of Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School in Rochester, will discuss the night’s theme, “Many People + Many Communities = One Powerful Voice.”
ACTS is a faith-based coalition of diverse congregations and individuals working to create a more just and equitable community, according to spokeswoman Karen Machell.
McMickle, a 67-year-old Chicago native, was ordained in 1973 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York City. After working as a pastor in Manhattan and later in Montclair, New Jersey, McMickle was appointed senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio. Under his leadership, the church established a ministry for people infected with HIV/AIDS, believed to be the first church-based program of its kind in the United States.
While in Cleveland, McMickle served on the board of trustees of Cleveland State University, as president of the Shaker Heights Board of education and as president of both the local NAACP and Urban League chapters. He’s a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Now president of Colgate Rochester Crozier Divinity School, McMickle also directs the Program of Black Church Studies and teaches courses in church leadership.
“We look forward to an address on Tuesday that will challenge and inspire us as we strive for social justice here in Central New York,” said Karen Machell, an ACTS officer from St. Joseph the Worker parish in Liverpool.
Tickets to the April 21 banquet cost $65 per person. The event starts with a 6 p.m. social hour followed by dinner and program from 7 to 9 p.m. For reservations, call 416-6363. For ACTS information, visit acts-syracuse.org.
