Annual Rosa Parks Breakfast to be held Feb. 5

Published 3:03 pm Wednesday, January 26, 2022

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The 14th annual Rosa Parks Breakfast will be held on Sat., Feb. 5, 2022 at 9 a.m. at Greater Mount Triumph Missionary Baptist Church.

The breakfast, which is sponsored by the Yellow Hats Society, is held each year to celebrate the contribution of Parks and other prominent African Americans in history. Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her role in the Montgomery bus boycott.

On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks rejected bus driver James F. Blake’s order to relinquish her seat to a white passenger in the colored section after the whites-only section was filled.

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Parks’ prominence in the community and her willingness to become a controversial figure inspired the black community to boycott the Montgomery buses for over a year, the first major direct action campaign of the post war civil rights movement.

Breakfast Coordinator Lillie Johnson said those who are attending should have proof of vaccination upon entering. Anyone 60 years old and up are welcome as long as they’re vaccinated, she said.

Johnson said masks are required at the breakfast. Masks will be provided to those who don’t have them, she said.

The Rosa Parks Award, along with the Trailblazer Award will be given out as well, Johnson said.

The breakfast is free, Johnson said.

This year’s keynote speaker is city of Evergreen Mayor Stanley Stallworth.

Stallworth is the managing partner of The Stallworth Legal Group LLC, a law firm providing a wide range of transactional advice to clients in a myriad of areas, including real estate and lending; and if offers targeted advice in limited litigation matters (including through affiliated law firms).

After graduating in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin Law School, Stallworth joined the Commercial Real Estate Practice at Sidley Austin LLP, a global law firm in Chicago. He practiced there for 24 years.

Stallworth has been a member of the Illinois and Alabama State Bar Associations for 31 years. He is a proud alumnus of Alabama A&M University, where he majored in secondary education — English and biology.

Stallworth taught high school for two years in Conecuh County prior to returning to graduate school.

Stallworth’s practice is a general real estate practice and he has performed legal work for companies of all sizes and in nearly every aspect of real estate. His specialties are the areas of acquisitions and dispositions of real estate, the construction and development of real properties, the planning, designing and development of cellular towers and network operating centers, and the leasing all types of properties (for both tenants and landlords). He has substantial experience in commercial real estate lending. Currently, he is doing legal work for third party owners and developers of real estate and for his own real estate development projects in Chicago and Alabama. His real estate development company is Stallworth Real Estate Development LLC, and he owns and operates The Brundidge of Bruner, a premier events space and bed and breakfast in Evergreen.

During his 31 years of law practice, Stallworth has been a pioneer in the area of legal and law firm diversity. While at Sidley, Stallworth served as co-chairman of the Firmwide Diversity Committee creating innovative recruitment initiatives and retention programs for diverse lawyers.  He remains a mentor for many law students and young lawyers.

Stallworth serves on numerous corporate boards, including the Bank of Evergreen and South Alabama Gas Co.

He’s a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

Stallworth is the proud father of two young sons, twins, Innis and Houston.