Black History

SHAPE Community Center turns 50

DEFENDER NEWS NETWORK — SHAPE Community Center has reason to celebrate. Since its founding on June 1, 1969, the Third Ward institution has made an impact on Houston and beyond for 50 years. SHAPE – which stands for Self-Help for African People through Education – has a history of providing programs and activities to strengthen families and communities.

Published

7 years ago

June 2, 2019

Oakland Post

By Marilyn Marshall

SHAPE Community Center has reason to celebrate. Since its founding on June 1, 1969, the Third Ward institution has made an impact on Houston and beyond for 50 years. SHAPE – which stands for Self-Help for African People through Education – has a history of providing programs and activities to strengthen families and communities.

Anniversary activities include the center’s 40^thannual Pan-African Cultural Festival on Saturday, May 25 and a Founder’s Day Celebration on Saturday, June 1. Another major event is planned for November.

Deloyd Parker, SHAPE’s co-founder and executive director, has been at the helm since the beginning. He stresses that SHAPE is a team comprised of committed supporters of all ages and backgrounds who have made the organization what it is today.

“SHAPE is not about one individual,” Parker said. “We want to make sure it is around many, many years after I have left this planet.”

In an interview with the Defender, Parker discussed the past, present and future.

Defender: What is the key to SHAPE’s 50-year history of serving the community?

Parker: In order for an organization to continue and evolve and sustain itself, those who come through have to come back and give back. We depend on the community to keep SHAPE alive, not just financially but by volunteering. Time equals money and the fact that people give back and volunteer their services shows that there’s no power like the power of the people.

We deal with three generations at SHAPE – the children, their parents and the elders. Children represent our future, parents help us develop and cultivate that future, and our elders represent the wisdom we need to make sure we’re going in the right direction.

Defender: What is the biggest challenge facing SHAPE right now?

Parker: Sustainability and making sure that the community recognizes our value. That’s not to suggest that many do not. We’re looking for 50 people right now to invest $500 for a total of $25,000 to continue our programs. For those who don’t have $500, we are asking for $50. Obviously, finances and economics is a continuing problem. For those who contribute we don’t call it a donation. We call it an investment.

Defender: What do you think is the greatest challenge facing the Black community overall?

Parker: Getting us to recognize the seven major principles [of African culture called the Nguzo Saba – unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith]. Unity extends from the family to the community. Self-determination is being able to speak for ourselves, define ourselves, name ourselves. Collective work and responsibility involve developing our community together. Cooperative economics is being able recognize the importance of pooling our economic resources to build and sustain institutions in our community. We have to have a team effort.

Then we have to have a purpose. We have to know what our purpose is and focus in on it. We have to have creativity; we can’t do it the straight and narrow way. We have to go this way, that way, up, down. As Black people, we have faith, but we have to strengthen our faith.

The challenge is embracing those seven principles. The blueprint is already there. You just have to follow that blueprint and be able to read it and empower it.

Defender: What will the Founder’s Day celebration entail?

Parker: People will be coming from everywhere to join us – children who grew up at SHAPE and are now doctors, lawyers, teachers. We will celebrate and pay homage to those who are no longer with us, from Elder Jean Dember to Esther King, and many more who are gone now. If it hadn’t been for them, there would be no SHAPE Center.

Rev. Bill Lawson, pastor emeritus of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, will receive our first Honorable Chief Chairman Award. Rev. Lawson was instrumental in helping start SHAPE Center. He is the one who called on me to start the program and I answered his call.

50^thanniversary events

Pan-African Cultural Festival, Saturday, May 25, 10 a.m., SHAPE, 3815 Live Oak
Founder’s Day Celebration, Saturday, June 1, 6:30 p.m., Emancipation Cultural Center, 3018 Emancipation Ave. “Royal cultural” attire. RSVP at Shape50th.eventbrite.com

Visit www.shape.org

This article originally appeared in the Defender News Network.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 6 – 12, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of may 6 – 12, 2026

Published

3 days ago

May 10, 2026

Oakland Post

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Activism

On the Frontlines of Hate: NAACP Links Victims to Critical Support

The NAACP CA/HI has a long and well-established record of supporting victims of discrimination and hate crimes — providing critical referrals and, when necessary, direct assistance through legal advocacy and other forms of support. Beyond responding to incidents, the organization continues to advocate on broader civil rights issues, including voting rights and legal protections. It has also worked to counter efforts at the state and federal levels that could weaken the voting power of communities of color.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 1, 2026

Oakland Post

NAACP members at a recent advocacy day in Sacramento urging lawmakers to protect voting rights. Photo courtesy of California Black Media.

By Joe Kocurek
California Black Media

The California/Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP (CA/HI NAACP) has expanded its efforts to respond to rising hate incidents and civil rights complaints across California, supported in part by funding from California’s Stop the Hate Program

Through that grant, NAACP CA/HI has strengthened its ability to connect individuals experiencing hate or discrimination with critical resources. This includes referring those who file complaints to the CA vs Hate hotline, a statewide, non-emergency hate crime and incident reporting hotline and online portal created to help counter a more than 50% increase in reported hate crimes in California between 2020 and 2024. The system helps ensure incidents are documented, and victims are guided toward appropriate support.

LaJuana Bivens says the work of NAACP is as urgent as ever. Photo by Regina Wilson, California Black Media.

LaJuana Bivens, who has served in a number of roles within the NAACP, said California has seen an increase in civil rights violations and hate-related incidents.

“We have 52 branches, and they are constantly receiving complaints,” she said. “So, without the Stop the Hate, we would not be able to refer those cases up to attorneys at the state level. A lot of the people would not have had an opportunity to be heard.”

Carmen-Nicole Cox helps survivors of hate with their legal options. Photo courtesy of Carmen-Nicole Cox.

Carmen-Nicole Cox, an attorney who works with NAACP CA/HI – as a part of California’s Stop the Hate Program – provides legal consultation to victims of hate incidents and discrimination through her legal practice, the Cox Firm for Law and Policy.

She said the complaints she receives span a wide range of issues.

“People are having home builders and landlords refusing to provide repairs, a student was denied promotion in an academic program, and targeted scrutiny at work,” she said. “It’s typically employment; it’s housing; it’s education.

“We’ll meet and they’ll share their experiences,” she said. “And then I make assessments about possible legal claims.”

According to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), nearly 1,200 reports of hate against minority groups were submitted in 2024 through the CA vs Hate hotline and online portal for non-emergency incidents.

While the California/Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP, which has tens of thousands of members, does not directly investigate hate incidents or crimes, it plays a key role in connecting victims to the state’s reporting systems and support services.

Beyond responding to incidents, the organization continues to advocate on broader civil rights issues, including voting rights and legal protections. It has also worked to counter efforts at the state and federal levels that could weaken the voting power of communities of color.

Bivens recently traveled to Sacramento to speak with state lawmakers about voting rights during an advocacy day event hosted by the organization.

“It’s just so hard for communities of color to be up to date because of all of the confusing information coming from the federal level,” she said. “I love our great state of California because here it is possible to vote by mail and to vote early.

“And I’m seeing that trying to be eroded. So, I’m here to urge continued support for vote by mail and early voting.”

When Texas moved to redraw congressional districts in ways critics said would dilute minority voting strength, NAACP CA/HI supported the passage of Proposition 50 in California. The organization also intervened in United States v. Shirley Weber, where federal officials sought access to unredacted California voter records, including Social Security numbers, raising concerns about misuse and voter intimidation.

Cultivating the advocacy and leaderships of young people is central to NAACP’s mission to fight racism and dismantle inequality. Photo courtesy of California Black Media.

A federal district court dismissed that case in January 2026.

The organization’s current work builds on a long history of civil rights advocacy. Today, Bivens says, the organization’s mission remains as urgent as ever.

“We are the oldest, boldest, most feared Civil Rights organization,” Bivens said. “What we do every day is fight for better housing, education, economic development and political inclusion. We take it on because there are just so many people who need that support.

“You would be amazed that our phones ring every single day.”

Get Support After Hate:

California vs Hate is a non-emergency, multilingual hotline and online portal offering confidential support for hate crimes and incidents. Victims and witnesses can get help anonymously by calling 833-8-NO-HATE (833-866-4283), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. PT, or online at any time. Anonymous. Confidential. No Police. No ICE.

This story was produced in partnership with CA vs Hate. Join them for the first-ever CA Civil Rights Summit on May 11. More information at www.cavshate.org/summit.

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