Daytona Beach, FL – The West Volusia Branch of the NAACP is set to host the 27th annual Freedom Fund Banquet with several honorees and performers as well as the keynote speaker, Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala.
At 6:30 PM on Friday, June 2, the 2017 theme, “We the People, Have the Power…Let’s Get Engaged” and the progress of the NAACP will be celebrated at the Sanborn Event Center, 815 South Alabama Ave., DeLand. Adult tickets cost $60 and youth tickets (18 and under) are $35 and both must be bought in advance.
For tickets, contact Sean King at 386-837-7743 or Mike Williams at 386-804-6136.
Euclid High School students that participated in the 1960 lunch counter sit-in to integrate Woolworth and McCroy’s will be honored with the Trail Blazer Award for their efforts. Aramis Ayala, the 9th Judicial Circuit Florida State Attorney will be the keynote speaker at the banquet and Jazz/Funk vocalist and organist, Caesar Frazier will be the featured entertainment.
Aramis Ayala, after winning the 2016 primary, became the 1st Black State Attorney. She graduated from the University of Michigan, her home state, with a B.A. in Political Science, a Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law and an M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida.
Before being a Florida State Attorney, Ayala was a prosecutor, defense attorney and Homicide and Major Crimes Assistant State Attorney. She served as the Regional Director for the National Bar Association in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. She was appointed as Pro Bono Chair and Chair of the Public Service Committee of the National Bar Association.
She is an adjunct professor of law and legal studies at Florida A&M University and the University of Central Florida. She serves on the Judicial Administration Committee of the Florida Bar. Ayala has appeared on Fox35 News as an analyst, CNN with correspondent Roland Martin and with Judge Alex Ferrer during Trayvon Martin’s murder trial.
Recently, Ayala has been involved in a controversial disagreement with Governor Rick Scott. Ayala decided to not pursue the death penalty in the Markeith Lloyd murder case or in any other case that comes through her office which prompted Scott to remove her from several murder cases in the state. Markeith Lloyd is on trial for the murder of Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton and his ex-girlfriend who was pregnant at the time, Sade Dixon.
This disagreement caused a court battle to begin between Scott and Ayala. Ayala filed a lawsuit against Scott, saying that he does not have the power to remove her from the cases which Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi dispute. Bondi has filed papers and motions to support Scott.
Ayala is also a cancer survivor who advocates for education and training and participates in many research and education efforts. She has a husband and two daughters.
(Photo of Aramis Ayala courtesy of the West Volusia Branch of the NAACP)
Caesar Frazier, the entertainment for the banquet, is from New York but was raised in Lake Helen and DeLand, graduating from Florida A&M University. He has been performing and entertaining since he was 15 years old as a solo artist, orchestra and band member. In his career, he has supported Marvin Gaye as a keyboard accompanist, was a studio musician for countless artists and recorded his own instrumental and vocal records. Artists like Kanye West, “Common” and the group “Gangstarr” have sampled some of Frazier’s songs in some of their hits.
(Photo of Caesar Frazier courtesy of the West Volusia Branch of the NAACP)
Photo courtesy of smolaw and Shutterstock.com. Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
