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Houston City Controller Chris Hollins honors community leaders at City Hall Black History Month program
Summary
Houston City Controller Chris Hollins hosted a Black History Month program at City Hall featuring performances from Texas Southern University, awards to local leaders and tributes to the late Sheila Jackson Lee and Reverend William Lawson.
Houston City Controller Chris Hollins hosted a Black History Month program at City Hall that featured performances by Texas Southern University choirs, theater and debate teams and presented community awards to local leaders and organizations.
The event opened with emcee Chelsea Edwards, host of Chatting with Chelsea on Fox 26, and a prayer from Reverend Dr. Alexander E. M. Johnson of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. “Today is a celebration of black Houstonians past, present, and future,” Edwards said as the program began.
The program included musical and spoken-word performances by the TSU Choir, a theater excerpt from The Color Purple and a presentation by the TSU debate team. Fifth-grader Montoya Murray of Blackshear Elementary delivered an oration and received applause from the audience. TSU choir director Ashton Denzel Jones led several selections by African American composers.
Controller Hollins, who introduced the awards portion, framed the program as both a celebration and a call to civic engagement. “Black History Month is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the rich legacy, achievements and contributions of black Americans,” Hollins said, and he urged attendees to invest in young people and advocate for policies that center economic opportunity and equity.
Awards presented included a community-hero award to Pastor Tiffany Tarrant of St. John’s downtown, a community-champion recognition for CJ Stroud and the CJ Stroud Foundation (accepted by Kimberly Stroud), and a community-trailblazer honor for former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, represented at the event by his wife, Stephanie Nellis Page. Hollins also presented legacy awards honoring three late Houstonians: Judge Birney (presented to her daughter, Judge Sharon Birney), the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (represented by family), and Reverend William Lawson (represented by his daughters Melanie, Cheryl and Roxanne Lawson).
Family members and colleagues spoke briefly for several honorees. Judge Sharon Birney thanked the controller’s office and described her mother’s lifelong interest in Black history and community service. In remarks read on his behalf, Stephanie Nellis Page described Rod Paige’s career in education and urged continued investment in children and schools.
The program concluded with final remarks from Hollins and an invitation to refreshments. Hollins reiterated that “black history is American history,” and said the city should continue both acknowledging the past and supporting present-day leaders.
No formal government actions, votes or policy decisions were taken at the event; it was a ceremonial program hosted by the controller’s office.
