READ USA and One Jax was proud to host the Peace in the Pages Awards. On what would have been Gandhi's 151st Birthday, the event showcased the link between literacy and empathy, while celebrating his ideals for peace, unity, and freedom.

Peace in the Pages 2020 featured dynamic and diverse faith leaders sharing messages of inspiration and hope to uplift us all during these unprecedented times, and honored the phenomenal community game changers receiving the READ TO BE FREE, READ TO LEAD, READ TO SUCCEED, READ TO REMEMBER, and READ TO HEAL awards.

This event was held in accordance with guidelines recommended by the CDC for large events.

SPONSORS

READ USA – READ TO BE FREE – Judge Angela Cox

Judge Angela M. Cox is READ USA’s 2020 READ TO BE FREE Award winner.  Currently serving in the Family and Dependency Divisions in Clay County Circuit Court, Judge Cox is an active community volunteer and spends much of her time giving back to others and mentoring youth.  Angela and her older brother Isaac were raised by their grandmother in a poor and violent Detroit neighborhood.  Angela had few goals, but her brother had aspirations of becoming a lawyer. “I had no hope, no vision, no direction in my life,” Angela said.  Then, when she was 15, after her grandmother’s death, she and her brother went to live with their Aunt Rolanda, who literally set them free to pursue success. “She was a voracious reader and understood the value of a good education,” recalled Angela, “and she told me that if I didn’t like the life I was living, I should do something about it.” 

Sadly, just as they were awakening to the freedom provided by literacy, Angela’s brother, Isaac, a senior in high school, was murdered.  His killer was caught and jailed.  As she watched justice unfold in the courtroom, Angela knew that she was going to be a prosecuting attorney someday, and possibly a judge. 

Since earning her J.D. Degree from the University of Memphis School of Law, Angela has worked as an Assistant State Attorney, being awarded the Outstanding Young Prosecutor Award, and serving on the Homicide Team, Special Assault Division and Repeat Offender Court.

In addition to her current role as a Circuit Court Judge, Angela serves as Associate Dean and Faculty of the Florida Judicial College as well as faculty for the National Judicial College.  There, she educates and trains all of Florida’s newly elected and appointed judges.  In that capacity, Judge Angela Cox is dedicated to making the world a more just place by educating and inspiring its judiciary. 

Married to Assistant Chief Travis Cox of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the mother of a 12-year old daughter, Morgan, Judge Cox is a constant reader and a member of a book club currently reading Alexander Hamilton’s biography.  “My daughter carries a book with her wherever she goes,” said Cox, who considers literacy empowering for all, especially for young people in poverty “because they can be free to use their imagination and go anywhere.”  Thanks to Aunt Rolanda, a reader who set her free of the emotional bonds of poverty, Judge Cox is now dedicated to promoting justice and freedom for all.

 READ USA – READ TO LEAD Award – Andy Carroll

Andy Carroll is READ USA’s 2020 READ TO LEAD Award honoree.  Andy is a community leader in several capacities, having been selected by the Jacksonville Business Journal as one of 40-Under-40 in 2017 for his stellar service as Strategic Account Executive at Florida Blue, where he has touched  the lives of more than 500,000 Florida Blue members during his 20-year career.  He has been recognized as a top producer for sales productivity at Florida Blue, the state’s largest health insurer.  

Community service is one of Andy’s top priorities.  He has volunteered with THE PLAYERS Championship for the past 15 years and served as 2020 Tournament Chairman.  As an Honorable Red Coat in 2020, he led a volunteer corps of more than 2,000 which allows the golf tournament to raise millions of dollars annually for charity.  Over the years, THE PLAYERS has raised more than $100 million for over 300 local charities.  In 2019, Andy, along with thousands of volunteers and community partners, generated more than $9.25 million.  

A graduate of the University of Florida and the father of two teens, daughter Maddy and son Carson, Andy is passionate about the power of the written word and the important role that literacy plays in combatting poverty and violence.  In conjunction with his devotion to youth, Andy serves on the Leadership Council of Take Stock in Children, an organization that provides a unique opportunity for deserving low-income youth to escape the cycle of poverty through education.  He serves on the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) Florida Blue Teacher of the Year selection team and is a supporter of the Tim Tebow Foundation.  A Trustee with the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and an active member of the Deerwood Rotary, which encourages and fosters  the idea of service as a worthy enterprise, Andy Carroll is a man whose strong commitment to family, civic engagement and career has garnered him our gratitude for his service.  A champion of literacy – a leader for today and tomorrow – Andy has most certainly earned the distinction and honor of receiving our 2020 READ TO LEAD Award. 

READ USA - READ TO SUCCEED – Nancy Broner

 Nancy Broner is READ USA’s 2020 recipient of the READ TO SUCCEED Award.  In 2020, she was named the Executive Director Emerita of OneJax after having served for seven years as Executive Director.  OneJax, an Institute of the University of North Florida, has partnered with READ USA in presenting the second annual Peace in the Pages Event, both organizations being dedicated to achieving civility, understanding and respect for all peoples, with the focus of READ USA on achieving these goals through promoting literacy.

Nancy was nominated by her successor, OneJax Executive Director Kyle Reese, who noted that a plaque on her desk reads, “Don’t be afraid of change, be afraid of not changing.”  At this pivotal time in history, Nancy Broner is a compassionate, courageous leader of change who is determined to bring about genuine improvement in her community. “I want to be able to think I added value, whether in our culture, our school district, our community or personally,” says Nancy.  “My hope for the future of my three children and five grandchildren is a healthier society that is unified, not polarized.  Success is finding common ground and building from there.  There is such a rich diversity of people in Jacksonville.  I hope my grandchildren grow to recognize and appreciate it.”

A former member and past chairman of the Duval County School Board who earlier served for a decade on the faculty of the Center for Reform of School Systems based in Houston, Texas, Nancy Broner is an expert on conflict resolution, communications and public engagement.  She is extremely well-read on books regarding governance, education, best practices, etc., however, for pleasure, she has established a lifelong habit of enjoying children’s literature.  In addition to a fascination with fantasy adventures such as the Harry Potter series and the Pendragon series, she has stayed tuned in to what middle schoolers enjoy, which served her well when she was on the school board, and now as a grandmother.  Her love of the written word has held her in good stead throughout her successful career, and again, one sign of success is finding common ground.  “Who can argue that reading is a core value on which we can all agree,” says she. “Reading is a pathway to success.”

READ USA – READ TO REMEMBER AWARD – ALTON AND GWEN YATES

 Alton and Gwen Yates are READ USA’s 2020 READ TO REMEMBER Award honorees.  They have just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary ... having given more than six decades of servant leadership to their God, Nation, State and City. 

Born and raised in segregated Jacksonville, Florida, where their textbooks were tattered and their wooden desks rickety, Gwen and Alton Yates nevertheless had the benefit of hard-working, caring family, clergy and teachers who inspired them to aim for excellence.  Growing up, Gwen traveled to Connecticut each summer, experiencing the awareness and sophistication that travel imparts. Alton, at 18, joined the United States Air Force and became a highly decorated pioneer in the nation’s space program. He was featured in Ebony Magazine and received several commendations before leaving the Air Force due to urgent family obligations.  Alton’s road-trip home to Jacksonville from New Mexico to care for his dying father was a pivotal point in his life. Proudly wearing his Air Force Uniform, the courageous young airman who had risked his life 65 times for the space program, was refused service at eateries across the United States.  “We don’t serve your kind,” he was told.  It was 1959 and Jim Crow was very much alive in America.   Alton came home determined to change things for the better.  Having lost his promising military career and his beloved father, Alton took immediate steps forward.  He married the love of his life, Gwen, and with her help, took on the care of two younger siblings, worked several jobs, and joined the local NAACP.  

From Ax Handle Saturday to Starbase Florida to earning a Master’s Degree in Urban Studies from Occidental College, to achieving the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Florida Air National Guard/U.S. Air Force to receiving the Governor’s Medal of Merit; from working as Executive Director of Greater Jacksonville Economic Opportunity, Inc., to serving in the administrations of three Mayors, to being Chairman of the Board of Trustees, FCCJ and President of Leadership Jacksonville, to receiving the OneJax Humanitarian Gold Medallion for Lifetime Service, to being nominated for the Florida Veteran’s Hall of Fame, Alton Yates has served his country and community well. Gwen Yates, an educator, community leader and visionary, has achieved recognition as founder of the Youth Crisis Center and Chief of the Adult Services Division for three Jacksonville Mayors.  

She retired after 26 years, was elected to the City Council and served eight years as Councilwoman for District 8.  She was Chair of the Board of Trustees for FSCJ, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Foundation and continues to serve on the Jacksonville Symphony Board of Director’s Executive and Governance Committees.  Leaders in Jacksonville, as well as parents and grandparents who are dedicated to promoting literacy,  their historic journey is now being chronicled in a biography that is slated for publication in 2021.  Together, Alton and Gwen Yates have served humanity with love, faith and humility, each exemplifying what READ USA is all about. 

READ USA – READ TO HEAL – Renata A. Hannans                                         

Renata A. Hannans, READ USA’s 2020 recipient of the READ TO HEAL Award, is called “The Hope Dealer.”  She is a Jacksonville native who earned her B.S. in Social Science from Jacksonville University.  As a case manager at two of Jacksonville’s high schools, Renata’s role was to guide at-risk students, but when she saw too many teens heading toward lives of crime that would land them in jail, she became determined to make a positive difference for youth. In 2013, documenting the lives of young people serving harsh sentences in Florida prisons, Renata wrote her first book, P.S. Never Give Up Hope.  She also founded a youth advocacy organization, P.S. Never Give Up Hope, Inc., focused on reducing recidivism and promoting literacy.   “If you get lost in the pages of a book, you can go anywhere,” says Renata, adding that youth can find hope, inspiration and healing in the words of “relatable books,” (books that are diverse and all-inclusive, dealing with issues familiar to the readers). 

Passionate about inspiring youth to strive for their best, Renata enlisted two professional counselors, Yolanda Webster and Shantizia “Nikki” Figgs, to join with her in weekly visits with incarcerated females in the Duval Regional Detention Facility and with youth adjudicated as adults in the Duval County Jail.  There, Renata and her associates engage in guided meditation and reality therapy, as well as reading books and discussing them.  Three years ago, Renata partnered with the Honorable Judge Suzanne Bass to create a library in the courthouse where children read a book and write a report in lieu of community service.  In 2018, she started “Hope Book Club” at the Duval County Jail, bridging the gap between illteracy and incarceration for youth charged as adults.   “We have approximately 20 incarcerated youth in our Hope Book Club,” says Renata, “and each of them gets a new book every week.  Some of them have begun writing poetry, and one young man calls me the ‘Jail Librarian.’  I get letters telling me that we’ve made a difference.”

A difference indeed!  In 2015, Renata was winner of the United Way of Northeast Florida’s Sherwood Smith Children’s Champion Award. In 2016, she was chosen as a Florida Black Pages Top 20 under 40. Recognized as a champion for youth, Renata is the perfect candidate for our READ USA 2020 READ TO HEAL Award.  Renata’s new book, I’m Here for the Girls, is coming out in the fall of 2020 and was inspired by knowledge gained during the past seven years of working with the girls at the Duval Regional Detention Center.  “Literacy, meditation and therapy heal kids from the inside out,” said Renata. “There is peace in the pages of a book ... P.S. Never Give Up Hope!”

MARJORIE BROWARD MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP                               

Erica Christina Little Bartley

  Erica -Christina Little Bartley, Principal of Hyde Grove Elementary School, is the 2020 Honoree of the Marjorie Broward Memorial Scholarship in memory of the late Marjorie Broward who established libraries around the world.  Marjorie was also the initiator of JaxReads, a program that engaged students throughout Jacksonville in reading and discussing the same book.  She was a powerful force for the written word in Jacksonville for many years and we at READ USA revere the work she did.

A deserving honoree and a passionate advocate for educational equity, Erica began her career as an educator in Macon, Georgia 15 years ago, where she also founded her non-profit organization G.I.R.L. Promise. As a 2012 Teach for America Corps member, she relocated to Jacksonville, a place that she now gladly calls home.   As an active alum of Teach for America, Erica served on the TFA Alumni Board, The Collective, and Schools to Learn and was identified as an influential school leader of color, and a Halverson Leadership Fellow.  Currently, she is the proud Principal of Hyde Grove Elementary School, the home of the Dragons.  Erica-Christina is a graduate of Savannah State University, Wesleyan College, and Teachers College at Columbia University in the City of New York. She is on the advisory board as an education consultant for Discovery Therapy and is a part of the School Leaders of Color Organizational Development Collaborative at The Harvard Graduate School of Education. Erica is the proud wife of Jevon William Bartley. 

Growing up as a child of educators, the importance of literacy was always encouraged in Erica from an early age. Trips to the library and museums were a part of the norm of her childhood. Books were a way to promote creativity, imagination, and curiosity.  As a principal and educational leader, it is Erica’s mission to make this happen for all students. As Dr. Suess so eloquently puts it, “The more that you read, the more you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  And now, through the READ USA 2020 Marjorie Broward Memorial Scholarship, Principal Erica-Christina Little Bartley will have the wherewithal to purchase more books for more students who will know more, learn more and go toward a more promising future than ever!

The Mark Landen Memorial Award – “Journalism for Democracy” 

Mary Kelli Palka – Editor – Florida Times-Union 

 Mary Kelli Palka, Editor of the Florida Times-Union, is READ USA’s 2020 deserving recipient for the Inaugural Mark Landen Memorial Award – “Journalism for Democracy.”  

A Jacksonville Beach native, Mary Kelli Palka knows the city that she serves and cares deeply about her role in it, having come up through the ranks as a reporter to her current position as editor.  Today, she oversees a newsroom that tackles such diverse and complex issues as COVID-19, police conduct, the attempted sale of JEA, pension reform, dredging of the St. Johns River and school maintenance issues, as well as topics from non-profits, the Arts and healthcare, and trends in business and sports.  

Mary Kelli’s dedication to honest journalism is the benchmark that inspires her staff to work hard making sure the Times-Union’s hard-earned reputation as a trusted news source is maintained.  READ USA Board Member Charlene Landen, initiated the Mark Landen Memorial Award in memory of her late brother, who passed away in 2012 after proudly working at the Florida Times-Union for thirty years.  “Speaking of benchmarks, Mark set the standard for excellence as a man of integrity, fairness and conscience,” said Landen.  “To me, that is what journalism is all about, and my brother embodied those qualities all his life.” 

As to the importance of the work that READ USA does by providing free books to elementary school students throughout Duval County, Mary Kelli states:  “You won’t find many journalists who don’t tell you their love of writing started with their love of reading great books as children.  Reading opens windows into areas we might never explore otherwise.”  

Mark Landen’s Obituary: LANDEN Mark Allan Landen, 49, of Jacksonville, FL, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2012. Born in Bethesda, Maryland, to Richard and Florence Ambyr Landen, he was a loving and devoted husband, father, son, brother, and friend. Mark was employed by Morris Communications at the Florida Times-Union for over 30 years, and most recently, as the Director of Distribution in the Circulation Department. He was a dedicated worker who also enjoyed golfing and boating. Mark loved spending time and traveling with his family. He was an amazing man who valiantly fought a lengthy battle with cancer. Mark is survived by his parents, Richard and Ambyr; devoted wife of 14 years, Kellie M. Landen; children, Morgan Ashley Landen (12 years) and Mitchell Allan Landen (7 years); sisters, Charlene Landen, Cynthia Ross, and Michele Kennedy (Christopher); along with many other family members and friends. A Celebration of Mark's Life will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, July 20th, at Saint Matthew's Church, 1773 Blanding Boulevard, with a reception immediately following. Memorial Contributions in Mark's name may be made to the American Cancer Society for Ewings Sarcoma Research. Arrangements are also under the care of Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin, 11801 San Jose Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32223. www.hgmandarin.com (904) 288-0025. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com                         Published in Florida Times-Union from Jul. 18 to Jul. 19, 2012

Keitha Nelson is award winning journalist who joined the First Coast News team as an Anchor/Reporter in August of 2013.

A New York native with Caribbean roots, she was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and has been recognized for her work in journalism and community involvement, winning an Award of Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from Women in Media, an Edward R. Murrow and Peabody for hurricane coverage and an Emmy award. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and serves on the board of local non-profit, Hope at Hand.

Keitha developed a love for reading and writing early on as a shy child who enjoyed keeping to herself. She is a mom of one-year old twins, Journey and Trey – who she reads to daily…knowing the importance of making sure they develop a love for learning early on.