Club affirms vision that ‘every life has a purpose’
Activist, health clinic, late-blooming grad among honorees
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Both Maxine L. Harris Daniels (above), Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, and Hortense West (below), Elberon section of Long Branch, received awards for their dedication to civil rights and community causes.

TINTON FALLS — Maxine L. Harris Daniels doesn’t just talk about leading a loving, purposeful life, she actually leads one. Her deeds speak for themselves.

As a result, the Central Jersey Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc. presented the Sojourner Truth Award to Harris Daniels on Saturday, April 9.

She was honored at the club’s 41st Annual Founders Day Luncheon at Gibbs Hall at the Fort Monmouth Officers Club in Tinton Falls.

Other local honorees included The Parker Family Health Center in Red Bank, which received the Community Service Award, and Hortense West, Elberon, who was recognized with an Educational Achievement Award.

An Ocean Township resident, Harris Daniels holds the strong belief that every life has a purpose.

“It’s just the way I think,” she said. “When you look around you, you see needs, you see ignorance.”

As for love, it too is all around her.

“The God that I believe in, is a God of love, not a God of punishment nor a God who tests you. We are the vessels that he works through. We all come here and leave, so what am I supposed to be experiencing while I’m here?”

Harris Daniels said it is important to ask yourself, “Why am I here.” She did that when she was a young woman, but she didn’t stop there. She continues to ask, “Am I meeting my obligation in being here?”

The program announcing her accomplishments states that her life mirrors that of Sojourner Truth “because of her courage, perseverance, clear vision and dedication to a cause.

She has been, and is currently, active in civil rights, human relations, education, youth initiatives and religious and entrepreneurial activities.”

But Harris Daniels acknowledges that she was luckier than Sojourner Truth; she had a good start in life even though segregation was still the law of the land when she was a young girl.

A Texan by birth, she grew up in the small town of Columbus, Ga., during the era of segregation and discrimination. She attended a separate public school and spent four years in a segregated college. While these institutions were unequal, under the law, they provided unparalleled opportunities for African American students to learn their true history, culture and contributions to world civilization.

“I grew up in the South, but I was fortunate. I had two grandmothers who shared their experiences, which extended back into the later days of slavery. Most of my family were educators, so early in life I learned to appreciate who I was.”

She added, “Sojourner Truth was born a slave and lived the cruel life of a slave. She didn’t have anyone to stand beside. But early in her history, her mother took her and her brother out and sat under a tree and told them that there is a God and all you have to do is call on him and he will hear you.”

Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree) was born to slave parents in Ulster County, N.Y., in 1797 and was sold a number of times, but she eventually ran away and went on to become a free woman, published a book in 1850, and became a lecturer speaking out against slavery and for abolition and women’s suffrage. The legendary phrase “Ain’t I a woman?” was associated with Truth after a speech she made to a women’s convention in 1851.

“Isn’t it the irony of this entire struggle that Sojourner Truth worked for the same rights in her lifetime,” said Harris Daniels. “Women are still fighting for civil rights and human rights even today. When does this struggle end?”

Over the past five decades, Harris Daniels held a full-time position in education, raised and sent seven children for higher learning; earned a master’s degree magna cum laude, and found time to be actively involved in many activities.

She lives with her husband in Oakhurst. Besides their seven children, they have 18 grandchildren.

“We are so proud of our children’s accomplishments. We don’t hesitate to tell them that we are proud of them,” she said.

Now retired, she is president of the African American Heritage Association, a partnership business with her husband, Thomas Edward Daniel. In this business, she gives presentations, workshops, demonstrations, lectures and provides exhibits on contributions that Africans and African Americans have made to world civilization. She also covers lectures on civil rights, affirmative action and cultural diversity.

In addition, she serves as first vice president of the Asbury Park-Neptune National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She founded and chaired two branch initiatives — Save Our Children and the Community Collaboration Council.

She is a founding member of the Monmouth County Human Relations Commission and the immediate past chairwoman of the Youth Awareness Core Team. Currently, she is president of the New Jersey Affirmative Action Coalition. She served on the state advisory committee to revise the Affirmative Action Rules on Contracting and Training of Women and Minorities.

She was also active in lobbying for the legalization of home-based businesses.

Harris Daniels is a member of the Ocean Township School District Affirmative Action (Multicultural) Committee; a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority; a member and deaconess of St. Stephen A.M.E. Zion Church in Asbury Park, and secretary of the Steward Board.

She has received numerous awards for her service in education, community, church and civil rights. They include awards from the Asbury Park and Long Branch NAACP, the Central Jersey Club’s first Civil Rights Award in 1982, the City News 100 Most Influential in 1996, and the Connie Woodruff Award in 2002.

West was awarded the Educational Achievement Award because she realized a lifelong goal of getting a college degree when she graduated from Monmouth University last May with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She was 82 years old at the time.

An Elberon resident, she has future plans to get her master’s degree in American history. She was born in Richmond, Va., but moved to Philadelphia with her family when she was 4 years old. She studied nursing and lived in New York City before moving to Neptune, where she practiced as a licensed practical nurse for more than 30 years.

She and her husband, Robert, have been married for 33 years and have raised five children. While living in Neptune, she was active in the community as a Girl Scout leader; president of the Neptune Library; a regent for Catholic Daughters of America; and is a member of the Zonta Organization of America. She also served on the auxiliary board at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

The Parker Family Health Center received the Community Service Award for providing outstanding health care services that improve the quality of life for Red Bank residents.

The health center is a free care facility located on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank. Its goal is to serve people with dignity and confidentiality regardless of their ability to pay.

It was founded to carry on and honor the work of Dr. James Parker Jr. and his father, Dr. James Parker Sr.

The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs was formed in 1935, but it was not until 1965 that the Central Jersey Club was formed. The purpose of the nonprofit community service organization is to promote and protect the interests of business and professional women and to create good fellowship among them.

The Central Jersey Club is known throughout the nation for its extensive programs serving the community and has awarded more than $180,000 in scholarships to deserving college-bound students.

Two local students were among the eight recipients of scholarships: Michelle Drians, a student at Long Branch High School, received $1,500; and Lamar Brown, a student at Red Bank Regional High School, was awarded $1,000.

Also honored at the luncheon were Doris and John Brown, owners of El Lobo Negro Art Gallery in Asbury Park, who received the Business Achievement Award; and Annie Hainesworth, who received the Humanitarian Award for her work in the Neptune area with Chance, an organization that provides food and clothing to families in need.

“Isn’t it the irony of

this entire struggle that Sojourner Truth worked for the same rights in her lifetime? Women are still fighting for civil rights and human rights even today. When does this struggle end?”

— Maxine L. Harris Daniels