From Grandma to MLK, local African American leaders share role models who inspired them

As the 45 million African Americans across the United States join in February activities to celebrate Black History Month — or National African American History Month — some leaders of Horry County’s black leadership reflect on the positive influences in their lives.

Role models have varied from single mothers struggling to raise their children to become educated, productive members of society regardless of the racism they often faced to great leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King who set the standard for young blacks to fulfill their dreams.

Many individuals in Horry County’s African American community have provided leadership to make the county a place where diversity is celebrated. Among those leaders are people like James Fraser, a native of the Bucksport community who will retire March 1 from Horry County Council after serving for 35 years. Fraser was the first black elected to the council and has been the longest serving member.

Others making their mark on the community include Horry County Chief of Police Saundra Rhodes who has served in law enforcement since 1993. Rhodes became the first African American to head the Horry County Police Department accepting the post in September 2012.

Other recent political firsts include Loris native and retired U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Henry “Buck” Nichols who was elected the first African American mayor of Loris in December 2015. In addition, attorney Barbara Blain-Bellamy in January was seated as the first African American mayor of the City of Conway, following in the leadership example of her father Jobe Blain, the first black police officer in Horry County.

So, who have Horry County’s black leaders emulated in their rise to leadership roles? We have interviewed a select few asking them to describe the person or persons they tried to emulate or most admired that made an impact on who they are today and their leadership style.

Barbara Blain-Bellamy | Barbara Blain-Bellamy, 63, is a retired attorney recently elected mayor of the City of Conway. A Conway native she served on Conway City Council for 14 years and serves on the board of Palmetto Academy for Learning Motorsports, a charter school in Myrtle Beach. She has been a Girl Scout leader, youth leader at Friendship Baptist Church and founded and operated for several years Community Legal Services helping lower income individuals with legal representation.

ANSWER | There is no nationally known figure that I would say I followed, although any number of them impacted me in one way or another. Closer to me, my philosophy and lifestyle came from my grandmother, my parents, my neighborhood, my Sunday school teacher. That is much more important, the encouragement I got, the knowledge that I could do anything… Those are the people I would say were my influence and not all those people looked like me. I have friends across many lines and the impact was broad.

Daryl Brown | Daryl Brown, 44, of Conway is chief officer for support service for Horry County Schools. For 14 years, he worked as a principal, serving North Myrtle Beach and Aynor high schools in Horry County and Carvers Bay High School in Georgetown.

ANSWER | I can’t single out one person that I attribute my personal and professional development to as I have had several positive role models in my life both personally and professionally. I tend to glean personal and professional attributes from a multitude of people. A short list of these individuals would be my mother and father, Calep and Diane Brown, and my grandfather Rochelle Dixon. Professionally it has been Mr. Richard Summey, a retired educator, and Dr. Celeste Pringle the current deputy superintendent of Georgetown County Schools.

Michael Chestnut | Michael Chestnut, 52, is owner/operator of Big Mike’s Seafood in Myrtle Beach. He has served on Myrtle Beach City Council since 2000 and formerly served on the Myrtle Beach Housing Authority. He is the only African American currently serving on City Council.

ANSWER | The person who probably influenced my life the most and had more of a profound influence on me was Jake Abraham, a local community leader here for many years. He passed about six years ago but he was a deacon at Sandy Grove Baptist Church for years and someone who sort of took me under his wing and gave me a lot of encouragement and advice about the importance of giving back to the community and helping your fellow man. He was that person.

Jake Evans | Jake Evans, 58, is a native of Atlantic Beach, S.C., where he currently serves as mayor. He has worked for a property management company for the last 27 years. A long-time activist in the Town of Atlantic Beach, he has served as a substitute teacher and volunteer coach in North Myrtle Beach serving as a role model to young men.

ANSWER | My role models were my dad Lenon Evans [now deceased] and my mom Earlene Evans Woods. When my family built their first business, my mother helped him [dad] run it. She was a long sitting City Council member for 12 or 16 years. I learned what I learned from them. My dad was a building contractor and my mom, who will be 86 this month, always taught me to be a strong leader, to speak up and have the utmost respect for people no matter who they are… I have always been inspired by her to be a leader.

Janet Graham | Janet Graham, a native of Conway, serves in the position of area manager of the Myrtle Beach Area Small Business Development Center. She serves as Horry County School Board trustee for District 7; serves on Coastal Carolina University’s Each 1 Teach 1 Entrepreneurship Institute board; the Kingston Lake Baptist Association Budget and Finance Committee and as an adult class teacher at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. She previously served on the board of directors of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce.

ANSWER | My parents, Azalee Stanley Parker and Jimmy Davis (J.D.) Parker, have been most influential to me. They were multifaceted: intelligent, inquisitive and extremely creative. Both instilled a common-sense approach to life and a strong sense of fair play. They taught that the best leaders inspire people to want to follow them.

Mickey James | Mickey James, 51, is a native of Myrtle Beach who serves as president of the Myrtle Beach Branch of the NAACP. A native of Myrtle Beach, he is a retired City of Myrtle Beach firefighter. He is an ordained minister and founder of A Touch of Faith Ministries in Myrtle Beach, serves on the board of directors of Coast RTA, and is a volunteer deputy coroner in Horry County.

ANSWER | I emulate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; his ability to reach the masses in difficult times and maintain his integrity. He was a type of Christ who lived a short life with much impact and substance. If he was alive today, I'm sure he would still embrace unity and brotherhood.

Henry Nichols | Henry “Buck” Nichols, 65, a native of Loris was elected mayor in December 2015. A retired lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corp, he returned to Loris eight years ago after retiring from his position as assistant vice chancellor for business, finance and athletics at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. He since chaired the City of Loris 2010 Census and served as chair of the Horry County Affordable Housing Commission. He is also a member of The Concerned Men of the Community.

ANSWER | Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president of Moorehouse College, spoke at my high school graduation. He had been dean of the School of Religion at Howard University where I later graduated. He stressed education, training and skills; how to work hard, study hard and be a productive member of society. I believe in that and that is what I have tried to do over the last 55 years.

Bennie Swans | Bennie Swans, 66, is a community activist who lives in the Carolina Forest community who founded the Carolina African American Heritage Foundation, Inc., a decade ago to manage Myrtle Beach’s MLK celebration. He serves as chair of the CAAHF. A decorated Vietnam veteran he served in the U.S. Army. He was director of the Community Teen Gang Center, founded the Crisis Intervention Network, and consulted with the City of Chicago in development of Chicago Intervention Network and the Los Angeles County Community Service Youth Gang Project, among others. He retired from the City of Philadelphia Health Department then provided urban intervention training for minority contractors in Williamsburg County.

ANSWER | I have been blessed. I have had the opportunity to work under the tutelage of three great African American mayors—Wilson Goode in Philadelphia, Harold Washington in Chicago and Tom Bradley in the City of Los Angeles. Each of these cities was able to put together initiatives designed to impact youth violence. Clearly, my inspiration came from ‘if they can do it, I can do it, too.’ It gave me a positive outlook… I came out of the battlefields of Vietnam with a disability and my primary efforts over the years, whether paid or volunteer, were always about making a better community without violence.

Jimmy Washington | Jimmy Washington, 56, lives in the Racepath Community of Myrtle Beach. A local businessman, he works as a manager and corporate trainer for Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurants. He was elected in December to represent District 3 on Horry County Council. Prior to that, he worked for Horry County Schools, served on the Grand Strand Housing, Salvation Army and Myrtle Beach Advisory board of directors. He also serves as treasurer of Mt. Olive AME Church and served on the church’s steward board.

ANSWER | My mother, Alberta Washington, was the biggest influence in my life. She was not a big social leader but she was a big impact on my seven sisters, two brothers and me. She worked as a housekeeper and always did things in the community. She was always involved in voting and helped the March of Dimes. She was a church going woman and just had a big impact on our lives.

Larry White | Larry White, 61, serves on the Conway City Council. Employed by Health Care Partners of South Carolina, he is a founding member and board chair of A Father’s Place. He serves on the board of Smith Jones Community Center and the Community Coalition of Horry County. He is a founding board member of First Steps of Horry County and serves as Christian education director at Bethel AME Church. He taught school in the Socastee and Burgess areas for 21 years. He also established a nonprofit, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, in existence from 1997 to 2003.

ANSWER | My grandmother, Eleanor Moore White, and my father, Thurman H. White, Sr., were who I looked up to. She was a schoolteacher for almost 40 years in Marion County before coming to Conway… My dad was military and worked on the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. He was a good provider for all the siblings, our extended family. It gave me some good ideas about being a man. They were both people of character and well looked upon in the community at large. It made me want to be--not necessarily a leader--but a good person in the community.

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "From Grandma to MLK, local African American leaders share role models who inspired them."