Decades later, community activists' caring lives on

Editor's note: John Florez is taking time off. This column originally was published Feb. 21, 2005.

Every now and then we pass a place that brings about fond memories. For me, it was driving by 300 East and 800 South and seeing Jewel Brown's home up for sale. It reminded me of the start of Salt Lake's Central City Community Action Program in the 1960s and the special people who made it all happen.

There were the street dances on 400 East with Gov. Cal Rampton and his wife, Lucy Beth, demonstrations, marches, cleanup campaigns, bike parades, voter registration, mass meetings, cop and youth leagues, and we even had our own Central City queen, Sandra Adams. The neighborhood buzzed with excitement.

It all began at the height of the civil rights movement when discrimination against minorities was not uncommon, especially for blacks; and most "knew their place," except for people like Mignon Richmond, an icon in the black community who lived on 60 South; Billy Mason, who owned a barber shop; and Jewel Brown, who ran a beauty shop out of her home.

They were among the original people who, without hesitation, came forward to start the Central City Community Action Program (CAP). They showed how a few good citizens, with strong principles about community and caring for their neighbors, could renew the hopes of people and the belief that they can guide their own destiny.

They never received Giant of the City Awards. Matter of fact, they shied away from public recognition. The thing they had in common was a belief in giving to their community and of helping the less fortunate. Each possessed a sense of quiet elegance found in people whose actions are guided by principles, not self-interest.

Each possessed the innate ability to listen and, by so doing, conveyed their love for people. They're the natural leaders you find in neighborhoods. They go about doing good because it's what one does as a human being. They help without judging, and believe in the dignity of every individual, which then inspires them to believe in themselves. They don't preach, they just do.

Mignon, Billy, Jewel, Eugene Thompson and James Green, along with many other people in Central City, started a movement of social change that brought new vitality and pride to their neighborhood and to the state.

It started school hot-lunch programs, health clinics, a community center, adult education, neighborhood restoration, child care, senior citizen programs and the movement that enabled legislation for public housing for the poor, senior citizens and the disabled.