Disclaimer: This Inside South Florida segment is sponsored by the City of Miramar. All opinions and views are of the advertiser and does not reflect the same of WSFL-TV.
The Florida Panthers are wrapping up Black History Month by honoring trailblazers in South Florida at their fifth annual HBCU Black Excellence Night on February 27 at 7 p.m.
Three community-nominated honorees sat down to talk about what the recognition means to them, the power of mentorship, and what Black excellence means at its core.
Laurette Jean, Assistant County Administrator for the Broward Municipal, said being selected carried meaning beyond herself.
"It just made me really excited and felt truly honored that they would recognize not just specifically me, but what I represent, and then the people that we represent," Jean said. "So it just has a deep meaning."
When asked why giving back to the community matters, Jean pointed to a guiding philosophy rooted in the African concept of Sankofa.
"You have to pay homage to the community that has helped shape you," Jean said. "This is the bird that's looking forward, but also looking back. That's what I believe leadership is all about."
Jean, who attended Florida A&M University, said she sees giving back as a responsibility.
"As someone who was raised in this community, I think it's my responsibility to give back a portion of what was given to me," Jean said.
Roshell Rinkins, VP at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, spoke to the role mentorship played in her own journey as a first-generation American.
"As a first-generation Asian American, American-born, I relied on those mentorships," Rinkins said. "That's what helped me to progress in my career along the way. I could not have done it without those mentors and the people who have helped to shape my career and my personal life along the way."
Rinkins, who grew up in Miami's Little Haiti community, said her parents' sacrifices made mentorship even more essential.
"My parents, they sacrificed a lot for us, and when they first arrived in this country, all they knew was to work, and they worked really hard, but they couldn't provide us and expose us to the resources that others who have a long legacy in this country may have known and been exposed to," Rinkins said.
She credited mentors ranging from Big Brothers Big Sisters and her church community to the current County Administrator for shaping who she is today.
"I would not be where I am without the mentorship," Rinkins said. "And that's why I believe in mentoring — not just younger people in the generation to follow today, but also working in collaboration with people like my sisters here today to contribute back to the community."
Valentine Joseph, founder of the JAYJ Foundation for Women and Children, closed the conversation by completing the sentence: "For me, Black excellence is..."
"It's who we are at the core of ourselves," Joseph said. "Sometimes excellence, we may not show it outside, but it's in the work we do, how we give back to our community."
Joseph, a former director of the world's largest breast cancer organization, said her background and heritage are central to her story.
"People may see us, and they don't know anything about us, and they start judging the book from its cover," Joseph said. "We are all Haitians here, and then to see us and to know where we came from, to be here — these are called opportunities."
The Florida Panthers' HBCU Black Excellence Night takes place February 27 at 7 p.m.
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