LIVING LEGEND AWARD CELEBRATION O
The Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS) at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) has partnered with Southern University Law Center’s Louis A. Berry Institute for Civil Rights & Justice (SULC’s Institute) to honor and recognize Louisiana’s own Malik Rahim (formerly known as Donald Guyton) at an inaugural Living Legend Award Celebration on Friday, January 18, 2019, at the Millie M. Charles School of Social Work on SUNO’s campus (6801 Press Drive).
According to Dr. Clyde Robertson, CAAAS Director and creator of the Living Legend Award, “The Living Legend Award is presented to a grassroots member of the New Orleans African American community for exemplary and lifelong service in the following areas: education/youth development, community activism, community-based health & wellness, cultural enrichment, and collective economics (small business development). Mr. Rahim was selected because of his lifelong commitment to community activism.”
Mr. Rahim has lived a life of service, starting from his youthful enlistment in the United States Navy. After his honorable discharge, he worked in vulnerable communities in New Orleans as a founding member of the Louisiana Black Panther Party (LaBPP). Mr. Rahim later served as a founding member of Sister Helen Prejean’s anti-death ministry, Pilgrimage for Life, as a founding member of the Fisher Projects Health Clinic and GED studies program and as the founder of the Angola 3 Support Committee.
When Hurricane Katrina made its cataclysmic presence known, Mr. Rahim did what was instinctive. He served Louisiana citizens in need through immediate rescue efforts and later founded Common Ground Collective (CGC), which offered free healthcare, legal, rebuilding and clean up services in homes, schools and commercial buildings in nine parishes. By the time his work with CGC ended, approximately half a million Louisiana citizens had been served at no cost. From the 1970s until the present, Mr. Rahim has been a fierce and committed advocate for environmental and social justice, housing and prisoner rights and civil and human rights.
According to Professor Angela A. Allen-Bell, SULC’s Institute’s Director, “The late civil rights attorney Louis A. Berry once referred to the Equal Protection Clause as a platitude.” SULC’s Institute seeks to rectify this lapse by working to ensure that constitutional protections are realized for all citizens, particularly racial and ethnic minorities, the poor, vulnerable, underrepresented and neglected. In Allen-Bell’s view, “Mr. Rahim’s pursuits have been toward this noble end. The conferment of this award is a tribute as much as it is a necessary act of restorative justice in that it counters the historical harm done when acts of leadership and heroism are suppressed in minority communities.”
There will be a 6:00 pm-7:00 pm reception, which will include free food for guests and a vendor’s village where an array of goods will be sold. From 7:00pm-9:00pm, there will be a program featuring distinguished speakers, artists, performers and an historic address by Mr. Rahim.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
So glad he’s being honored for all his good efforts. I had the joy of collaborating with the Common Ground Clinic after Katrina — they were incredible both before & after they let the rest of us back into the city
Congratulations, Malik! Thank you for your many years of tireless service to our community.