Baton Rouge activists receive Acie J. Belton Life Achievement Award

The award is named after civil rights icon and Scotlandville native Acie J. Belton, who founded the Baton Rouge Second Ward Voter’s League and served as a member of the Metro Council.

Eight Baton Rouge activists will receive the Acie J. Belton Life Achievement Award on February 25 during an annual awards gala hosted by Councilwoman Chauna Banks.

Acie Belton

The award is named after civil rights icon and Scotlandville native Acie J. Belton, who founded the Baton Rouge Second Ward Voter’s League and served as a member of the Metro Council.

Queen Muhammad Ali, Louis Allen, Sharon Batieste, the Rev. Thomas Clark, Myron Emmanuel, Thomasina Joseph, Elaine Simms, and Karen Williams-Rose will be honored at the Jewel Newman Community Center, 2013 Central Road, in Baton Rouge, at 8 pm.

About the awardees:

Queen Muhammad Ali

Queen Melé Le'iato Tuiasosopo Muhammad Ali is an American award- winning film director, writer, visual anthropologist, and television producer. Ali is also the great- granddaughter of Paramount Chief Tuli Le'iato of American Samoa. Born in Watts, California, Queen's maternal grandmother, Princess Masaniai Tunufa'i Le'iato Tuiasosopo, is the daughter of Paramount Chief (King) Tuli Le'iato of American Samoa.

Ali made her debut as a television producer in 2009, when she worked on MTV's T.I.'s Road to Redemption starring American rapper and actor T.I. Her directorial debut began with her powerful social justice short #Bars4Justice about the uprisings in Ferguson won best short Documentary at the 24th Annual Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. The following year she Directed and produced WarOnUs, which was screened at the United Nations (UNGASS 2016).

She was also one of the organizers and a speaker at the highly publicized indigenous peoples march that occurred on January 18, 2019. In 2021, she organized the first Scotlandville TedX.

Louis Ali Allen

Louis Ali Allen is a local business owner, real estate investor, community activist, and speaker who has dedicated himself to carrying on the legacy of his grandfather, slain civil rights activist Louis Allen Sr. of Liberty, Mississippi.

He attended Southern University, before joining the United States Airforce 1987. While stationed in Aviono, Italy he formed his first Black Study Group called “Brothers Unblind”. After an honorable discharge in August of 1991, he joined the Nation of Islam in September of 1991. After briefly serving with the Baton Rouge Fire Department, he started his lot clearing business in 1992.

He played a key role in organizing, the Baton Rouge presence in 1995, at the historic Million Man March on Washington, DC. He quickly moved up the ranks in the Nation of Islam, serving as Chief Protocol Director, Captain, and Assistant Minister of the Baton Rouge Study Group, all while expanding his residential lot clearing service. Because of his unparallel focus and discipline, the business quickly grew include clearing large commercial tracks of land, pond excavations, building pads, roads and box culverts.

Over the years, he has held membership and leadership roles in numerous community organizations such as the NAACP, NCOBRA and currently serves as chairperson of the Hot Black Coffee Party Think Tank. For six years he was the host of The Community Defender talk show, which aired on MAX 94.1 FM. As a former talk show host and sought after speaker, he has helped to galvanize community support for the Jena 6 and many other community events. For the past 3 years, Brother Louis was a regular contributor to the Elevated Places Talk Show, before the transition of host, Doctor Ava Muhammad.

As a real estate investor and property developer, Allen has been mentored and coached by Bill Allen of the Allen Entrepreneurial Institute, the developer of the New Black Wallstreet in Stonecrest, GA. Inspired by his leadership and example, Allen has expanded his calling to include development and building of the Black Business Community around Southern University.

He is committed to training and developing the skills of young Black boys in the construction trades, as well as utilizing other small, minority owned business in the process of making our own communities safe and decent places to live, work, and play. He and his wife Stephanie have three sons. Like his grandfather, he has a passion for family, land, farming, youth and service. He can often be found in the community coaching and training young men in the farming and construction trades to develop the next crop of entrepreneurs.

Sharon Batieste

Sharon Stanley Thomas Batieste attended Choctaw Elementary School, in New Bird Station Subdivision. After her family moved to Scotlandville in her pre-teen years, she attended Scotlandville Junior and High schools and graduated in the class of 1969. She married at the age of 17 while in the 11th grade to her middle/high school sweetheart, Oliver Lee Batieste III and became a resident of the Alsen/St. Irma Lee Communities. She later attended Southern University A& M College, where she took classes in early childhood development. She is a graduate of Hope Bible College, where she earned a bachelor’s in Biblical studies.

She worked for College Drive-In as a teenager in the Scotlandville area, and afterwards as a young wife, she worked with Community Advancement at Mount Bethel Baptist Church in Alsen Louisiana, where her community labor and leadership began. Batieste along with her husband Oliver owned two businesses in the Alsen/St. Irma Lee communities: Tracy’s Kiddie World (daycare center) and Batieste Trucking from the mid 1970s until the late 1990s. She was a part of the McCastle v. Rollins is a case that was filed on behalf of the residents of Alsen against Rollins Environmental Services, Inc., a toxic waste cleaning company.

In the early 2000s Mr. and Mrs. Batieste established the Alsen/St. Irma Lee Environmental Justice Community Organization to bring awareness and resolution to the ongoing environmental, economical and cultural injustice in Alsen and surrounding areas. The group has organized summer and fall enrichment camps for the youth in Alsen and assist residents with other necessities.

Batieste said she believes in caring for others, she has cared for her family members when they could not care for themselves until they have expired: her parents, her in-laws, her brothers, brother in laws, great aunts, nieces and nephew. She is the mother to Justice of the Peace Tracy S. Batieste, Mary L. Batieste, and the late Patrick M. Batieste.

Rev. Thomas F. Clark, SJ

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, the Rev. Thomas F. Clark is a member of the Catholic religious order, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He entered the order in 1971 and was ordained a priest in 1981. During his almost 43 years of ministry he has served as a high school teacher, a hospital chaplain, a chaplain for an HIV clinic, and a pastor. He was pastor of Saint Francis de Sales-Saint Philip Parish in Boston for 12 years from 1991 to 2005. He currently serves as the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Scotlandville since 2006 and Catholic chaplain at Southern University since 2015. Father Clark graduated from Fordham University, New Your University, the Weston School of Theology, and the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana in 2000. Having spent 16 years in Louisiana, he considers it a second home and appreciates its delicious cuisine, warm hospitality, and rich history and culture. Father Clark realizes that everything he has done has been through the grace of God. He knows that he is not lucky but loved.

Myron Emmanuel

Born in Zachary, La., Myron K. Emanuel is the last of three children born to John and Ollie Emanuel who raised their family in Scotlandville. He attended Brownsfield Elementary, Baker Middle, and Redemptorist High School. At Southern University, he earned a bachelor of science degree in agricultural sciences with the concentration in animal science and a master of science in biological sciences. Since 2001, Myron has been employed with the United States Department of Agriculture as a supervisory agricultural commodity grader and special project in International Affairs.

In 2008, Emmanuel established the North Baton Rouge Youth Soccer Association and the competitive soccer club Louisiana Cosmos, a boys and girls soccer program, ranging from ages 2 to 14. He has vast knowledge, playing and coaching experience to the soccer club. As a player he was a two-time team MVP, three-time 1st team State All-District, four-time Louisiana State Olympic Development Program team player and Captain, two times selected to the United States Region 3 soccer team and One-year United States National Pool Soccer team Selection. Coaching Myron has been a part of the Louisiana Soccer Association ODP staff as a coach for many years off and on. He has helped develop many soccer players who have gone on to play high school, collegiate level and internationally.

He has coached soccer for more than 20 years and currently holds United State Soccer Federation (USSF) National Youth license, USSF Referee license, NSCAA Regional and Advance Regional Coaching Diploma, and NSCAA Advanced Regional Goalkeeping I, II, III Diploma.

Thomasina W. Joseph

Thomasina W. Joseph is a Baton Rouge native, also having spent some of her formative years in Detroit, Michigan. She is a devoted wife and mother, who is passionate about community activism and empowerment. She has cultivated a career that has provided her with many opportunities to guide community members to much needed resources. She is actively working with a network of community leaders to increase awareness of systemic issues and develop real-time solutions. During her many years of service to the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, Joseph has discovered a purpose-led journey that includes mentorship, entrepreneurship, and leadership. She has had the honor of being an EBRPSS Classified Employee of the Year nominee for three consecutive years.

She is among the inaugural class of the Residential Leaders Academy. As a residential leader and ambassador, Joseph participates in the Safe Hopeful Neighborhoods program, which is a national initiative that creates a network of shared resources. In 2022, she and her cohorts created the Scotlandville-Banks Alliance and hosted the inaugural community bike ride.

She has cross-trained in various community support roles to support her dreams of a thriving community for all. Thomasina has completed trainings to enhance her community impacts, these trainings include:  Produce Safety Alliance Grower, where she learned sustainable gardening and Question Persuade Refer Gatekeeper, where she developed skills to help recognize warning signs to help prevent tragedy amongst mentally-ill individuals. Thomasina actively pursues community partnerships with local law enforcement agencies. She recently completed the Baton Rouge Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration Citizens Academy. Joseph is intentional about her involvement at every level within her community. She has also recently returned to the classroom to complete her degree from Southern University and A&M College and fervently believes in planting the seeds of caring for others and watching the roots of that care build a stronger community.

Elaine Simms

Elaine Fruge’ Simms was born in Eunice Louisiana to the late Orice and Edna Fruge. She was married to Felton Donald Simms for 53 years until his passing. She is the mother of two adult children Karen and Kerwyn and she is the proud grandmother of seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She has also become the adopted mother and grandmother to so many others.

Simms has been in the cosmetology business for more than 50 years. She is a dedicated member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church where she has been a member for over 40 years and is a member of both the traditional and gospel choirs. Elaine is an original member of Community against Drugs and Violence (CADAV). She also volunteers, cooks, and prepares meals to serve the homeless at both St. Vincent DePaul Centers.

She is often found at the North Baton Rouge Community Center donating, organizing, and hanging up clothes for residents in need. During the heart of the COVID pandemic, she willingly sat in lines to get boxes of food for those who couldn't, then delivered the food to the person--- so much so that she was featured on  the cover of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank's quarterly newsletter. 

Her beauty shop is known as the one-stop shop. If a customer has clothing, furniture, or any other necessity, Simms is known to find someone who needs or wants them right away. With any spare time Simms may have, she loves being in her yard and dancing to zydeco music.

Karen Williams-Ross

Karen Williams-Ross, a veteran educator of more than twenty-five years, is a native of Baton Rouge who is deeply committed to making the difference for students residing within underserved neighborhoods within the Baton Rouge/New Orleans metropolitan areas.

Williams-Ross models positive attributes that inspire others. She models qualities of the 21st century educator who truly understands that now is the time to provide all students with an innovative, creative, challenging, and supportive environment. Her entrepreneurial spirit coupled with strong interpersonal and intrapersonal skills places her in an elite class as an administrator.

Her optimism, confidence, compassion, ability, and commitment engender trust and creates effective professional learning communities that produce systematic increase in proficiency for all students. As a life – long learner who truly cares about people, she shares only her “best” and wants only the “best” for each person. She strategically uses and teaches others to leverage resources, tools, and talents to build an achieving school culture that can ultimately prepare students for a future that they have not yet seen.

Williams-Ross is the daughter of Velma Banks Williams, sister of Bridget Williams Iserhien, mother of Zion and Joshua, and grandmother of Aiden.