Pioneer Award Dinner honors Rep. Cloves Campbell Jr.
Arizona Representative Cloves Campbell Jr. will be honored as the recipient of the Pioneer Award at a dinner at Arizona State University’s West campus on Feb. 27. The Pioneer Award Dinner is the final event on a calendar of activities celebrating Black History Month at the campus and will take place at 6 p.m., in the University Center Building (UCB), La Sala ballroom.
The award recognizes individuals or families that have made a long-term commitment to the quality of lives of African Americans.
“Representative Campbell is a most deserving recipient of this prestigious award,” said Duku Anokye, an associate professor in the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.
“He is an actively engaged member of a prominent African American family and has given more than 25 years of his own life in service to the community through his newspaper, The Arizona Informant, and as a representative of Arizona’s 16th District.”
Campbell Jr. is the son of the late Cloves Campbell, the state’s first black senator and founder of The Arizona Informant, the only African-American-owned weekly in Arizona. Now the board chairman and co-publisher of the paper, Campbell Jr. was elected to the Arizona State House of Representatives in 2006 and currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee, Banking and Insurance Committee and the Sub-Committee on Library and Archives.
In the community, the younger Campbell has been a dynamo. He sits on several boards, including Governor’s African American Advisory Board, Attorney General’s African American Advisory Board, Black Theater Troupe Board, Salvation Army Advisory Board, West Coast Black Publishers Board, Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church Board of Trustees, and the 100 Black Men of Phoenix. He is a life member of the NAACP.
“What stands out when you meet Representative Campbell is his dedication,” says Anokye, who has been an integral part of the West campus Black History Month committee for years. “His commitment, his faith, his devotion to family and the ongoing growth and development of African American social, cultural, political and historical concerns is an incentive for all of us to do more, do better, and to give back.
“Our Pioneer Award honorees, past and present, are living examples of what it means to live a dedicated and meaningful life.”
In addition to recognition of Campbell Jr. and a documentary commemorating his service, the Pioneer Award Dinner will feature an African processional and a special performance by the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theatre, an award-winning and internationally travelled ensemble of musicians, dancers and singers with training in various disciplines.
Other upcoming West campus events on the Black History Month calendar are the Poetry Jam on Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kiva Auditorium ($5 admission, students $3) and the African Master Dance Workshop on Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. in La Sala.
ASU’s West campus is located at 4701 West Thunderbird Road in Phoenix. More information about Black History Month events is available by calling 602-543-5306. RSVP at WestEvents@asu.edu.