News
Article on Cousin Dr. Francine Oputa
Justice. Equity. Power.
Celebrating Dr. Francine Oputa
In Honor of Black History Month
I'm an image
“To whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48)
I am blessed to be the 11th of 11 children born to my parents Rev. Hillery T. and Mother Rosa L. Broadous. My parents were both born and raised in the south. In the 1940’s, they moved with my three oldest sisters from Arkansas to Portland, Oregon. Why? My father, like his father before him, was an outspoken Black man and he realized he could not reach his full potential, indeed, he may not stay alive, if he stayed in the south.
Eventually settling in California’s San Fernando Valley, my parents became community activists and leaders. My dad organized sit-ins at Woolworths in the San Fernando Valley in solidarity with Dr. King and others who held sit-ins in the south. My mother organized the first Black History Week (then Negro History Week) program in our community.
Community service is, and always has been, a way of life in my family. Growing up, I not only observed my parents’ participation in the civil rights movement, I also witnessed my older siblings’ involvement in the Black Power movement. As a youth, through our church, I was involved in inter-faith and cross-cultural activities. I believe that much of this impacted my interest in diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice work. I even led sit-ins and walk-outs at my high school in protest of unfair treatment of Black students.
The impact of my family’s service has been recognized with the naming of an elementary school after my father, my parents being featured on a mural along with Richie Valens and Andre Crouch, a senior center being named after my sister, and an intersection being named after my brother. Similarly, my husband and I are featured on a mural in West Fresno as a result of our community service in the Central Valley.
I strongly adhere to Rev./Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s statement that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This has influenced my desire to see fair treatment for all individuals regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, faith, sexual identity, income or other identities.
I was asked the question “If you weren’t in your current role, what would you be and why?” That is an interesting question at this stage of my life. At the end of 2020, I retired from Fresno State as the director of the Cross Cultural and Gender Center and the chair of the President’s Council on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. When I retired I knew that I wanted to focus on providing diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice programs and services for our broader community. In addition to that, I wanted to more actively pursue my other passion – performing. Over the years I have produced and performed a one woman show featuring stories, poetry and songs from the African diaspora.
I am doing both of those things now. So I am who and what “I would be.” I feel very blessed and I am very grateful for what I come from, for who I am, for who I am becoming and for what I am honored to do. As for my “why,” my theme scripture and theme song below epitomize my answer:
If I Can Help Somebody
Sung by Mahalia Jackson
If I can help somebody, as I travel along
If I can cheer somebody, with a word or song
If I can show somebody that they’re traveling wrong
Then my living shall not be in vain.
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2022 Reunion Photos
Family, if you have not had a chance to download pictures from the Atlanta 2022 Broadous Reunion please do so by going to the following link. You can download them all or just a few. This link will be live until February 28, 2023.
Please access before the above date.
Link: 2022 Broadous Family Reunion
Thank you, Sabur Karim-Kincey
Happy Birthday Grandma Mattie Thomas Broadous!
Happy New Year to each of you! On January 10th, we celebrate the Birthday of our Matriarch, Grandma Mattie Thomas Broadous. We celebrate this amazing woman, the giver of life to each of us, acknowledging her love for Christ, her love for Grandpa Zachrah Sr. and her 19 children, and her love for her community. We recognize her as the woman of strength that she was, and how that strength is in the DNA of each of us. Thank you Grandma Mattie! We honor you each and every day! Happy Birthday!!
Editorial on Opal Lee
Another well-deserved honor for my Mother, Opal Lee. The article is also one of the better recounts of family history.
My Mom was named Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News. She beat out Beyoncé and Elon Musk
Cousin Joe Roland
Cousin Opal's Year in Review
This has been a tremendous year for my Grandmother, Opal Lee who is now known all across the world as the 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' for her social activist work to have Juneteenth formally recognized as a federal holiday. She has traveled all over the country with a message of Unity, Freedom and Change. Listed here are highlights of 2021 with pictures and links. Please take a moment to review and share with others just what good genes we Broadous have to positively affect our communities, states, nation and the world.
-Cousin Dione Sims
December
Bestowed an honorary Doctor of Letters from TCU in a formal ceremony complete with all the pomp and circumstance - https://www.facebook.com/simsdi/videos/570760014012715/ 11:20
Honored as a member of Forbes 50 Over 50 Women Making an Impact in New York at a lunch gathering with First Lady Jill Biden - https://www.forbes.com/50over50/impact
Honored centercourt at the Brooklyn Nets basketball game for her social activist work. We also met Trey Songz who made the biggest fuss over her
November
Grand Marshall at the Parade of Lights through downtown Fort Worth - https://www.dallasnews.com/news/inspired
Awarded the AFRIMA Lifetime Achievement Award in Lagos, Nigeria from the All Africa Music awards. I traveled there to receive and educate on what Juneteenth is.
October
Received an honorary Doctorate of Human letters from Texas Wesleyan University after her keynote address at the Goosetree Symposium
Fireside chat with Valerie Biden at the Biden Institute in Delaware and present at the Governor's signing of of Juneteenth holiday legislation
Crowning of National Miss Juneteenth in Tulsa, OK
September
Featured speaker in Las Vegas at the Society of Human Resource Managers Conference 2021 (SHRM) - https://vimeo.com/655392133 please take a look
August
Received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Grace International Seminary
July
Honored by all the Women in Leadership and Women's Organizations for her accomplishments establishing a scholarship fund to her alma mater Wiley College
Alexander “Alex” Walker
Dear Family,
This is to let you know that my grandson, Alexander “Alex” Walker, had a successful Liver transplant surgery on Tuesday morning, September 7th at Duke Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. He is doing well. It will be several months before he and his mother, my daughter Valerie, return home to Winston Salem, North Carolina. I ask that you keep Alex in your prayers for complete recovery and healing, and Valerie for strength.
In addition, you know medical costs are high. Alex will need additional financial support to defray medical expenses not covered by insurance. He has partnered with a nonprofit organization, Help Hope Live. Their mission is to support community-based fundraising for individuals with unmet medical and related expenses due to cell, organ transplants or catastrophic injuries and illnesses.
We have included the link if you would like to donate. You can choose a one-time donation or set-up monthly donations. Also included is the mailing address if you prefer to send a check.
ONLINE click https://helphopelive.org/campaign/18875
OR
Make check payable to: Help Hope Live on the memo line: In Honor of Alexander Walker #18875
Mailing Address:
Help Hope Live
2 Radnor Corporate Center
100 Matsonford Road, Suite 100
Radnor, PA 19087
Tax ID Number: 52-1322317
Thanking you in advance.
Love,
Cousins Marion, Sharon, Valerie, Alex, Obrien, and Ebonie
Cousins Opal & Dione to Witness Signing of Juneteenth Bill
Family It’s Official!! Cousins Opal and Dione have been invited to the White House to witness the signing of the Juneteenth Bill, declaring Juneteenth as a National Holiday. What a solemn moment in American and World History, and certainly, our Broadous Family History. Cousins Opal and Dione, we honor and congratulate you!
Love, Deborah A. Broadous, Broadous Family National President
Cousin Toyia Floyd is Interviewed About Juneteenth
To read-up on a great interview that was posted in the largest newspaper regarding our own Elder Opal Lee, please click HERE
The Broadous Family Celebrates Juneteenth across America
Congratulations Jared Myron Bradford
Congratulations to Jared Myron Bradford, on the completion of his Master's Degree, April 30, 2021. Jared graduated with honors, from the University of North Texas; with a M.S. Science in Health Services Administration, and Advanced Data Analytics. Jared is the son of Pastor Myron Bradford and Deborah Broadous Bradford; the grandson of the late Rev. Therman Broadous & Gladys Mae Fields Broadous, and Rev. Zachrah Broadous & Mattie Thomas Broadous.
2022 Broadous Family Reunion
We Celebrate and Support Cousin Opal Lee
A special Congratulations to Cousin Opal Lee, Daughter of Aunt Mattie Broadous Flake, who now has 1.4 million signatures to take to Congress in her fight to make Juneteenth a National Holiday.
2021 Broadous Family Reunion Date Postponed to 2022
On May 2, 2020, the Broadous Family Board of Directors approved the request from the East Region to move the 2021 reunion to 2022 given the challenges associated with COVID-19. We (East Rgion) have concerns related to our fundraising efforts, the potential economic impact on our family members and the potential risks associated with the virus returning in the fall. We are concerned that all of these might impact our ability to continue planning the reunion as well our attendance.
Be well and stay safe,
Cousin Bernardean
Chairman, Board of Directors