Uncrowned Community Builders

First and foremost I would just like to say I am blessed and truly thankful for God giving me a grandmother like Lucille C. Hicks. She gives me inspiration to be a better person and also is able to bring out the best in others around her. It is no wonder that everyone who knows her falls in love with her, because she is an angel on earth! I pray for her everyday.

Biography of Lucille Colston Hicks

Lucille Colston Hicks was born on February 5, 1929 in Bessemer, Alabama. She is the daughter of Woody and Nancy Colston, who were the parents of fifteen children, (10 boys and 5 girls). Lucille was raised on a "real" farm with many different crops and animals which helped to sustain their large family. She states that, "though they were poor, they wanted for nothing, and theirs was a family where even strangers came for food, help, shelter, and comfort."

Though her parents were not allowed the benefits of a formal education, they knew the value of a good educational foundation and demanded that their kids excel and be their best. Lucille's father even went so far as to petition the school board of Muscoda County to give him a school bus to drive his children and other students the ten miles to school and was granted permission to do so. Her mother Nancy became the custodian for their school as well. Lucille graduated with honors and a scholarship from Muscoda High School in Bessemer, Alabama.

Lucille married Udell Hicks in 1949, and they moved to Buffalo, New York. This was during the time of the Great African American migration from the south to the north, when many moved with the promise of more opportunities and a better way of life. Lucille and Udell were blessed with six children, and they instilled in them the same desire to take advantage of obtaining a good education.

Mrs. Hicks became an active participant in her children's education, first becoming recording secretary of the P.S. #53 PTA, Parent Advisory Member and then President of the Head Start Overall Policy Council (OPC) of the Community Action Association of Western New York. This is a position that she held for eight years. Next, Mrs. Hicks gained employment as a member of the Board of Education, where she was named the supervisor of six community aides for the Follow-Through Program. This pilot programs' purpose was to take each student and family within the grammar school where they were academically and developmentally, work with them, and then follow them through to high school graduation. The community aides who worked under Mrs. Hicks credit her with encouraging them to return to college and earning their bachelor and graduate degrees. As you can see, Mrs. Hicks was a very busy and important person!

After getting a Masters' Degree from State Teachers College in Pupil Services and Community Relations, Lucille Colston Hicks was appointed the FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN ATTENDANCE TEACHER FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION IN THE CITY OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, a position she held for 28 YEARS!!

Lucille spent ten of those years with the Attendance Intervention Module, (A.I.M) Team, a specially created unit where she teamed with a Buffalo Police officer, and they rode the streets of Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs visiting homes, game rooms, shopping malls, and checking street corners, making sure that students who were not in school and should be, were there, and this was another African American First!

Always advocating for youth, Mrs. Hicks was a member of the Masten Community Action Organization's Junior/Senior Drop-Out Program (JUSENDO), created to help students improve their academic skills and decrease high school drop out rates. She is also a member of the Masten Neighborhood Advisory Council, The Hamlin Park Concerned Taxpayers Association, as well as President of the Blaine Avenue # 1 Block Club and the Buffalo Block Club Coalition. Mrs. Hicks has received numerous awards, including the Black Achievers in Industry Award, the Masten District Community Service Award, and the Urban League Family of the Year.

After an illustrious career, Mrs. Hicks retired in 1998. Everything that she has done for herself, the community and others, will never be forgotten. Her legacy will for ever live on. She has made accomplishments that would take some people a lifetime to achieve, yet she remains humble. She is a true angel, and when she does something for someone she does not look for recognition. She is always modest, and does things out of the kindness of her heart.

Married to this day to her husband of 58 years, Udell, Lucille is the happy grandmother of ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She is a member of the Greater Works Christian Fellowship Church.

Lucille Colston Hicks is a real Community Leader, Trailblazer, and truly an UNCROWNED QUEEN. I have written this essay to finally give her a crown!

1st Place, Grades 10-12
Martin L. R. Russell
Grade 12, East High School