HISTORY

On March 20, 1968 at the Democratic Party County Committee's meeting those listed below both endorsed H. Hawthorne Harris candidacy for Family Court Judge and created the Black Democrats of Westchester County.  However, they did not become an official organization until 1970 at a meeting held at the Roger Smith Hotel, White Plains, New York.  This latter meeting was attended by committed black democrats throughout the county.  

                                                      OUR FOUNDERS

 

May Morgan Robinson

May Morgan Robinson, a leader in civil rights and in the Democratic Party in Westchester served as vice chairwoman of the Westchester County Democratic Committee. She founded the Westchester Citizens for Justice, a civil-rights group, and headed it for many years. She was also a founder of the Nepperhan Community Center in Yonkers.

 
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M. Paul Redd

 M. Paul Redd was as much an advocate as he was a publisher. He was a Gold Life Member of the NAACP; board member of the Girl Scouts, the Urban League, the United Way, the American Red Cross; founder of the Black Democrats of Westchester; and president of the Westchester/Putnam Affirmative Action Program, which provided job training and placement for approximately 4,000 women and African Americans over a seven-year span.

Most notably, Redd and his wife, Orial Banks Redd, filed and won a housing discrimination case against New York State when they were denied an apartment in Rye, N.Y. This victory spurred a flurry of housing anti-discrimination legislation in New York, one of which became commonly known as the Redd Bill.

 
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Harry Bright 

Harry O. Bright JR. , a resident of White Plains, has been a constant champion of civil rights and social justice for all Westchester residents. He served as executive director of the White Plains Commission on Human Rights from 1985-2003. He was also chair of the board of the United Way of Westchester and Putnam,  past president of the New York State Association of Human Rights Commissions, co-founder of the White Plains Coalition for Cultural and Racial Harmony and co-founder of Embracing Diversity and Ending Racism.