Celebrating Black History Month

Monday, February 26, 2024

In observance of Black History Month, Senator Casey will be honoring the work of five Black leaders in Pennsylvania who have a unique role in being the first in their respective fields and have served as a vehicle to help others achieve those same goals: Edgar and Barbara Farmer (State College), Donta Green (Pittsburgh), Loretta Claiborne (Harrisburg), and Lurline Jones (Philadelphia). Voices Empowering Generational Change is a celebration being held in recognition of their collective work and will bring together communities from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to celebrate their achievements and serve as an inspiration to those who will follow.

This year's event will include:

A moment of prayer with Pastor Jameson McLaughlin of Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church of Harrisburg
Vocal performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Armanda Tyes
Remarks from Senator Casey
Remarks from Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton
Panel discussion moderated by Glynis Johns with 2024 honorees Donta Green, Loretta Claiborne, and Lurline Jones

The program will be available for viewing on YouTube a few days after the event.

More about this year's honorees:

Barbara and Edgar Farmer

Edgar Farmer is a professor emeritus of education at Penn State University. Farmer is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam before attending Penn State from 1974-1978. He worked in educational and administrative jobs at North Carolina A&T State University and North Carolina State University until 1996, when he returned to Penn State as a professor of Workforce Education and Development. He worked in a number of roles at Penn State prior to his retirement in 2013, including head of Learning and Performance Systems, and professor-in-charge of the Workforce Education and Development Program.

Barbara Farmer is a retired educator. She taught business classes at various schools in Virginia and North Carolina before serving as the State College Area School District’s first ever black principal. After 40 years as an educator, she became the director of multicultural affairs for the College of Information and Sciences and Technology at Penn State. She served on the boards of the Women’s Resource Center and Centre County United Way and was chairperson of the State College Borough’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza Committee. She retired in 2014.

Together, Edgar and Barbara have been strong advocates on issues such as diversity and education. They have co-authored two books together and are contributors to local news outlets. They served together on Penn State’s Policing People of Color Task Force, and are members of Community & Campus in Unity, which focuses on diversity in State College.

They have been very generous towards Penn State and other colleges, donating to research programs and educational equity. They established the Edwin Herr and Edgar Farmer Research Enhancement Fund in the College of Education to support the development of faculty and students in Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology and the Workforce Education and Development program. They have also established endowed scholarships at their respective undergraduate Alma Maters, Hampton University and Norfolk State University," which are two of the 107 historically black colleges and universities (HBCU).

Donta Green

Donta Green is the Executive Director at the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh. Donta is a charismatic nonprofit leader and high school football coach who exemplifies service to the community. As the head coach of the Westinghouse Bulldogs, he mentors young people and facilitates excellence in others wherever he goes. He led the team in 2019 to its first city league championship in 26 years and in 2022 to the state championship (for the first time in school history), and again in 2023. At the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, Donta works to empower men and women with significant barriers to employment through skill building and career opportunities. Many of these individuals are formerly incarcerated, chronically underemployed, struggling with addiction, or need additional support to get their lives on track. Along with union apprenticeship jobs, he oversees a workforce housing program in which students experiencing homelessness live in the property while receiving wrap-around support services and developing in-demand skills. Donta volunteers on several advisory boards in the Homewood community.

"One of the highlights of both of my jobs is seeing someone have the courage to bet on themselves." - Donta Green

Loretta Claiborne

A lifelong resident of York, Pennsylvania, Loretta Claiborne is an accomplished speaker, advocate and athlete. The fourth of seven children, Loretta was born partially blind, with an intellectual disability and clubbed feet. Loretta received surgery to correct her vision impairment and clubbed feet at young age and did not learn to walk until she was 4 years old. These circumstances would not stop Loretta from accomplishing her goals.

Over the span of her life, Loretta has learned to communicate in four languages including American Sign Language, and has received honorary doctorate degrees from Quinnipiac University, Villanova University and York College of Pennsylvania. In 1996, she was the recipient of the ESPY Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Loretta holds a 4th degree black belt in karate, has completed 26 marathons, twice finishing the Boston Marathon amongst the top 100 women, and has won numerous medals in the Special Olympics including 7 gold medals. Loretta has been inducted into the Women in Sports Hall of Fame and the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.

Lurline Jones

Lurline Jones is a legendary coach and local civil rights trailblazer in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. She has been a basketball coach and mentor within the School District of Philadelphia for 52 years with more than 300 of her students going to college on full or partial athletic scholarships and three in the WNBA. Now retired but most recently, she served as the girls basketball coach at Martin Luther King High School. In September of 2019, Jones was featured in People Magazine’s, Heroes Among Us. Jones, who cofounded the nonprofit program, Developmental Basketball League, has helped boys and girls improve their playing skills for the past 48 years. Jones says, “these kids are also my kids. They know I’m teaching them more than how to play basketball.” Her motto is teaching basketball skills that will train you for life. Jones just turned 80 years old and has no plans on slowing down.

As an activist, Jones inherited her activist spirit from her mother, Mary Nixon, a domestic worker who grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Mrs. Nixon’s mother was very passionate about education. Her mother reared her in the Brewerytown section of North Philadelphia where she learned to give back.

Jones left for Baltimore’s Morgan State College (now Morgan State University) where her basketball career continued. She also came face-to-face with legal segregation for the first time and was swept up in the civil rights movement. In 1963, she and hundreds of other Morgan State College students spent nearly a week in jail after protesting the segregation policy at a nearby movie theater which was across the street from the college. Her civil rights activities continued, as she was a part of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE pioneered the use of nonviolent direct action in America’s civil rights struggle on college campuses. She participated in sit-ins and marches in Philadelphia and Maryland, some of which included demonstrations to integrate Girard College, which at the time was a school for boys only.

As a teacher and coach, Jones continues to fight to end gender disparities. During her early coaching years, she was committed to ending athletic gender disparities. In 1980 she sued the Philadelphia School District and the Catholic School System under Title XI. It took 39 years to resolve this disparity and now female athletes are able to play for a city title. Even now, in her retirement, she continues to remind those in charge not to shortchange the girls. She feels extremely blessed to still have to opportunity to make an impact and pay it forward.