*The Gracie Mansion Conservancy (GMC) hosted its annual Gracie Mansion Conservancy Gala celebrating Black Excellence on Monday, November 18, in New York City. This year’s honorees were Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation; Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League; and Michelle Miller, New York Times bestselling author and co-host of CBS Saturday Morning.
The evening, emceed by award-winning journalist and Senior Vice President at TheGrio Natasha Alford, featured a live auction and performances by the Bella Voce Choir from Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, award-winning pianist Howard Watkins, and vocalist Camille Capers.
Per the news release: “The Gracie Mansion Conservancy’s mission is to raise funds to restore the landmark structure and acquire furnishings that illustrate the rich history of New York City; improve the surrounding landscape and gardens; and provide educational services, including publications and tours.”
In my exclusive conversation with Miller and Gracie Mansion Conservancy Board Member Chioma Ohakam, we discussed the significance of celebrating Black Excellence and the profound impact of the Gracie Mansion Conservancy Gala. Michelle also shared her reflections on receiving the prestigious Key to the City, presented by the Mayor, and what it symbolizes for her work and advocacy.
“I never went into the work that I did to receive accolades or to receive recognition like this. It is so wonderful to be recognized, to be seen, to be heard,” Miller said.
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Michelle Miller with a key to the city. Credit: Gracie Mansion Conservancy
“And perhaps more so than anything, people like me, like Darren, like Mark, who are about the business of just doing the work. It’s hard work. It’s mission-oriented work. That what we do is mattering. For me personally, I think it says, I’m this kid from South Central Los Angeles. I made it in the Big Apple. And you know what they say, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” she added.
“I think that being scrappy is just a wonderful person to be. That’s always been who I am,” Miller continued. “Sometimes I’m polished. Sometimes I’m not. Sometimes I’m brilliant. Sometimes I’m taking care of the business, asking all the questions because I don’t know exactly all the answers. But thank you for seeing me.
“I think more so than anything else, by you seeing and hearing me, there are a whole lot of other people behind me, next to me, who are even ahead of me, who have a shot at being seen and heard. And certainly the stories and the people and the places that I cover, those places too are being seen and heard.”
Chioma offered insight into the Conservancy’s mission and how the gala highlights the achievements of trailblazing leaders like Michelle and her fellow honorees.
“Our ancestors paved the way so that people like Michelle, Darren, and Mark could continue to do the work and be able to light the way for the future. And with Gracie Mansion, our mission is to continue to educate and also give accessibility to communities of color, also students,” she said.
“We are very welcoming and appreciative of our diversity in our city. We want to be able to highlight that and say, look, these are the people that we’re honoring, but it also reflects in the people that we serve. For far too long, this country has continued..not giving people their recognition, but it’s understood that we are vital contributors to our nation’s wealth, our nation’s education, our nation’s, you just name it, whatever you want to call it, but we are the history and we need to continue to be able to tell that story,” Chioma explained.
“I like the fact that what we’ve been doing at Gracie Mansion is that we’ve incorporated the history of our enslaved people, the history of Indigenous on our tours,” she continued.
“It’s more than the people’s house. It’s a house that we want to be able to continue to say, hey, people like myself are welcome here and that children are inspired to say one day, I will be a future Michelle. I will be a future New York City mayor. They could be whatever they want to, but just knowing that there is representation and it will continue to show representation at our house, at the people’s house.”
Watch our full conversation with Michelle and Chioma below.
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