The Royal Treatment

In a revival-style celebration Sunday, more than 200 people honored five African American women of the San Fernando Valley for their years of involvement in their churches, local charities and schools.

Dorothy Caldwell, Ida Kinney, Dessa Robinson, Dorothy Bradford and Rosa Broadous--ages 71 to 89--were named “queen mothers” by the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Council of Negro Women during the group’s fifth annual Black History Celebration.

Chapter President Vivian Lincoln said the theme of this year’s event could be summed up in the Swahili word harambee.

“Harambee means unity,” she said during the event at the Phoenix Academy, a drug rehabilitation facility. “This is a coming together of the black community and a bridging of the gap between young and old.”

At this event, it was the young who entertained the old. The five honorees sat at tables with their families and friends while local choirs and dance groups performed.

“Mother” Broadous, as most people call her, could barely get a forkful of chicken and rice in her mouth without one of her 10 children coming over to kiss her on the cheek or hold her hand. Like an army general, Broadous, 78, wore several pins on her jacket representing her many years of community involvement. Her favorite pin, she said, was from her literacy class, which she taught every week for more than 20 years at Calvary Baptist Church.

“The secret of my success was being willing to give service whenever I was asked,” Broadous said.

Kinney, an 89-year-old Pacoima resident, was the first African American at Lockheed Corp. to join the AFL-CIO. Shortly after taking a job with the company in 1943, she launched a petition drive to integrate the union. It took six months.

“I told them: ‘I don’t want to ride on anyone’s back--I want to contribute just like everyone else,’ ” Kinney said. “I used to eat my lunch with a sandwich in one hand and a petition in the other.”

Later, Kinney taught elementary school and helped organize the first Head Start program in the Valley, as well as the Pacoima Senior Center and the Pacoima Boys & Girls Club. Kinney also helped create the Congress of California Seniors, a statewide advocacy group.

Bradford, 73, has lived in the Valley for 51 years and raised six children. But many more than that call her “Mom.”

“I raised practically all the children in my church,” said Bradford, whose late husband was pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist, one of the first black churches in San Fernando.

Caldwell, a tall, gregarious woman who lives in Mission Hills, was a founder of Concerned Black Women of the San Fernando Valley, a nonprofit group that has awarded more than $100,000 in minority scholarships. Caldwell, 71, also helped found the Northeast Valley Health Center, a clinic that provides health care plus drug, alcohol and AIDS programs for low-income people.

Caldwell said she is optimistic about the next generation of children, but fears for them.

“It’s not as easy to grow up now as when I was growing up,” she said. “There are a lot more distractions these days--the key is to get a good education, to stay in school and to listen to your parents.”

Robinson, 87, spends much of her time calling on the sick and elderly. She has lived in the Valley for 32 years and has been a volunteer at Parks Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church for half that time.

Her fellow congregants call her the “Sunshine Lady” because she is charged with decorating the church and checking on members who are too ill to attend Sunday services.

Lincoln said that the naming of these women as “queen mothers” is rooted in the culture of African matriarchal societies.

“We have to teach our children unity and respect for their elders,” Lincoln said. “And we have to teach them to respect their culture. We have to keep it intact.”