The Sandspur

Issue date: 2/26/07 Section: Holt News

Five decades ago, "whites- FIVE COMMON INTERVIEW FAUX PAS only" signs in businesses across segregated Orlando sent a clear message to young Ron Rogers and his friends: They had to learn their place.

But Rogers' mother was determined to teach him differently. She joined a new group of black mothers who didn't want their
families to be left out of the opportunities
other children had in Orlando.

"They took us to plays and cultural events," said Ron Rogers. "They told us not to let those signs impede our success in life."
Rogers, now 55, is a community leader and an area director for the national design firm Williams-Russell and Johnson, based in
Atlanta.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in Central Florida this year, Jack and Jill is one of the region's oldest civic and social organizations, formed by blacks in the emerging civilrights era.

When Jack and Jill started, blacks were still shut out of restaurants, professional
organizations and the country clubs that were
popping up in Orlando. The organization, for children 2 to 19 and their mothers, met in living rooms because blacks weren't allowed in many public establishments.

They were the sons, daughters and wives of ministers, doctors and business owners who
made up Orlando's black professional class at the time.

Today, with Orlando a destination city for black professionals, groups such as Jack and Jill, Sigma Pi Phi (also known as the Boule), Chums, Girl Friends and The Links, described as the black version of the Junior League, are seeing their memberships mirror
the growth.

Some have spun off more chapters, bringing their networks to other parts of Central Florida. Links, for example, now has two
chapters in the area: Orlando and Altamonte Springs; Atlanta, by comparison, has five.

Each February, as the nation celebrates Black History Month, local groups hold events to commemorate the past and raise money for community projects.

The U.S. Census Bureau says more than 20 percent of the black population in Greater Orlando hold management or professional
titles.

"As we integrate more into society, the groups keep us together and bring us back to our core," said Butler, retired co-founder of
JCB Construction in Orlando.

Her daughter, Michele Butler, is one of the active young professionals in the chapter, heading the projects commi?? ee. "I got involved because of the service projects and

Continued...

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