New London ― Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., exchanged handshakes and fist bumps at the New London Branch of the NAACP’s annual Freedom Fund Dinner on Tuesday night while telling the crowd of 400 that big change comes from small communities.

“The greatness of this country is that you don’t have to be anything but a regular person,” Thompson said.

He emphasized that the New London branch of the NAACP needs to “continue the fight” of inspiring everyone to make change, no matter what profession they hold.

Thompson, Mississippi’s longest-serving Black elected official, has spent a good portion of his 16 terms in Congress working toward diversifying the U.S. military. He was named chairman of the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and led the nationally-broadcast Jan. 6 hearings. The national NAACP recognized Thompson’s civil rights advocacy this year with its Chairman’s Award.

Thompson said his segregated education in his small hometown of Bolton, Miss., inspired him to make change. He said he never owned a new textbook.

“All of my textbooks were passed down from the white schools,” Thompson said. “I wanted to stay home and make a difference.”

He still lives in Bolton today and has attended the same church his entire life, he said.

The award winners

At the dinner, nine southeastern Connecticut residents were honored for their contributions in law enforcement and education. The dinner, which took place at the Port ‘N’ Starboard at Ocean Beach Park, has been held since 1957.

Jerry Fischer received the Champion of Courage award for creating the Encountering Survivors and Encountering Differences programs that connect local high school students with Holocaust Survivors and African American community members.

“The key to successful education is for it to be accurate, true-historical, and to reflect the diversity that is the United States of America. It’s crucial,” said Fischer, the retired director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut.

“You have to deal with the time you’re in,” said Harbor Elementary School Principal Jason Foster, who received the Education award. “Empathy in education is huge. But [the children] are going to be better than us if we do our jobs right.”

Empathy, along with grit and discipline, must be taught by diverse role models, said New London High School teacher and girls’ basketball coach Tammy Millsaps, who received the Education award. She said she leads by example so students can pursue their dream careers regardless of their race or gender.

At-risk youth need to hear this encouragement the most, said Patricia Lieteau, the first female captain of the Groton City Police Department, who received the Pioneer award for her 36 years in law enforcement and helping children succeed.

“I found that a lot of at-risk youth didn’t have the confidence that they could make a difference,” Lieteau said. “I wanted to show them that it’s not about where you come from, who your family is, or who you associate with. It’s about you and what you do.”

Lieteau ran the New London Police Explorers program for 17 years, the same program that inspired police Lt. Cornelius Rodgers to begin his career in law enforcement, he said.

Rodgers, 44, received the Courage award two months after pulling a man out of his burning car during the Gold Star Bridge fire in April. During his work on a 2012 narcotics operation, a federal phone tap revealed conversations of people planning to kill him. Given the option to leave the operation and New London to protect his safety, Rodgers said he stayed to protect the community he grew up in.

Growing up in New London’s low-income housing projects, Rodgers said he has felt “inner conflict” being a Black police officer and sometimes arresting the people he went to kindergarten with. He said many people he grew up with viewed Black police officers as “traitors.”

Joseph Saunders, community officer for the Stonington Police Department, also sees from a personal level the “laws, history, and tension” between the African American community and law enforcement. He has worked 23 years toward changing the public image of law enforcement, he said.

“I’m more aware of who I am when I take my gun and badge off,” said Saunders, who received the Pioneer award. “I know that when I have my hoodie and sweatpants on, someone with their own gun and badge may look at me a certain way.”

Saunders said staying true to himself, even in uniform, helps build trust instead of division between law enforcement and the community.

Part of building that trust is ensuring that police departments reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, said Brian Wright, New London’s first Black police chief, who has worked with the department for 28 years and received the Pioneer award on Tuesday.

Wright said he works for his department’s Social Justice Advisory Committee to bring equity and diversity to his department’s policies and hiring processes.

“Diversity is more than race,” said retired Groton City Police Department officer Bobby Harris. “My son is autistic. Signs of autism – pacing, resisting physical touch, avoiding eye contact – can often cause police officers to overreact, sometimes in physically violent ways.“

Harris received the Pioneer award for becoming the only Autism Law Enforcement Coalition certified officer in the state and providing special needs-awareness training to police departments across the country.

All of the recipients’ impacts started with their devotion to their communities, said Pioneer award recipient Michael McKinney, a sergeant with the Ledyard Police Department. McKinney, who is also known as “Big Mac,” has worked in law enforcement for 24 years.

“When I came on, I thought I could change the world. Not true. Thought I could change the country. Not true. My idea was my community. Make the changes. Start small, and hopefully it will get big,” he said.

Editor’s note: This version corrects the rank of Capt. Patricia Lieteau of the Groton City Police Department.