The Mid-Manhattan branch of the NAACP hosted their annual Women’s History Month celebration at Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem April 12. The event honored women in the court system and women leading the civil rights movement. Awards were given to the Hon. Edwina G. Mendelson, NYS Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives; the Hon. Ruth Shillingford, president, Judicial Friends Association; Tanya N. Blocker, Esq., president, Association of Black Women Attorneys; Deborah Martin Owens, Esq., staff attorney, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP; and Serena Springle, clerk of New York County Civil Court. The Future Leader Award recipients were Shanelle Washington, chair of NAACP Next Generation, and Akua Obeng-Akrofi, president of the Columbia University Youth and College Division Chapter of the NAACP and co-founder and executive vice president of Women Everywhere Believe, Inc.