Community VoicesWest Palm Beach elders open up to the audience at a benefit for Rohi’s Readery.
By Abigail Guillaume
Rohi’s Readery and Liberation Station, a West Palm Beach community center and social justice bookstore focused on youth education, convened its fall fundraiser last month. The event brought together philanthropists, community leaders and young people to honor elders who shaped the city and its Historic Northwest Neighborhood.
At the gathering hosted by journalist and philanthropist Soledad O’Brien at her nearby home, attendees learned about the impact of the Readery in preserving West Palm Beach history and empowering and educating youth.
Rohi’s founder Pranati “Pranoo” Kumar described the Readery’s summer camp program and its impact:
- 900 books distributed
- Nearly 13,000 hours spent mentoring
- 1,125 hours spent reading
- 1,125 hours spent learning phonics
Before attending the fundraiser, I imagined a simple event to raise money for a cause. Instead, I got a lesson in Black history in West Palm Beach.
The Readery awarded its Community Luminary award to Alisha Winn, cultural anthropologist and fifth-generation Northwest Neighborhood resident who has led preservation work on the Sunset Lounge and Evergreen Cemetery. Winn dedicated the award to her father, who died in 2024.
Two elders spoke to attendees. Mr. James Carman, the first Black fire chief in West Palm Beach and Ms. Elizabeth Munnings, an educator who led the effort to establish the Northwest Neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ms. Munnings, who turned 100 this year, shared stories of growing up in West Palm Beach. She described a time when Black families couldn’t use banks and had to keep their money at the post office instead.
“The Northwest neighborhood was a city within a city, and that means that we didn’t really have to go outside of the area to get many, many things”, said Ms. Munnings.
She also spoke about burials being segregated, which was hard to hear. It made me realize how close this history still is, and how deeply it shaped the community.
Mr. Carman urged younger residents to volunteer. “You have to give something to get something,” he said.
This experience made me realize how much the younger generation needs these elders, because without their voices, the lessons risk disappearing. The fundraiser made clear that history isn’t only in books. It’s right there in people’s memories, waiting to be passed on, if we take the time to listen.
As I listened to the elders throughout the evening, I began to understand why their stories were such an important part of the fundraiser. They weren’t just talking about the past; they were sharing experiences that helped explain how the community became what it is today.
One of the things that stood out to me was how many of the people honored had spent their lives giving back, through education or volunteering or, creating opportunities for kids. It made me see that building a community isn’t about just one person. It’s about passing stories and one generation working with another generation.
The fundraiser also showed the impact in the community, Mrs. Kumar described the books, mentoring, meals, and reading programs that anchor the Readery, and I realized supporting young people isn’t just about schoolwork, it’s about creating spaces where they can see themselves in the story.
For me, a teenager who grew up in Brazil, not the United States, hearing these stories face to face gave them a weight that textbooks don’t do. I walked in expecting a fundraiser, and I left having learned a lesson about community.
Most importantly, I realized how much younger generations need elders to preserve their community’s history. The Readery does more than provide books; it offers meals, mentoring, counseling, and creative programs that help young people learn, build relationships, and discover their identities. By connecting the past with the present, it helps young people understand their roots and grow into people who will give back to their communities.
Who wrote this story: This story was reported by Community Voices writer Abigail Guillaume.
What is CV: Community Voices is a partnership between Stet News and Inlet Grove High School that trains and pays teens to cover the news. Community Voices is supported by The Pew Family Fund, the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties and the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation.
Stet’s Liz Capozzi contributed to this story.
