NC Attorney General presents local leader in Wilmington with 2021 Dogwood Award

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — State Attorney General Josh Stein stopped in Wilmington on Friday, to present a local leader with the 2021 Dogwood Award.

Deborah Dicks Maxwell is president of the North Carolina NAACP, president of the New Hanover county chapter of the NAACP, and a member of the state task force for racial equity in criminal justice.  Maxwell is 1 of 36 North Carolinians to receive a 2021 Dogwood Award, and 1 of 4 in southeastern North Carolina.

The attorney general gives out the Dogwood Awards annually to honor North Carolinians who work to keep people safe, healthy, and happy in their communities.

“The only way we can make progress as a state and here in New Hanover County, is to have people of good will, committed and dedicated to trying to make things better for other people, and that really personifies Deborah Dicks Maxwell,” said Attorney General Josh Stein.

“I think everything helps further the purpose, and it helps people realize that I’m not just a name, but someone who truly has been dedicated to people and causes within this state and country,” said Deborah Dicks Maxwell.

After receiving the award, Maxwell  said she would like to dedicate it to one of her mentors who recently died,  Carolyn Q. Coleman,  secretary to the NAACP National Board of Directors and  vice president of the North Carolina State NAACP.