The Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation (SBLF) is proudly marking its 5th Anniversary (2020-2025)! Established in 2019 by Hope Lynne Price-Lindsay, Jacie Wynn Price, and Lyah Beth LeFlore-Ituen shortly after the passing of Poet Laureate Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore, the foundation was created to safeguard, honor, and manage Shirley’s artistic and academic legacy. It has since evolved into an organization dedicated to building community partnerships, creating innovative programs, showcasing young talent, and supporting emerging poets, writers, filmmakers, visual artists, musicians, and other creatives, particularly in St. Louis. Another key objective is to connect Shirley’s role as a founding member and significant contributor to the Black Artist Group (BAG), which her late husband, jazz trumpeter Floyd LeFlore, co-founded in the 1960s, with SBLF to further the various initiatives she championed throughout her life. SBLF was officially established as a nonprofit corporation in St. Louis on January 21, 2020.
From the beginning, the SBLF faced challenges due to the pandemic, leading to the cancellation of its first event in 2020. We successfully held our inaugural fundraising gala in 2022, featuring the choreopoem Rivers of Women, The Play, while following the health guidelines of the time. The event was a resounding success.
In 2020, to honor Shirley’s passion for the arts and her students, SBLF created a restricted endowed scholarship at Webster University. This scholarship aims to support students like those she inspired, specifically undergraduates majoring in English Literature, Creative Writing, or African American Studies, ensuring Shirley’s legacy endures. By May 2022, the scholarship had raised over $15,000. However, SBLF was unaware that Webster University had been facing financial difficulties for several years, with a significant operating deficit and limited liquidity. In 2023, we halted all fundraising efforts upon learning that the university’s cash flow problems had reportedly worsened to $29.8 million.
Consequently, Webster University initiated legal action and secured a court ruling that reclassified funds from various endowed, restricted scholarships—including the one established in memory of Shirley—allowing the university to lift these restrictions and utilize the funds for any purpose, regardless of its relation to the scholarships. Webster University aimed to leverage these scholarships to alleviate its own financial difficulties after failing to respond to SBLF’s inquiries. This outcome is deeply disappointing for SBLF, as it permits Webster University to allocate the funds in a manner that strays from the original intentions of SBLF and its numerous donors who contributed to the scholarship. Despite Webster University’s recent assertions of financial recovery, it appears highly improbable that SBLF’s restricted endowment will be reinstated. As a result, we decided to pause and reevaluate our programming initiatives and adjust our business development strategies to better serve the St. Louis community.
In response to this challenge, we have revitalized our scholarship fund through the SBLF Undergraduate Micro-Grants Program, aimed at St. Louis Public School students who plan to pursue degrees in the arts, literature, or psychology at colleges in Missouri. SBLF will manage these Micro-Grants in partnership with a reliable financial advisor to ensure that external factors do not undermine Shirley’s legacy. Now more than ever, SBLF is dedicated to supporting the community that embraced Shirley. And the memory of Shirley continues to motivate our board members, Shirley’s daughters Hope Lynne Price-Lindsay and Jacie Wynn Price, including her granddaughter, Noelle Lindsay-Stewart, and grandson, Jullian Price-Baez, as well as friends and colleagues Alerica L. Anderson and Gabrielle David.
Now, as we celebrate SBLF’s 5th Anniversary, we are thrilled to announce the eagerly awaited return of the SBLF Fundraiser Gala, CHiLDREN OF THE SUN, will feature a multi-ethnic cadre of young performers who will bring to life the poetry Shirley wrote dedicated to young people. The Fundraising Gala will take place on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at The Grandel Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. Tickets are available online at METROTIX or you can call them directly at 314.534.1111 to reserve your tickets today.
In honor of our fifth anniversary, we commemorate Shirley’s memory by featuring flowers across our website, particularly emphasizing one of her beloved blooms, the daisy. This flower represents innocence, purity, motherhood, fertility, and new beginnings, making it a perfect symbol of Shirley’s spirit and the legacy we are continuing to create through SBLF.