MTA Human & Civil Rights Awards
Uncommon Threads, M.O.C.H.A. are 2025 awardees
Uncommon Threads, which uses fashion to help build self-esteem for women experiencing financial hardship or overcoming crises, and M.O.C.H.A. (Men of Color Health Awareness), which promotes self care and healthy behaviors to Black and brown men, are this year’s recipients of the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s Human and Civil Rights Awards
Uncommon Threads is the winner of the Louise Gaskins Lifetime Civil Rights Award. The organization is based in Lawrence and was nominated by a member of the Andover Education Association who volunteers at Uncommon Threads.
Susan Kanoff founded Uncommon Threads eight years ago, bringing together her skills as a longtime social worker and wardrobe stylist with a strong online presence. She saw how clothing affects the way women can feel about themselves.
M.O.C.H.A. will receive the Kathleen Roberts Creative Leadership Award. MTA members at UMass Amherst nominated the Springfield group committed to improving the health and well-being of men of color, who as a group have been experiencing higher levels of stress and illness compared to other populations in Springfield.
Lamont Scott, a project director at M.O.C.H.A. and longtime participant since the group was started in 2010 with a grant from the state Department of Public Health, said the organization’s goal is to create positive community connections for men of color.
The MTA’s Human Relations Committee presents the Human and Civil Rights Awards, which are named after two longtime educator-activists who championed equality for all. The awards will be presented during a ceremony on July 27 at MTA’s Summer Conference.
Award Recipients
The awards, established in 1983, recognize individuals or groups who advance civil rights or human relations and are presented by the MTA Human Relations Committee.
These awards were not made in 2022 and 2023.
Kathleen Roberts Creative Leadership Award:
2025
2024
2021
- Alice Arena, President of the Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station
- Arlington High School Asian American Coalition
- New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools
2020
Louise Gaskins Lifetime Civil Rights Award Recipients:
2025
2024
2021
- CEA Educators of Color Coalition Leadership Team
- Mareatha Wallace, Northampton Association of School Employees