Black History Celebration a success
Mar. 8—Owensboro High School Assistant Principal K.O. Lewis asked a parking lot full of vehicles on Sunday — who were parked in attendance of the 2021 Black History Celebration at the Owensboro Sportscenter — how do Black and brown men and women continue to rise with so many things fighting against them?
Lewis, who was the event's keynote speaker, hearkened back to Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise," which he heard for the first time as a young man living in his hometown, Louisville. He realized at that time Angelou had her finger on the pulse of the problems, he said, that were evident when she wrote the poem in 1978, and that speak an even louder truth in 2021.
"It is a fact that Black and brown people must navigate the terms of our reality," Lewis said. "We must navigate the fact that the educational system was not designed for us. We must navigate the fact that the workforce we're trying to enter doesn't view us as adequate, therefore, must go over and beyond just to show that we're good enough."
They also must, Lewis said, navigate the fact that a simple traffic stop "is never so simple."
He asked the audience, "How do we survive?" and added that his life's mission is not just to survive, but to thrive.
"And to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style," he said.
This year's Black History Month celebration, titled "The Hill We Climb" looked different than previous years due to COVID-19, according to H. L. Neblett Community Center recreational director Larry Owens, and featured a drive-in style in which attendees stayed in their parked vehicles and watched the presentation on a big screen, and heard the speakers through a radio station.
The event also featured the presentation of the Reverend George E. Riley On the Battlefield Award, which went to Richard E. Brown, Samuel Tandy, Tommy Howard, Dwight McFarland, and Monroe Griffith.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award was also presented to Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly, who said that while he didn't deserve the honor, he humbly accepted.
Larry D. Lewis, Zion Baptist Church Pastor who presented the award, mentioned the decision last summer the Daviess County Fiscal Court made to relocate the Confederate statue that sat on the courthouse lawn.
"We know the work that he did, the ground that he held, and he did not give up, he did not cave in, and we just applaud you tonight and we say to you tonight keep doing what you're doing," the Rev. Lewis said.
Mattingly thanked the Rev. Lewis, and said he will continue to make Owensboro and Daviess County a place for everyone.
"We will try to make this a place where everyone, regardless of race, color, creed, nationality, can come and live and work, raise their family, and retire with dignity," Mattingly said.
Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315
Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315
