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Gala night for 25th Black History Banquet
The 25th Annual Black History Banquet was a gala affair, with the Mountain Home Black History Committee pulling out all the stops for the formal Valentine's Day banquet at the Elk's Lodge.
A meal that featured a shrimp cocktail appetizer followed by a cornish game hen entree, only began the evening, which included roses and boxes of candy for the ladies, a champagne toast, a promenade and romantic dancing.
And all that was actually secondary to the main purpose of the evening, which was to honor the history of African Americans in the United States and locally, their contributions to the nation and their progress toward achieving full equality. The theme of the banquet was "Progress Through Knowledge."
Brion Bethel, the owner of Thrifty Auto Sales in Mountain Home and a longtime coach of youth athletic programs, from young children to the high school level, was honored as the Person of the Year by the committee.
"I'm very humble," he said, in accepting the award. "I got this award for enjoying what I enjoy doing. I really enjoy working with the kids."
The Martin Luther King Jr. Award for support of the community was presented to the No Limits Christian Ministries Praise Team, which has often appeared at local black history events providing music for the occasions.
The Thurgood Marshall Award for outstanding service to the community was presented to city clerk Nina Patterson. "I've been in public service for 31 years," she said, "and I couldn't think of doing anything else."
Led by emcee Joe B. McNeal, the former mayor of Mountain Home, the pre-dinner program featured an invocation by Rev. Truman Parker, music by the Wakefield's and by Dana and Brandi Williams, a brief welcome by Darlene Watson, the naming of Hampton Wright and Clareese Shelby as the "cutest couple" of the evening, and a reading of Black History Month proclamations from the governor and by Mayor Tom Rist.
Special correspondence congratulating the committee on the silver anniversary of the event (which has been chaired all 25 years by Mildred McNeal), also was read from state senator Cheri Buckner-Webb and from retired master sergeant David Douglas, who was credited with the idea for creating the banquet.
Vencent Gordon, the featured speaker, reviewed the progress of blacks in America but asked the question, "what is our next move?"
He noted that the election of President Obama showed how far the nation had come, but that it also showed that some of the bigotry of the past was still alive.
A checklist showed how the nation has changed -- for the better. The sons of slave and the sons of slaveholders can now sit down together and enjoy each other and their children can play with each other, he said. And, "for the most part," people are judged today not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Still, he said, huge numbers of minority children are not advancing to secondary education, and there are some young black men "who think to showcase their virility without any sense of responsibility." Those are issues that must be addressed, he said.
But, "now that we can work together as a nation," he added, "we must work to make the next crossroads meaningful."
Three things, he said, are needed to advance the cause of full equality for all -- relevance, reiteration and reality.
The relevance of the past is important. While many see the Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement as ancient history, "we are focusing on our future (no matter what the cost) while forgetting our past.
"We, as a community, must find ways to preserve our history, to keep the hopes and dreams" of those who fought for equality as a basis for building the future."
And in an age of political correctness, "where we shy away from honest conversations... we must continue to have (honest) dialogue" on race issues.
Reiteration, to repeat things over and over "that are dear to us," is also important, and not just to remember Dr. King or Rosa Parks, but all the other African Americans who contributed to the nation in the fields of science, entertainment and activism for equality.
"They all had dreams, and a strong belief that they could achieve things in life."
And finally, there is the reality of where we are today.
"The fact is, we are very shortsighted in our views of those that don't look like us, eat like us or speak like us," he said.
As a nation, Gordon said, "we must continue to fight to ensure that justice and equality prevail. We can talk and talk and talk, but actions speak louder than words."
In the end, he said, it is important to figure out what is right, and then do it.
"We all got to this place in different boats," he said, "but rest assured, we are all in the same boat now."
The evening concluded with a promenade, led by Levi Belton and McNeal, which concluded with the lights being dimmed and slow dancing by those attending the banquet.