Peoples speaks at black history celebration

By Susan Taft
staft@campcountynow.com

By the time Robert Peoples finished his speech at the Celebration of Black History Friday night, audience members were on their feet applauding his message.
“In Pittsburg, TX, I want us to sell out the notion of regression, buy into the notion of progression, and move forward into the light of a brighter day,” he said.
Mr. Peoples spoke of nationally know figures as well as local residents who are successful because they put the effort and tried.
He spoke of those who have inspired him.
“Many people, including my parents and grandparents, taught me what hard work meant, what it meant to always give my best,” Mr. Peoples said. “There are many people in Pittsburg who have inspired me, some are here tonight.”
He named many teachers who kept him on the right path, including Rohelia Leftwich, Ludie Kate Reed, Blumer West, Wilma Burgess, Evangeline Mangram, Hervy Hiner and Coach Turner Ladd.
“Mrs. West, my fourth grade teacher, called me ‘professor.’ She thought I bordered on genius, and at that time I thought I did too,” he said.
Mr. Peoples reflected on days when African Americans were denied so many rights and privileges. He spoke about some of the courageous people who made a difference.
“When I think back to Black History, one of the first things I think about is the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses that were a means for blacks to escape slavery,” he said. “The best known conductress of the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman.”
In 1894 Harriet Tubman escaped slavery, and once she freed herself, she thought of others who desired to be free. She had help from John Brown, a white abolitionist, who was later found guilty of treason and hanged. Ms. Tubman was a conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and she said, ‘I can say what many cannot: I never ran my train off the tracks, and I never lost a passenger.’
Mr. Peoples said his granddaughter Summer asked him to remind everyone of why Ms. Tubman never lost a passenger.
“Harriet carried a gun, and she told her passengers ‘if you go back, I’ll shoot you myself,’” he said, “because she knew that would be detrimental to them, the Underground Railroad and the movement.”
Perhaps the most notable black leader of our time would be Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. Peoples said.
“Rev. King’s vision for America is still a benchmark for many leaders today,” he said. “One can never speak of Dr. King without using some of his famous quotes that still ring true today. Dr. King said we would do well to remind ourselves that no man should be judged by the color of his skin, but about the content of his character. Dr. King also said, ‘the time is always right to do what is right.’
“That is why we had people such as Rosa Parks, who was asked to relinquish her seat when a white man got on the bus in Birmingham, Ala. Rosa refused. She did not do it in a rebellious fashion. She did what she thought was right at the right time. When she made that decision, she said she knew she had the strength of all her ancestors behind her.”
Other names mentioned were Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Shirley Chism, Barbara Jordan, Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Airmen, and President Barack Obama.
“Barack Obama defied the odds,” Mr. Peoples said. “I know I’m not the only person in here who thought we would never see history made that way in our lifetime.”
Mr. Peoples mentioned many local African Americans who made a difference in their community.
“In 1865, Richard Caldwell was known as the father of the black community,” he said. “He was a natural leader who also had a flair for experimental ag. Mr. Caldwell had 18 children, 12 of which earned college degrees which is saying a lot for that time. He has been credited with planting the first commercial peach orchard in Camp County, and he had the first syrup mill in the county.”
Professor D.M. Smith, served many, according to Mr. Peoples. Mr. Smith was principal of Douglass High School, and in the late 1960s, the library at Douglass was named in his honor.
“And there are so many others,” Mr. Peoples said. “Miss Nina Johnson helped John Holman start the black history wing of the museum, and she still works with the museum. Miss Edgie Reeves Bolton donates countless hours to the museum.”
Mr. Peoples said Douglass graduate Homer Jones inspired many athletes in Camp County and across the nation.
“In 1963, he was drafted into the NFL, and in 1964 became a member of the New York Giants football team. He watched other players score touchdowns and saw them hand the ball to fans in celebration. Homer Jones scored a touchdown in 1965, and he slammed the football to the ground and called it the spike. He played in the first televised football game, and he is still in the record books today.”
He also gave a shout-out to Johnson Funeral Home, a black-owned Pittsburg business since 1935, and to Coach Lawrence Cleveland for whom the new Junior High Gymnasium was named last year.
“The people I have spoken of this evening were successful because they put forth the effort to try. Many of us don’t want to try,” Mr. Peoples said. “We want to sit back and say ‘I can’t do it. They don’t want me there. We’re not part of that.’ We have to get past that because we have arrived.
“My wife is white, and I’m black. Growing up, she would go through the front door of downtown businesses and I would go through the back door. Now things have changed. Today we will not go through those back doors unless we want to. There is no need to sit at the back of the bus when we don’t have to. The door is open, and when the door of opportunity is wide open, there is no need to sit outside and keep knocking. It is already waiting on us to enter.”
Mr. Peoples said he has had people say they are proud of him, “but there will always be some who say ‘he thinks he’s better than we are. He’s uppity; he’s a sellout.’
“I will be a sellout. I will sell out on the notion of regression, and I will buy into the notion of progression because I want to go forward. We don’t need to push our kids back to the past and leave them. Let’s take our kids back and show them how it was, guide them back to the present and show them how it is and then lead them into the future and show them how it can be.