Through the years of local, Black celebrations such as Juneteenth, retired teacher Paulette Roberts frequently has portrayed major agents of change such as abolitionist Harriet Tubman amid short, dramatic presentations.
But she is careful to say that, when it comes to overall racial equality, change requires far more than historical acting.
“Change can certainly occur,” Roberts said. “But it takes an entire community — not just Black people, but people of all races — to make it happen. Because sometimes the stories of Black people don’t always resonate with everyone.”
Roberts will serve as one of the moderators, along with former Cummins Engine Co. executive Brenda Pitts, for a virtual, Black panel discussion “Unexpected, Unforgettable: Is It for Black Citizens?” presented at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Bartholomew County Public Library in Columbus. The discussion will be livestreamed on the library’s Facebook page, and will remain on the page afterward for viewing.
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The presentation, which takes its title from Columbus’ promotional catch phrase, aims to include everything from local Black history and success stories to current challenges ranging from education and employment to racial harmony.
Mary Clare Speckner, the library’s community services coordinator, first proposed the idea of the discussion. Roberts assembled the panelist lineup of of Roxanne Stallworth, Ric King, Kim Easton, Olisa Humes, Tom Harmon, and Jerone Wood, representing leadership in civil rights to corporate, civic and philanthropic interests.
“I had been thinking for a year or so about putting together some sort of event on the history of Blacks in the community,” Speckner said. “The past few months made this even more relevant.”
Former Cummins Engine Co. executive Brenda Pitts, who grew up in Columbus and has spent most of her life here, is proud of what she considers her hometown.
“I tell people that I believe that Columbus is a unique community and city,” Pitts said. “However, we, like any other community, have issues. And we need to get those issues out in the open and continue to work on them.
“I think one of the problems is that we’ve made so much progress that we tend to get comfortable. And then we stagnate.
“So, we have to, in a data-based kind of way, figure out where we are, and what we can do to permanently address things so the same issues do not come up over and over and over.”
Pitts served at Cummins for 30 years — long enough at the firm to see its former long-time chairman J. Irwin Miller recruit and promote minorities to management posts long before other global firms — and regularly take a stand against major movements such as apartheid.
“So one area we’ve definitely made huge progress in has been employment,” Pitts said.
Regarding a variety of racial challenges, Roberts remains cautiously optimistic.
“Yes, I’m optimistic,” Roberts said. “But, sometimes, I’m also fearful that when one brings up community problems, you have those who want to push back and to cause more problems. And we don’t want that to happen.
“We want people to come away (from this) with some sort of plan so that, when problems come up, we can refer to this plan and learn to weigh out the steps that need to be taken … to make sure that whatever we’re facing doesn’t happen again and again.”
Olisa Humes, immediate past president of the Columbus/Bartholomew County Area NAACP Branch of the NAACP, said she hopes to bring to discussion “practical ways people can move things forward — actionable steps that people can do right now.
“And I think that one of those things is reading and researching to gain a better understanding of what’s happening (racially) right now. I mean that globally, because a lot of people seem to think that racism is in only the United States.”
Humes said that she was heartened to discover recently that the bulk of the local Viewpoint Books’ nonfiction bestsellers were race-related works about the Black experience.
“I think that one of the things that shows is that the community is willing and wanting to do the necessary work (of racial justice),” Humes said.
Pitts said she believes it’s important that in any discussion that includes local Black history, it must include a nod toward white and other leaders who stood for Black rights and inclusion when Blacks couldn’t get bank loans or even rent homes in predominantly “white” neighborhoods in the 1960s. Pitts said that group would include people such as the late Presbyterian pastor William R. Laws, considered a civil rights champion.
“There was a real partnership between Blacks and whites that overturned local segregation back in the 1960s,” Pitts said.
One other panel member, Columbus City Council member Jerone Wood, who describes himself as the youngest and perhaps least experienced regarding racial matters, mentioned that he may do far more listening than speaking.
“I’m aware that there are a lot of things that the older generation has dealt with (about race) that I fortunately never had to go through,” Wood said. “So, actually, this can be a real learning experience for me.”
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What: A virtual, Black panel discussion "Unexpected, Unforgettable: Is It for Black Citizens?" organized by the Bartholomew County Public Library. The discussion will include how the history of Blacks in Bartholomew County contributes to the racial situation today, how to identify opportunities for change, and much more.
When: 6 p.m. Aug. 13 and available for viewing for weeks afterward
Where: The Facebook page for the Bartholomew County Public Library
Information: mybcpl.org
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