Helping revitalize South Monroe is a huge undertaking that will require a massive infusion of federal and local dollars. The Ellis administration is taking a swipe at the problem; we all hope it is successful. With a February deadline, the…
Category: Roosevelt Wright
Voting rights was the issue when Dr. King came to Monroe in 1965
I was only 15 years old in March of 1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Monroe. At the time, I was not aware of the Civil Rights movement Dr. King led. I saw on television that he…
Two Black Chambers, neither should be funded by the City of Monroe
There are 517 known African-American-owned businesses in Monroe, and two organizations that represent them, neither should be funded by the City. Last week members of the Monroe Regional Black Chamber of Commerce made a news splash at the…
Saturday, 60 Monroe preachers met in secret to pray
There was a lot of praying going on Saturday morning when about sixty black pastors and ministers met at a local church for prayer. Last week, this column complained that pastors and ministers have not met to pray and seek…
Whatever happened to the old Ministerial Union?
In nearly every African-American community in America, there is a ministerial union or organization of African-American clergy; every community except Monroe. That hasn’t always been the case, but a parish-wide organization of African-American ministers has not existed for nearly twenty…
Even as Covid-19 virus continues, we still give thanks
This week our community, along with the rest of the nation will celebrate God’s mercies with a spirit of Thanksgiving. This will be the second Thanksgiving season that we have observed since our community first began feeling the impact of…
When a 14 walks the street night with a loaded gun, we have a parenting problem
What is one of the root causes of violence and crime in our community? It is the failure of families. In the summer of 2001, a group of local citizens decided to see what would happen if we…