Post marks MLK Day at luncheon

By Sean Barron

An award was given to the superintendent of Youngstown city schools.

COITSVILLE — A 10-day journey to the past went a long way toward shaping Gregory Jones’ future.

“The trip was a blessing to anyone who experienced it,” said Gregory, a Youngstown Early College 11th-grader. “It showed youth that they have the power to make changes.”

Gregory was referring to having visited Atlanta, Montgomery and Selma, Ala., Memphis, Tenn., Little Rock and several other locations prominent in the civil-rights movement last April during a trip he and several other students took. The experience also showed Gregory that those of his generation are next in line to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of touching others in positive ways, he said.

Gregory also was among the few hundred people who attended the annual Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon Monday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Donald Lockett Post 6488, 2065 Coitsville-Hubbard Road.

The hourlong program, sponsored by Post 6488’s ladies auxiliary, featured awards to Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent of the Youngstown city schools, and local artist Ray Simon. The keynote speaker was the Rev. Dennis T. Gardner, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Youngstown.

Simon, a 1980 West Branch High School graduate, is a nationally recognized artist who gave about 4,000 lithograph prints of one of his paintings to families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Webb, recipient of the post’s Trailblazer Award for being the first female black superintendent of the schools, touted the district’s accomplishments, despite its having been given a rating of academic emergency, the lowest spot on the state report card. Those include three schools in continuous improvement, which is two levels above academic emergency; and a higher overall graduation rate.

Paraphrasing King, Webb said that the district must keep expanding and building on its accomplishments, despite the challenges it continues to face. That means, in part, increasing networking and abandoning “the old ways that no longer work,” she added.

The superintendent said she understands some people’s anger toward her and the plight of the city schools and that she accepts accountability. Nevertheless, Webb continued, the schools are dedicated to allowing students not only to excel academically, but equipping them for success in a 21st-century job market.

“I sleep every night because I know that I love and have served the children of this community,” she said, fighting back tears.

Being proactive in making positive changes also was the theme used by the Rev. Mr. Gardner, who cited several examples from Scripture.

Mr. Gardner read from Nehemiah 4:1, which talks about how Nehemiah prayed for and wanted to take action on behalf of the people of Jerusalem, which was a city in shambles with many residents who lacked a vision regarding what to do.

The minister used the passage as a metaphor for the ability to not only see what’s wrong, but how it can be made right. It’s also critical to have leadership accompanied by “fearless helpers,“ he explained.

“If you’re leading people and no one is behind you, you’re just going for a walk,” he said to applause. “We now need folks who can say, ‘Yes, we can.’”

Prayer also is important to bring about desired change, but it must be partnered with action, Mr. Gardner concluded.

After receiving his presentation recognizing his service to the nation’s military, Simon dedicated to the post a painting he made of King, President Barack Obama and Gen. Colin Powell side by side.

The luncheon also featured remarks by Lloyd O. Mims Sr., the post’s commander, and Sandra Smith-Graves, the auxiliary president.