The Bridge Education Philanthropy held a Juneteenth celebration Monday at the Jasper Civic Center, using the event to celebrate four local citizens who have made an impact on the lives of others.
“I ask you to use today to reflect on the contributions of African American in this country and in our community,” said Tiffany Oliver, The Bridge board member
Kristian Douglas, executive director of The Bridge, addressed the estimated crowd of 130 people, before introducing the honorees.
“Juneteenth is not just a historical moment frozen in time, it is a living, breathing celebration of our progress and the remainder of the work that remains undone,” Douglas said. “The significance of Juneteenth extends far beyond the African American community. It is a reminder that the struggles of one group are the struggles of everyone.”
The four local residents honored were Debbie Sue Harton, Sybil Ingram, Shirley Mitchell and Hezzie Morgan.
Harton has consistently served her community. Among the activities she is most well known for are helping those who are homeless find places to live, taking the elderly to their doctor’s appointments and running errands. She also takes people to the polls to vote and helps meet the needs of families during good and bad times.
Ingram graduated from Walker High School in 1974. She is also a graduate of Walker College and UAB. During her teaching career, she had stops at Cordova Elementary, Shrine School at North Highlands, T.S. Boyd in Dora and Walker High School. She retired in 2018 after 38 years in education. Ingram has also been an Alabama High School Athletic Association volleyball official for more than 35 years, officiating throughout Walker, Winston and Cullman counties. She is a member of the Greater Shiloh Baptist Church and has served on numerous boards in the community.
Shirley Mitchell is a graduate of Jasper City Schools, Mississippi Valley State University and UAB. In 2015, she celebrated 35 years in education with the Walker County School System. She is a lifetime member of the NAACP and a member of the Walker County and State of Alabama Democratic parties. She is also a lifelong member if Wright’s Chapel AME Church. Her favorite scripture is, “Let us love one another” from 1st John chapter 4.
Hezzie Morgan was a trailblazer as a student/athlete at Walker High School where he was captain of the football, wrestling and track teams. Morgan graduated from UNA and then started a hall of fame coaching career in high schools in Alabama and Michigan. In Walker County, he has coached at Curry, Dora and Walker/Jasper high schools. He was inducted into the Walker County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Alabama Chapter of the National Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021.
“I’m so proud to celebrate the recipients of this year’s awards. Something that all of these recipients have in common is supporting their community, which is really the most important thing that we can do, because we all need each other,” said Kourtni Douglas during a call to action.
“It is when we are so passionate about those values that we cannot not help but to get up and do something about them, to share with our community, to be compelled to action, that our hope turns into health and progress,” she added. “It is when it becomes more uncomfortable to do nothing than to take action, when positive change begins to happen.”
Kourtni challenged the crowd to make a difference to people around them.
“After today ends, I hope that you will continue to think about what your values are. I hope that you will take those values and pour into the people around,” she said.
Monisha Moore, founder of Our Villiage and president of The Bridge, closed out the ceremony with information on Our Village and how the community can help the organization impact lives of students.
“My charge to give to you is to send us the most precious that we have and let us pour into them like we all had somebody to pour into us, even when other people didn’t believe in us,” Moore said. “We don’t care what color they are. We don’t care what community they come from. We care to pour into them, and we believe in them.”
To learn more about Our Village and The Bridge Educational Philanthropy, visit Our Village on Facebookor online at ourvillagejasper.com.
