Celebrating the dream of Dr. King

By Chuck Stewart, Jr.

(Newburgh) - Nearly 39 years since Dr. King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968, many still remember him most for his melodic and powerful oratory that communicated the human misery and injustice of Jim Crow segregation amidst viscous racism and violent attacks.
Those memories were once again brought to life last Wednesday by Ella Bell. She was the guest speaker for the 14th Annual Community-Wide Celebration of Dr. King’s Dream held at Newburgh Free Academy. She was quick to tell you what she is not - a speech giver. She prefers to be called a “storyteller.”
So after a brief introduction by Verne Bell (no relation to Ella Bell), and some song, pageantry and drama, Ella Bell began to tell her story to the 200-plus people gathered in the auditorium. She grew up in Alabama, living two different lives that crossed the color lines. One in Montgomery, where she played with her Black friends and went to school. The other, in Prattville, where she spent weekends playing with her White friends. They not only played together, but often spent the night at each others house and ate at the same table. She had no idea that the world around her was a much different place and that the life she led was unusual.
That would all change. Just before she entered the 6th grade, Bell recalled watching Governor Patterson on television saying he would close schools before allowing integration. That prompted her mother to withdraw her from public school and enroll her into Catholic school saying, “They cannot play with your education.”
Try as her mother may, changes were taking place all around the country and were headed for Alabama. On Ella Bell’s 17th birthday the fight for freedom arrived with the freedom marchers. She joined in with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s historic march from Selma to Montgomery as the marchers neared the State Capital.
From that day on she has been active in civil rights issues. “I saw politics in action everyday. I saw people being arrested for trying to register to vote,” Bell recalled.
“You cannot allow anyone to play with our freedom like a pawn. Understand what it is,” Bell told the audience. As a current member of the Alabama State Board of Education she closed with a piece of advice for parents. “Never ask if they are going to college. But rather, have you thought about where you are going to go to college. Set the standards high and relegate nothing less than to be great.” That’s how you celebrate the dream.

Pictured Above Clockwise: Ella Bell was the guest speaker for the celebration of Dr. King’s Dream.

Reverend Boone joined hand with David Frech and others while singing “We Shall Overcome” during the 14th annual Celebration of Dr. King’s Dream.