Mar-Saline NAACP gets dialogue started with roundtable session

Thursday evening's first-ever roundtable discussion among African-Americans in Saline County broached some emotional issues, touched on some community problems and, ultimately, produced some innovative ideas.

The discussion, at the Wood and Huston Bank conference room on the north side of the Marshall square and organized by Clyde Williams, president of the Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP along with Phesa Wright, an NAACP member and community activist, was moderated by Keith Ward, coordinator of client services for the Missouri Valley Community Action Agency.

There were over 30 area residents in attendance as well as state and city officials. Among those attending were several prominent clergy members, educators and health officials.

Williams said he was more than pleased with the turnout and discussion the gathering provoked.

"I'm excited and overjoyed with the turnout and the dialogue that was generated from this meeting," he said. "I think this meeting will produce some positive results within the community, so I am really elated."

Marshall Ward 4 Councilwoman Lorna Alexander, Ward 3 Councilman Sam Moten and state Rep. Joe Aull of Marshall were also in attendance.

Alexander seemed pleased with the gathering and stated that she hopes to be part of the problem-solving process locally.

"I think this is a very good start and I'm really excited about the issues that were brought up and the solutions that were talked about. I hope to be working on some of those solutions myself for the community," she said. "I think it's very important to move forward together in the community with unity."

Aull raised the topic of Medicaid cuts, saying, "I am ashamed to say this, but we, at the state level, have created a huge problem with not just this community, but a lot of communities, with the mess we've made with the Medicaid program. I think the program did have some cleaning up it needed. But I think it's going to end up costing us more money in the long run."

Aull also approached the subject of the on-going Confederate flag issue in at the confederate memorial site and cemetery in Higginsville.

"Last year Gov. Holden ordered that Confederate flags not be allowed to fly at certain cemeteries. But last week a bill came up in legislature to allow the flags to fly again. We have quite a few African-American legislators and they were very upset," Aull said. "People want to do something to preserve their heritage, because there's a confederate cemetery in Higginsville. These people are looking at it from a historical standpoint, trying to preserve that confederate heritage. I think what our challenge is is to try to find some way to allow them to honor their folks without inciting the African-American community. What I hear from the African-American legislators is that they don't want to see the confederate flag hanging up next to the American flag and I think that's a very valid point. If you have any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated."

Two area clergymen in attendance, Rev. Charles Oliver, also an adjunct professor at Western Baptist Bible College in Kansas City and an associate minister at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, and Rev. John Brown, pastor at Handy Chapel A.M.E. Church, both provided some of the evening's thought-provoking remarks.

Brown's comments centered on having insightful people present at the meeting and also changing the overall mentality of the area's residents.

"I feel pretty upbeat about this meeting. People from different professions came in and gave different ideas, so that was good. What I am elated about is the opportunity to deal with people who are able to think their way through problems and come up with solutions," he said. "The other thing that I am upbeat about is a new mindset that I believe that can happen in Marshall, particularly amongst the African-American community, in the way in which they begin to view themselves. When we begin to see what we can do in our community, we are embracing our community."

Oliver and Brown both stressed the need for another meeting in the near future to continue progress that has already been made.

"I hope that we can continue on this line of thinking and [make] progress with the problems in the community. I also hope we come together collectively as a community and tap into the resources that we have and bring some solutions to our problems," Oliver said.

"I think that it is really important that we have another meeting. There are a number of people, not just people of color, that can come to the meeting the next time. If we leave from here upbeat then we can begin to touch base with those people that we believe need to be in attendance at the next meeting."

Jalisah Jackson, a student at Bueker Middle School, made suggestions regarding the area's youths and their involvement within the community.

"In order to take any steps forward, our community needs to take a look at what has been successful in the past and what has not been successful in the past and our community needs to evaluate current progress," Ward said. "The intent of this discussion was to generate discussion, begin dialogue and start laying the groundwork for effective networking. Clyde and Phesa exceeded all of their expectations. I was personally pleased that we had elected officials take an active role in the discussion and I was even more impressed with the fact that there were a few children involved in the discussion. That in itself says a lot."

Although Williams didn't give a timetable on when the next discussion will be held, he did say he and Wright will collectively review the information that was presented and work diligently toward organizing another meeting.

"This information will be disseminated and we will come together again soon to give a response to the people who were here in attendance," he said. "I think this was a huge start and I want to thank everyone who showed up."

Contact Eric Coley at

marshallfaith@socket.net