I received a last minute invitation from friends to attend the NAACP's 23rd Annual Ruby McKnight Williams Awards Dinner last week. (Ms. Williams was a community organizer in Pasadena for over 50 years and served as the local Pasadena NAACP chapter's branch president first in 1959 and later in the 1970s.) The theme of this year's awards dinner was "Unity Builds A Community".
One of my friends Lt. Rodney D. Wallace from the Pasadena Police Department was receiving an award. Being a community volunteer and having never attended this event previously, I was curious to learn more and decided to go and support Rodney, a fellow Obama supporter. I was not disappointed. Not only did Rodney receive the community award, but I was delighted to learn that my pastor Ed Bacon (from one of the largest churches west of the Mississippi) was to receive one of the faith awards and that another Obama supporter Lena Kennedy would be introducing the keynote speaker Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse and a local neighbor.
During the reception, I congratulated Rev. Bacon on his award. He asked about the Obama lapel pin I was wearing. I confessed to him that I was an Obama supporter and campaign volunteer. I told him that I enjoyed serving in the Obama campaign because of the other volunteers I was meeting at local campaign events. They were engaging and we all shared many common interests, which made the campaigning even more fun. He mentioned to me that he was not surprised that Mr. Obama attracted people to his campaign that shared a common vision of hope. He also said that he sincerely wished that Obama was the nominee next year. I acknowledged his comment with a big smile. Ms. Kennedy was very open about her support of Obama during the introduction and encouraged others Pasadena community leaders at the event to find out more about Obama.
Later, when Rev. Bacon made his acceptance speech, he praised all of us in the room for being actively involved in the Pasadana community and welcomed us to come back next year after having reflected upon this year's theme, "Unity Builds A Community" to see what progress and change we had made as leaders facing the challenges of poverty, gang violence and equitable education.
I thought about what he said and I leave these final thoughts with you:
Please talk to your friends and neighbors about organizing an event to help others in your community and share your Obama story. You may find out that you have a lot more in common than you think.
Comments are closed for this post.
