The City of Ocala hosts a Black History Month program for over 100 seniors.
OCALA, Florida. – On Monday morning, the City of Ocala hosted a Black History Month program for seniors at the newly opened Mary Sue Rich Community Center in Reed Place. The center pays tribute to the first elected black member of the city council.
The event honored and paid tribute to the many living black legends in Marion County.
The ceremony became a special celebration with more than 100 seniors listening and learning as the city honored several black pioneers who are making a difference and adding value to their community.
“We wanted to really show Ocala how history began here and also how we are making history now,” said organizer Latoya Artis, Senior Recreation Inspector.
Among the few recognized was Mel Pool, an Air Force veteran of more than 20 years and Ocala’s first ever fiber optic director.
“Keeping this history, sharing it, and that will ensure that we hopefully don’t make the same mistakes as in the past. You have to look ahead,” Poole said. “My message today was to always remember where you came from.”
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In addition, the city recognized Captain Fred Chisolm of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Bernard Rembert, Principal of Forest High School. They also recognized the laudatory dancers and the African American Museum of the Howard Academy.
Jerry Askin of News 6 also sat down with 93-year-old Dr. Eddie Joseph Schellman Sr. He is an educator who taught anatomy at what was then Black Hampton Junior College in Ocala in the 1950s. He is now one of the few living black professors who transferred to the then Central Florida Community College when the schools were merged in the 1960s.
He said he remembers the injustice and racial struggles of that time.
He also said he was glad to see the city of Ocala celebrating and honoring Black History Month, but he says the ongoing fight for freedom has not been easy.
“To get here, it was the devil. For example, when I first went to the president’s office to tell him about the salary. They put us all down two scales below the whites,” Dr. Schellman said.
There are several similar stories shared by residents who took the time to think about how far we have come as a country and how far we still have to go.
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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.
