Black history exhibit: Taking pride in veterans

 LIMA — Knowledge is pride at St. Paul AME Church these days, where the annual Black History Month display is spotlighting local residents’ contributions to freedom. This year, every church in the city has contributed members’ biographies and photos to the display, “Recognizing African-American Service in the Armed Forces.”“We thought this would be small this year,” said Corine Brown, a member of the Commission on African-American History at the church. Even so, the commission believed it was important to recognize the contributions. “We wanted to say thank you. No one ever said thank you to many of these soldiers,” Brown said.So, her committee sent a letter to all African-American churches in the Lima area asking for pictures and biographies of members who had served, or are serving, in the armed forces.And within weeks, the flood of mail began.“We are still getting more in every day,” Brown said. At present, the display is packed with photos of men and women in all branches of the service. “But we’ve got more Army than anything else,” she said.“We were surprised there were so many serving. We had no idea. It gives you a lump in your throat to know you worked with these kids, and now they’re putting their lives on the line for us. We support our troops, and most in our congregation support what’s going on now,” Brown said.The committee is happy with the response received so far from the display. “One man who went through last week took his time and wrote a lot down. He said it was information that he needed to remember,” Brown said.Deborah Jones, another committee member, said she hopes people walking through the exhibit will be pleased with what they see. “I hope they feel pride. Pride in their family and pride in their race.”To help illustrate the place local residents have in the history, the committee has also highlighted the accomplishments nationally of African-Americans from the Revolutionary War to Iraq.“You can’t talk about Black History in the military without talking about the Tuskegee Airmen,” Brown said. A table of information, as well as replicas of the awards the Airmen received, are stacked there.Across the room is a bulletin board outlining African-American soldiers’ recollections about some of the wars in which they fought.“We found (an Internet) site that listed how African-Americans felt returning from war. Many had said it was hard to come back after fighting for your country and not be able to ride in the front of the bus. They said they returned from fighting, and returned to fighting,” Brown said.And that’s the sort of thing Charles Brown wants people to see in the exhibit.“We wanted people to see the African-American contribution from a historical point of view,” he said. “They really suffered before segregation ended. In 1948, President Truman said ‘that’s enough,’ and said blacks had to be treated equal in the military. This display isn’t to bring back old stuff, but to let people have the opportunity to see that they’re going into the military now with all the privileges because of those who went before them.”Corine Brown added: “We hope people looking at this display will want to go learn more about the African-American contribution. Learn more about your race. You’ll be proud.”