Coahoma County employees celebrated Black History Month by wearing African attire to work on recently.
Barbara Jakes, triad director for the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office, organized the celebration.
Jakes said wearing African attire was a way for remembering those who paved the way, made history and are still here. She specifically mention the new black Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris.
“I’m excited about that,” Jakes said.
Jakes said she is excited anytime someone black achieves something.
“It’s just representing our history, African attire,” said Jakes of the celebration Thursday. “Most of the time you see it, it will be red, yellow, black, green and orange. That’s just different colors most of the time. It’s African colors and we just wear it.”
The Black History Month celebrations will expand in years to come.
“We probably will be having a Black History program or maybe even a march or something. But because of COVID, at least we could do this,” Jakes said.
Looking back, Jakes said Augusta Rowe, who turned 90 Sept. 15, 2020 and died shortly after, was her big inspiration. Rowe raised her family in Friars Point.
“My mother, back in the day, when a lot of my friends didn’t have much, we were blessed because my mother, she was a hard-working woman and she always had store or a café or something of her own,” Jakes said. “She owned it. She owned her house. She got her house when she was young and it was like $50 or something like that. She expanded and we’ve been living there in that space for years.
“That’s somebody I could always look up to because she worked for a family of 10. My dad left and moved to St. Louis and she raised all of us.”
Jakes said Black History Month is an opportunity to remember things people did. She reflected on Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat in the front of the bus.
“It’s our history, but everybody can play a part in it,” Jakes said.
“Whatever they did back in the day, it’s helping us today.”
Jakes said Martin Luther King stood for everybody whether they were black or white, and his dream was for everyone to come together.
Jakes said she posts something about Black History Month on her Facebook page every day each February.
“Black History Month they say, but our history should be celebrated every day,” Jakes said.
