‘I am Black and I’m proud’: Celebrating Black history in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – From Jessye Norman to Lucy C. Laney, Augusta is wealthy in Black historical past.

The group got here collectively to have a good time native legends you’ve heard of and a few you may not have heard about.

“I’ve been part of the Augusta group for greater than 50 years. I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Was born in Prosperity, South Carolina, somewhat rule place the place the Jim Crow Regulation was extremely advisable there,” stated Sarah Townsend.

For Townsend, a celebration like this with singing and dancing was one thing she couldn’t do 50 years in the past.

“We couldn’t go to the lunch counter. You couldn’t go and purchase an ice cream sandwich. And generally they might allow you to come round to the again door to get that ice cream sandwich,” she stated.

It’s a reminder of simply how far they’ve come.

“It’s simply essential for us to find out about Black historical past, the place we as Black folks got here from, what the wrestle was for us. There’s no means for us to sugarcoat it,” she stated.

Townsend says her reference to James Brown reminds her how he made a mark on the world and Augusta someday at a time.

“James Brown grew up largely like I did,” she stated. “You look again to a number of the issues he says, I’m Black and I’m proud.”

Maurice McDowell says that your entire level of the occasion was remembrance and development.

“This implies all the things to me. I stand on the shoulders of all people who got here earlier than me. The group that got here earlier than me. They’re the pillars. They’re the bedrock of all the things for partial recreation, all the things for town of Augusta. I don’t take that frivolously,” stated McDowell.

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