Banquet honors Black excellence in Dalton

Published 4:45 pm Tuesday, February 28, 2023

“History-making opportunities come to those who live in excellence,” said Dalton Whitfield NAACP President Marisa Kelley on Saturday at the Black History Awards Banquet at Dalton’s Mack Gaston Community Center.

The banquet honors Dalton’s Black-owned or connected businesses and entities that have served the community for 30 years or more.

Kelley noted in February 1926 historian Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week.

“He did this to encourage the study of great African Americans and their contribution to our country,” she said. “Fifty years later that became Black History Month.”

Kelley said during a recent visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., she was pleased to see in a photo of Black medical professionals her grandmother in her nurse’s uniform “standing beautiful, bold, ready to take on the world.”

“I realized then that history-making opportunities come to those who live in excellence,” she said. “We see those examples in our history — Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Kamala Harris, Serena Williams. Much like those great women that I mentioned, the businesses we honor today did not set out to make history. But what they did do is decide to live in excellence. They are a testament to our community of Black resistance, Black resilience and Black excellence. Resistance to the idea that Black people are lazy or don’t want to work or are not smart enough to run a business. Resilience by their longevity. and excellence by their existence. All the odds were stacked against them.”

“We honor that resistance, that resilience and that excellence,” she said. “And we honor their service to our community.”

The honorees:

• The Afro Hut

• The Beauty Hut

• The Emery Center

• Miller Brothers Rib Shack

• R&R Cleaning Services

• St. James Overcoming Church of God/New Harvest Church

• Willis Funeral Home

In accepting his award, Miller Brothers founder and owner Eugene Miller noted that photos of great African Americans cover the walls of the restaurant.

“Dr. (Martin Luther) King, Rosa Parks, athletes, President (Barack) Obama, all of these people who paved the way for us,” he said. “I use that to encourage our young people, to show them what they can do, what they can achieve. I take them all around that wall and let them see. These are people who look just like you. This is what you can do.”

Accepting the award for Willis Funeral Home, Daniel Tinson gave a recap of the business’ history, noting it was founded in 1949 by William James Willis Sr. when he returned to Dalton after service in the U.S. Marine Corps and the Graves Registration Service, which was responsible for identifying and burying American military service members who died in combat.

He noted the funeral home has served not only residents of Whitfield County but families from across Northwest Georgia.

“Our goal remains the same after many years, to serve others from the heart with a sincere desire to help,” he said.