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Page 2— Wednesday, June 9, 2021, The True Citizen
Panel calls for dads to play a stronger role
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
A panel of speakers gave
testimony to the importance
of the role of dads Saturday
at the Sixth Street Park in
Waynesboro.
Burke County native Pas
tor Will Johnson said things
were different when he was
growing up.
“Those days were the good
days,” he said to a crowd
gathered at an event marking
the need to end gun violence.
“We didn’t realize how good
things were at the time.”
In today’s America, children
are being lured by gangs and
lost to gun violence.
Johnson said after he left
Burke County, he joined the
Gangster Disciples out of
Chicago.
“A small-town country boy
found a way to what he thought
was ‘the grass is greener on the
other side,”’ he said.
While in a gang, Johnson
was shot twice. He says that
20 years ago he accepted Jesus
Christ and got saved. Now his
voice is an influence in school
and prison systems through a
program called Men of Vision
Excel Forward (M.O.V.E.
Forward). The program is
designed to emphasize the
position of men in society. He
said more accountability is
needed in homes.
“What kind of conduct are
our children looking at,” he
asked. “The forecast is not
looking good.”
A generation of people is
lost because men are not in
place, he said, and recollected
that his grandfather used to
lead him to church when he
was a child. He spoke about
the consequences he would
have received if he had men
tioned gun use as a child in
front of his dad.
“We don’t have our men
leading anymore. The men are
leading from the back and the
women are up front,” he said.
“We have to get our men back
in position. We have to get our
homes back in order.”
Pastor Rod Huffman recently
retired from the U.S. Airforce.
He pointed out that his life did
not start out the way it is now.
He grew up in “the hood” on
Montgomery, Alabama’s west
side. In spite of his religious
parents, he felt a gap in his
life that led him to join a street
gang.
His girlfriend was shot and
killed by members of the gang
she belonged to, after she
refused to kill her own grand
mother. She died a block away
from the church in which she
was raised.
“While in that street gang, I
saw people get shot,” he said.
“Although I was raised in the
truth, I still took the wrong
path.”
Like Johnson, he pointed out
that laying down a foundation
during a child’s life gives them
something to fall back on later
in life.
“There are two things that
are needed if this is going to
change,” he said. “Love and
knowledge must begin in the
homes. It must begin with
brothers leading their fami
lies.”
Burke County native Wanda
Cooper, mother of Ahmaud
Arbery, said she was a single
parent. She asks herself often
if a woman can successfully
raise a man by herself. She
thought she was doing all the
right things. She said in spite
of that, in 2019, she received
a call while she was at work
informing her that Arbery had
been arrested for possessing
a gun. Cooper said it broke
her heart and made her real
ize that she needed to become
more strict with the child who
was already 19 years old. She
felt the influence she had was
limited by the fact that she was
“just mom.”
“Love was what I built my
household on along with edu
cation” she said. “But at the
same time when the kids are
raised and they go out in the
world, sometimes we lose
them.”
Arbery, was 25 years old
when he was shot and killed
while jogging Feb. 23, 2020,
near Brunswick in Glynn
County, Georgia. Two white
men, Gregory McMichael, 64,
and his son, Travis McMichael,
34, were arrested for the crime
74 days later. A cell phone
video of the act circulated in
media throughout the coun
try. Arbery is buried at New
Springfield Baptist Church in
Burke County.
As part of the June 5 event,
a procession of vehicles and
motorcycles paraded through
town. Sheriff Alfonzo Williams
cooked and food was provided
for all who attended.
Cash needed for Mad
Anthony’s Big Boom
DIANA ROYAL • jdianaroyal@gmail.com
Just under $3,000 to go and the Downtown Develop
ment Authority will have reached its goal for this year’s
fireworks show.
This week brought in another eight donations, with do
nors contributing $100 each.
“I’m happy to see folks utilizing Venmo to make their
donations right from their cell phones,” DDA Director
Don Lively said. “It makes the process quick and easy, but
we are still grateful to see the checks coming in as well.
Our community has showed up again to make this show
spectacular.”
Mad Anthony’s Fireworks Extravaganza, which is fully
funded through donations,will be held Friday, July 2, at
Jonathan Broxton Park in Waynesboro.
WANT TO HELP?
To make a donation, send checks to the City of Waynesboro/
DDA c/o Don Lively 615 N. Liberty St. Waynesboro, GA
30830. For more information call 706.554.8018 or email
dlively@waynesboroga.com.
THIS WEEK’S DONATIONS:
Jesse Stone $100
Burke Tmck and Tractor $100
Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse $100
Delmac $100
Lonnie’s Towing $100
Elizabeth Billips $100
Stacey and Julie Herrmann $100
Gerald and Kathy Ripley $100
TOTAL $800
TOTAL TO DATE: $7,083
GOAL: $10,000
NEEDED: $2,917
*1000 APPRECIATION CASH
2022 FORD
Explorer
Beginning At
2022 FORD
F150 XLT
Crew Cab
Beginning At
PRICES.... DEALER RETAINS REBATE PLUS $499 DEALER FEE, TVAT FEE, GA WARRANTY RIGHTS FEE, TITLE AND TAG FEES
706-554-2114 www.mizellford.com Waynesboro, Ga