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| Flanked by Elks' civil liberties directors Carmela Boykins and Marcel Howard, Esther Lee accepts its first ever community service award. |
"You know, I'm 82 years old," said Lee with a wry smile. "But I can still walk. I can think. I can see you out there," she joked as Boykins called her "the eyes and the ears of the Lehigh Valley."
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| About 200 members of the Black Elks honor Lee |
"Church, church and more church," said Boykins in introducing Lee.
A graduate of Liberty High School, Lee never attended a day of college. Yet she calls education "the key to my life." That, and her interest in children is what sparked her interest in civil rights and community involvement.
"Our children are very important, and they should come first," she said. As the mother of two children attending Madison Elementary School, she peppered teachers and the principal with questions.She decided to join the PTA even though she was the only black face in a white room. "The white mothers decided I should be their President," she said. Those same white parents then encouraged her to run for school board, and in 1971, she became the first African American woman to be elected to a school board in the Lehigh Valley. She would serve for six years.
As a school director, she asked questions, and pushed for changes to improve Bethlehem's school system. But she noted that change is painfully slow. "It took us until 2016 to hire a black secretary in the school district of Bethlehem," she lamented. "that will let you know just how slow we are in getting things done."
She stressed the importance of parental involvement.
"We need parents to raise their children," she said. "Bring them to school. Preachers tell you to bring them to church, but we don't have Sunday Schools any more. That's where you can help children to read." She challenged parents and grandparents "to get up off your seats" and "insure that our children can read. Parents, it's on us."
Lee entered the workforce in the early 1950's, a time which many Lehigh Valley residents view with nostalgia. It was different for Lee. "Bethlehem wasn't hiring us as a people," she observed, but said she was fortunate that a Jewish family took pit on her and out her to work in their dry cleaning business.
Things changed when the Civil Rights Act was enacted, and businesses with federal contracts were forced to hire minorities. She hated leaving the dry cleaner, but was trained as a secretary, and finally got work with several companies during a long secretarial career that ended when she retired as an administrative assistant for the Bethlehem Council of Churches.
As her interest in civil rights deepened, Lee became involved in the NAACP, and is currently the president of the Bethlehem branch. She spoke of the marches that the NAACP and Elks made together on Martin Luther King Day, trying to persuade Bethlehem officials to close city hall on that national holiday. Mayor Ken Smith eventually agreed. She also recounted protests at Lehigh University, which also refused to recognize the holiday.
"I read that Lehigh wants to become more involved in the Bethlehem community," she observed. "The way to become more involved is to acknowledge that we are part of society and not just second class citizens."
Most recently, Lee has been hosting interesting and well-attended forums on topics ranging from education to police violence, and Police Chief Mark DiLuzio and Mayor Bob Donchez have both participated.
"I'll keep working, and I'll get ugly when I need to, as you all know," she said as people chuckled. "May God bless your children and grandchildren so that they can stand up and bear the pressure that this world brings to them."
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| From L to R: President Edward Dawkins, Esther Lee, Carmela Boykins and Marcel Howard |
19 comments:
I believe that it was Mayor Ken Smith.
Fixed. Thank you.
Esther's a hateful racist who's made race relations and the plight of African Americans worse. You should be ashamed of this post. But you and she have no shame.
The only thing white in the room was the chicken breasts.
We need parents to raise their children," she said. "Bring them to school. Preachers tell you to bring them to church, but we don't have Sunday Schools any more. That's where you can help children to read." She challenged parents and grandparents "to get up off your seats" and "insure that our children can read. Parents, it's on us."
Mrs. Lee hit the nail on the head. If all parents did this, school districts would have close to 100 % graduation rates
It's funny to me that when meetings and organizations have forums and there are 1 or 2, if any, people of color attending, then it's the norm and acceptable, but when Black folks come together to celebrate a local icon who has stood up for their culture's best interests, it becomes a racist situation. Miss Lee didn't make racial situations bad, they were already abominable. The fact is when her and others pointed it out and told people to stand up and be counted, THAT'S when things got uncomfortable and people began to say we were hateful and race relations were going down hill. Don't blame Esther Lee or President Obama. The issue was already there, people have just started working against the horribleness of it and many are afraid...
Alfonso Todd
THE EPICENTER
TEAM DIVERSITY
I love how in the 21st Century there is no outrage for the NAACP still calling themselves the NAACP. You'd get sued, fired or suspended for anybody calling anybody else a "colored" person in the workplace today.
Do not leave gaps at the end of your comments. I will delete them. The NAACP was formed in 1909, when that was the polite term for people of color. There is no need to change its name to respond to your false sense of outrage.
They hate you ohair you're white ass suck
Don't call him a chicken breast.
Formed in 1944, when Negro was a polite way of referring to people of color. Please stop the nonsense. You are looking for reasons to justify your hate and apparently didn't even read what Lee had to say.
Why did you not allow the fact that Ester Lee condemned Ron Angles racist radio comments and wanted his resignation from county council?
I would have allowed that comment. Ron made a mistake, apologized and has always admired Esher
When a black gang beats up on a white person the blacks blame it one their upbringing saying it couldn't be helped. But when a white guy beats up a black guy then it is "a ugly racial incident".
what a lady and the area was very lucky to have her ! too bad the naacp is not what it used to be decades ago. it is a complete joke today. the naacp forgot what its real mission was decades ago.
@Anonymous 11:16p
Spoken like a true white man
@9:00, Nice. Very funny!
I've dealt with the NAACP AND Mrs. Esther Lee. They do an amazing job.
Esther Lee was my neighbor for many years in South Bethlehem. I recall reading from a Morning Call story, she was the first minority to be elected to any public office in the Lehigh Valley. If I recall correctly, her husband, Bill is the child of a biracial marriage, the first one recorded at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in the City of Bethlehem.
I sincerely credit Mrs. Lee for getting me interested in government. She rang our doorbell one day and asked if I would sign her nominating petition to allow her to run for the Bethlehem City Republican Committee. As a registered Republican, I signed her petition and then also ran for a seat in the committee. She later became the chair of the Bethlehem City Republican Committee. I believe she has changed her party affiliation since that time. I will always respect and admire her, irrespective of her politics. Her husband, Bill, also got me involved in the local county election board as a clerk of election in our polling place. I continue the work as a judge of election where I currently live. I thank both Esther and Bill for opportunities which have meant very much to me for many years.
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