For Marisa Kelley, president of the Dalton-Whitfield chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP,) the importance of Black History Month is apparent.
“There may be a lot of untold stories, unknown people that you’ve never heard of,” she said. “But they’re just as important to the history of this country.”
Those contributions, Kelley said, should never be forgotten — especially in times when some aspects of American history are at risk of being erased.
This February the local chapter of the NAACP is partnering with several groups and organizations for special events and activities.
That includes a partnership with The Dalton Academy for an event on Thursday, Feb. 22.
“We’re going to have a living museum and some of our members are going to dress up as different heroes in Black history,” Kelley said. “We know that all different races were key to our history, so we want to celebrate that.”
Also on deck is the annual Black History Month Quiz Bowl, slated for Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Mack Gaston Community Center at 4 p.m.
Per United States Census Bureau data, as of last July about 4.4% of the total Whitfield County population was Black. As a whole, the agency indicates that Black individuals make up about 33% of the entire state population of Georgia.
“Even though I’m not from here, I’ve heard about the rich history of African Americans in this community and what they’ve done to make Dalton a better place, just to live, just to work,” Kelley said. “We think about celebrating Black History Month nationally, but we need to think locally about how our Black community has contributed to Dalton.”
Demographics may change, Kelley said. But the impacts of history continue to reverberate throughout the community.
“We need to always remember who laid the foundation for Dalton and where we are now,” she said.
For 2024, Kelley said one of the local NAACP chapter’s biggest initiatives is voting education.
“That they know what’s going on, that they’re registered to vote and that they have access to the polls,” she said.
The organization, she said, continues to push for more inclusivity in Dalton and Whitfield County.
“That all of our citizens feel like they are heard, that they are wanted,” she said. “And where they can also thrive.”
Kelley said she has resided in the community for about 10 years. And over that decade, she’s seen inclusivity grow tremendously.
“At the city, we’re trying to make sure that people feel like they belong,” she said. “You can see that with the NAACP’s Juneteenth celebration, you see that with the summer concert series that goes on at Burr Park, I see that with the Gratefull event or the Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Creative Arts Guild … in those events, we’re making a conscious decision, an effort to make sure everyone feels like they belong and that Dalton is a place where you can do that.”
Still, Kelley said there is room for improvement.
“I think we can see growth in our city leadership, that reflects our population,” she said. “School leadership, principals or teachers, making sure that those things reflect the demographics of our city.”
Kelley said the NAACP is concerned about the potential ramifications of politics, but the organization itself is not politically-based.
“We just make sure that we continue to do the things that bring us together, that we’re at the table with people who want to do that,” she said. “Although our country may be divided in some areas, we don’t have to do that here — we can work together.”
Kelley summed up why it’s so important to reflect on the meaning of Black History Month.
“Unfortunately, it’s not something that — at least when I was growing up — that we were taught in schools,” she said. “So when we talk about wanting to create a country that everyone has a seat at the table, that everyone is included, that we’re the inclusive community that we seek to be — that we need to learn about each other.”