Black History Month gala honors locals

As jazz music played in the background, women and men wearing their finest dresses and suits arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday night to celebrate the Fifth Annual Black History Month Gala.

Attendees caught up with old friends while being served dinner and drinks to celebrate the month’s awards ceremony.

The gala continued the “conversations” theme of the City of Bloomington’s events for Black History Month.

For David Preston Bridgwater and Sharon Turner Ware, who were born and raised in Bloomington, the conversation was about the how the city has changed throughout their lives.

“Back when we were 19- or 20-years-old, we wouldn’t have been able to come here,” Bridgwater said, referring to public venues. “None of the blacks would have been allowed.”

Segregation was not the only obstacle Bridgwater faced at the time. Education was also hard to come by, he said.

Although some of Bridgwater’s relatives were able to obtain college degrees, it was not easy, Bridgwater said. During the 1950s, some professors would say they did not believe in educating blacks.

“I remember the days in the 1950s when black weren’t even allowed to cook in the kitchen at IU,” Ware said. 

Today, she said, racism still exists under the surface.

“People who are natives of this town know that there is still an undercurrent of racial prejudice,” Ware said.

To others, conversations focused on overcoming racial barriers.

The gala showed the accomplishments younger and older generations have made, said IU graduate student Rashawn Ray, who won the Outstanding Black Male Leader of Tomorrow award.

“It represents what could be and what should be with not just black people celebrating Black History Month but also white community coming in and celebrating with us,” Ray said.

Camilla Williams, who won the Sagamore of the Wabash award, was the first contracted black singer at the New York City Opera and first African-American professor of voice at the IU School of Music, according to the gala’s brochure.

Williams’ approach to overcoming the obstacles she faced was simple.

“I came along when there was great segregation,” Williams said. “I myself broke down many barriers, and the main thing in breaking down barriers is love.”