During Thursday’s “Celebrating Black Women Pioneers” virtual event, Olga McKissic paid tribute to the many Black women of the past and present who climbed their way to the top through adversity.
McKissic, executive director of the H.L. Neblett Community Center, highlighted the success stories of these women during the event, which was hosted by Owensboro Community & Technical College.
In 1932, Hattie Louise Neblett helped turn an old warehouse in Owensboro into the city’s first community center, a place where children could go to learn and play. Many decades later, that facility was relocated to become the H.L. Neblett Center that McKissic runs today.
“I’m telling you, she would be so proud to see that the service provided in 1932 is still being used today,” McKissic said.
McKissic also mentioned other well-know trailblazers such, including Hariett Tubman.
“She believed no one should own another human being. And she used the plan God had for her to lead people to freedom through the Underground Railroad,” McKissic said.
While Rosa Parks is known for being one of the first Black woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus, McKissic said she grew up hearing her mother reflect on a similar story that happened to her years earlier.
In 1952, McKissic’s mother boarded a bus to travel to beauty school. Her husband put her luggage in the compartment behind the bus driver. When McKissic’s mother sat down beneath her luggage, the driver told her to go to the back of the bus.
“She said, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I will sit where my luggage is,’” McKissic said.
McKissic also discussed how Michelle Obama became an inspiration to her as the first Black female to become the First Lady of the United States. Before Obama ever held that title, she had earned her law degree from one of the most prestigious colleges in the country.
“Reading her book, it made me smile as I was able to relate to some of her trials and some of her struggles,” McKissic said. “Mrs. Obama is a pioneer for girls of color who look like her.”
In Obama’s book, she referred to instances of being called an “angry Black woman.” McKissic said she too had been called the same thing throughout her career.
“I’ve been labeled as that too. Why am I being called angry?” McKissic asked. “Because I’m focused? Because I’m determined? Because I have things I need to get done?”
McKissic also focused on current Black, female pioneers of Owensboro, naming them off one by one and describing their achievements and goals. She described the desire and motivation for women of color to be seen, heard and respected in the ways they deserved.
“If they can do it, I can too,” she said. “And that is the mantra for most black women.”
