Juneteenth and beyond. What’s next for O’Fallon?

A Juneteenth national holiday would be nice, but Bishop Geoffrey Dudley Sr. wants policy changes to be prioritized.

“I will take policy change over a holiday. Let’s not forget Juneteenth, but if things never change, what’s the point? We can symbolize it and we can move forward. We need to change policies. We can spark real change,” he said.

Dudley, the pastor of New Life in Christ Church, gathered with other local leaders for a Juneteenth Celebration and a Social Justice Call for Action on Friday at O’Fallon City Hall.

Dudley, who has been preaching since he was 13, grew up in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and has lived in O’Fallon since 2000. He is the pastor of the New Life in Christ Interdenominational Church on Scott-Troy Road. The congregation has grown from 28 in 2002 to over 2,000 today.

New Life joined forces with the O’Fallon Metro East Chapter of the NAACP and the United Congregations of the Metro East, which is an interfaith and multiracial organization designed to address social injustice in the region. Their goal is to bring people together directly impacted to dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequities.

“This was a collaborative effort, a call for solidarity against systemic racism,” he said. “O’Fallon is not a perfect city, but it has always been a city in which to enter a dialogue. This is not something we are new to. It’s important that we all get something out of the dialogue, and we can begin by listening.”

Dudley would like to see continuing dialogue with not only the city and police department, but also school administrators about adding more people of color to the faculty and staff.

He said he was encouraged that the crowd Friday night was diverse. Dudley was also among the speakers at an O’Fallon Black Lives Matter protest at city hall June 6.

“People are paying attention. We’re going to work with the NAACP to continue the conversation,” he said. “Things are changing so fast right now. We want to keep hope alive.”

Dudley thinks knowledge is crucial. He compared the widespread viewing of the cellphone recording showing the killing of George Floyd to another turning point in America — the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in what became known as “Bloody Sunday” in March 1965. Armed police attacked and brutally beat Civil Rights Movement demonstrators with billy clubs, using tear gas, dogs and fire hoses as they were attempting to march to the state capital of Montgomery.

“People saw the dogs and the water hoses, and that shifted what Americans thought,” he said. “I really hope this is a turning point, that a movement has been started. People saw an officer take the life of George Floyd, who was not offering any resistance, pleading for his life. It was so callous.”

In this period of civil unrest and social engagement, the celebration of Juneteenth became a teachable moment. Juneteenth marks the day, June 19, in 1865, when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free. Actually, President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier, but that word hadn’t been received. They were the last group of slaves to be freed in America.

“Never forget the road to freedom. That road still matters,” Dudley told the crowd.

“Black lives matter,” Dudley said, as he mentioned incidents of oppression, such as “white-only segregation in ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s; back of the bus, poll tax, voter suppression, war on drugs, on 800,000 black and brown Americans, Brown vs. Board of Education, Jim Crow and the chains of being treated in both world wars like second-class citizens.”

“I feel the knee of random 911 calls, just by being black — in the park, having a barbecue, at an Air BnB. Another day of being arrested just by being black,” he said.

Dudley reiterated the U.S. motto: “E Pluribus Unum” — For many, one.

“We are all in the same boat. We have divisions. We have to throw them overboard,” he said.

Afterwards, Dudley said more people now seem open to discussing social justice.

“Father Hitpas spoke about having been blind to it,” he said.

Rev. William Hitpas, pastor at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in O’Fallon, spoke in what he called a “confession.” He said he feels the winds of change.

“We have to admit our blindness. We have to change,” he told the crowd Friday. “It does seem different this time. I’m a 79-year-old white man and I’ve never seen anything like this. That’s a reason for hope. This may be a turning point. Maybe some of us who had been blind for so long can finally be cured.”

Dudley said currently, registering people to vote and upholding voting rights is a goal.

Francine Nicholson, president of the O’Fallon Metro East chapter of the NAACP, is helping to get out the vote. She is also working with the city to effect change.

O’Fallon Police Chief Eric Van Hook said they are currently working with Nicholson to schedule dates and times to meet on community relations.

In 2018, the NAACP, the O’Fallon Police Department and the city released 10 Shared Principles they use, indicating the public safety personnel values human life regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or any other fact. It is available at https://go.boarddocs.com/il/ofallon/Board.nsf/files/AZNQ7N673EAA/$file/10%20Shared%20Principles%20resolution.pdf.

O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach earlier this month stated leaders have said a lot of rhetoric on the subject, but he believes peopld can judge a person’s real feelings and position by actions taken. He pointed out steps the city has taken over the years.

“These were done with the goal of community improvement,” he said.

The police and first responders speak to students at O’Fallon schools because “we believe that community partnerships begin at youth and last for a lifetime,” he said.

O’Fallon setting great example

The police go out into the community to meet with families and children and talk with them. Night to Unite is an organized event, while the police hold youth summer camps and do pop-up barbecues in neighborhoods.

“I was fortunate enough to be able to appoint the first minority (also Purple Heart recipient) to the City Council. This person was later elected to a full term by the residents of her ward,” Roach said about Gwen Randolph of Ward 5.

The police department has hired five minority officers in the past three years. Two minorities and a female have been appointed to the five-person Police and Fire Commission.

The mayor said the NAACP and Urban League assist the city in recruiting good minority candidates to be considered for any city positions and meet quarterly.

“We have increased the number of minorities hired throughout the city by 140% during the last three years,” he said.

Roach said the city will support citizens expressing their concerns in marches and gatherings in “a peaceful and professional manner,” and that efforts to educate the public will continue.

Dudley said groups at his church will present opportunities to meet. For more information, visit the website, www.nlicic.og. Phone is 632-NLIC (6542). Email is lifechangers@nlicic.org.

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 11:41 AM.