In marking Delaware County’s first Black History Month celebration, memories of a challenging past were intertwined with present day accomplishments and hope for the future.
“I love being in Delaware County as racist as it was because it was a challenge to me and I always loved a challenge, especially when you tell me I can’t do something,” Delaware County Council Vice Chair Richard Womack said. “It was a struggle to get here. It was not easy.”
Womack and County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor were recognized for their work on the most diverse county council Delaware County has seen. Taylor is the first Black council chair and Womack is its first Black vice chair.
The Delaware County Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office and County partners hosted a Black History Month celebration Friday to highlight contributions of the Black community. It included artwork from Sun Valley and Ridley high schools while recognizing some individuals who work for equality, justice and the preservation of Black history.
‘Issues of race’
At the celebration, state Sen. Anthony H. Williams, D-8, of Delaware and Philadelphia counties, shared gravitas for the moment.
“I don’t want you to take for granted this gathering that is just a ceremony for a month,” the state senator said. “This county was one of the most terroristic counties in Pennsylvania when it came to African-Americans.”
As a child, he was a member of the Nile Swim Club, formed in 1958 when the former Yeadon Swim Club threw applications of Black families in the trash.
“White people didn’t want to swim in the same water with you in Delaware County,” he said, adding to that Blacks being denied the right to vote, excessive taxes, imprisonment and employment opportunities denied to people of color.
“I would like to say all these issues of race and confrontation are over,” Williams said.
He offered, however, examples of how he said they’re not.
He spoke of the death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility at the hands of law enforcement after an Academy Park High School football game on Aug. 27, 2021.
“Frankly, the judicial system was moving slowly,” Williams said. “It was not quite sure whether it was going to prosecute.”
He credited the Delaware County Black Caucus of which he and Taylor are members and other community organizations for calling on the judicial system to mete out justice appropriately. Three former Sharon Hill police officers pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in November 2022 and were sentenced to five years of probation and 11 months of house arrest in May 2023.
Williams also recalled the Aug. 1, 2020 Black Lives Matter march in Ridley Township when a group, including children, walked down MacDade Boulevard and were met with trucks spewing black smoke and screams and harassment ending at a scuffle at the Ridley Township building, where members of motorcycle gangs awaited.
Weeks later, hundreds, of which Williams was one, returned to the area and walked the same route with heightened police presence.
Williams also spoke of the lack of a county health department, until Taylor arrived.
“I will not tell you it was by mistake that you did not have a health department for so long,” he said. “That was by design. It was by design so that those who they did not want to serve were never counted.”
According to the U.S. Census, 23.7% of Delaware County’s 575,182 residents are Black or African American. Other percentages include 66.8% white, 6.7% Asian and 2.7% Hispanic.
In seeking her initial run for council, Taylor told Williams she wanted to create a health department here. That became a reality in April 2022.
In leading a standing ovation in Taylor’s honor, Williams added, “Because you’ve created it that so many lives are being serviced, so many children are being saved, so many grandparents are not going out without any support in their household.”
‘Serve our community’
The county council chair spoke of the need to continue to connect with underserved populations.
“The only reason I am here, the only reason Richard is here, is to serve our community,” Taylor said. “We still have a long way to go and we have a lot of work to do so I look forward to continuing our work together.”
Womack said it is his life’s work to create a better future.
“I will continue to fight to make a difference not just for me,” he said as he asked the audience to acknowledge his granddaughter, Amiyah. “That’s worth fighting for — that they will have an equal opportunity … I may not be able to help everyone but if I could just help someone, my living shall not be in vain.”
The state senator said it is a new time for justice and equality in Delaware County, and one to go forward not backward.
“The road is now plowed and, by the way, you can’t take it back,” Williams said. “Delaware County, I want to tell you you cannot turn the clock back … There will be no turning the clock back.”
Others who received citations for their work at the ceremony included Constable Letitia Ockimey; Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Atinuke B. Moss; Director of Delaware County’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Col. Arthur Jenkins; Dr. Rodney Bradley; Chester Mayor Stephan Roots; the Delaware County Black Caucus; James Turner; the Rev. Alexis Washington; and Widener University Professor Dr. Marina Barnett.
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