By David Fortier
The president of the Greater Bristol Branch of the NAACP closed the group’s annual scholarship breakfast with some thoughts about the role of the NAACP, standing up for good people and holding up a standard for common interests.
“You have more good people in America than bad, but you hear more about bad people than we do about good people,” said Tim Camerl, president of Greater Bristol Branch of the NAACP at the end of the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Dr. E.C. Whitehead Scholarship Breakfast on Monday, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
“So what we have got to start doing is start tapping into good people, speaking good about good people, ask God to show me the betterment of mankind, let me see good in other people than just seeing nasty stuff in other people,” Camerl said to the gathering of 150 people in the cafeteria at Bristol Eastern High School.
“When I think about Bull Connor and I look at our Chief Gould, I can appreciate Chief Gould,” he said. Bristol Police Chief Brian Gould was in the audience with several members of the Bristol Police Dept.
Born and raised around Birmingham, Ala., Camerl alluded to having experienced the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as that of the segregationist Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor. The sanctioned the use of fire hoses and police attack dogs against blacks.
“When you look out from this podium, you see what American looks like,” he said. “It is great to have that kind of look in the City of Bristol. I’ve been living in Bristol since 1961, and I’ve seen a great change come over Bristol over the years.”
As for the role of the NAACP, he emphasized that it is an organization for all people.
“The NAACP is called an investment in colored people,” he said, “but I call it an investment in all people. We as American people we are in this thing together, and if any foreign country come inside to take over, I am sure all of us are going to be throwing something at them. And that’s when we know we are in this thing together.”
He reiterated the role of the NAACP and encouraged people to reach out.
“I am hoping that our participation in the City of Bristol, NAACP, can make things just a little bit better for all of us. As I said, we are not just a colored thing, we are a people thing, and if anyone needs to speak on an issue we are willing to do that.”
Camerl spoke after the keynote address by Sheena Graham, a retired performing arts teacher in the Bridgeport school system for 40 years and the 2019 Connecticut Teacher of the Year.
In her address, “Preparing Minds for the Future,” Graham proposed her own standard for remedying the ills of racism, among them speaking your truth, listening and speaking to each other, even if the tendency is to avoid each other, and as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, living courageously.
“Preparing minds for the future requires us to purge negative thoughts that we have may have clung to for years. Such as ‘Blank people are lazy,’ ‘Blank people steal,’ ‘Blank people don’t like me.’ How often do you let stereotypes you’ve heard about each other decide our desire to or not to develop relationships,” she said.
“‘The tough mind is sharp and penetrating breaking through the crust of legends and myths and shifting the truth from the false,’ stated Dr. King. “To begin that process you must speak with one another. The fear of speaking with, working with, loving and valuing each other prevents us all from progressing.”
The program also included a greeting from the NAACP by Marquis Floyd, a greeting from the city from Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano, greetings from the state and recognition of dignitaries from State Rep. Mary Fortier, and the introduction of the speaker by Corey Nagle, local educator and local NAACP officer.
The opening prayer and blessing of the food and the closing prayer were performed by pastors Patricia Washington-Rice of Beulah A.M.E. Zion Church and Yong Yeun Lee of Prospect United Methodist Church, respectively.
The next NAACP program will be “Honoring Local Activists of Our Time: Come and Let’s Celebrate Some of Our Own,” at the Carousel Museum on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. For ticket information, contact Lexie Mangum, (860) 202-9965, or Tim Camerl, (860) 977-5772.
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