Program honors African American war heroes

Military is the theme of the annual Black History Month Program at the Biloxi Civic Center. The City of Biloxi teams up with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to host the event every year.
For our future generations to move forward, we must remember the past. That was one of the key points at the annual Black History Month Program in Biloxi. This year, the theme was honoring African Americans who fought for our country overseas. “They were serving their country, putting their lives on the line and then they would come home and would have to take a back seat on the train.”
A crowd of community members, veterans, and city leaders filled the Biloxi Civic Center. One of the speakers was Dorothy Roberts, daughter of the late Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts, a Tuskegee airman who served in the Air Force for more than 30 years. “He was a pilot. He reinvented himself when he could no longer fly. He went into communications. He made the military his path and his career.”
During her speech, Roberts talked about all the sacrifices her father made during his time in the Air Force. “Raising to the rank of colonel during the 1970’s when you had about 25 black colonels in the whole United States.”
Retired Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Moore of Biloxi also gave a speech about his experience based at Keesler, another local American hero who had to overcome racial burdens while serving our country. Roberts said, “They fought through those significant racial issues. They moved forward and we as a country have to continue to move forward, not backwards.”