At the beginning of the month, Santa Maria-Lompoc NAACP President Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt drove up and down Santa Barbara County to receive resolutions from several cities and the Board of Supervisors recognizing February 2022 as Black History Month.
“Our theme is Black joy and legacy and focuses on health and safety. … We talked about highlighting the Black professionals—past and present—who have been pivotal to our history and made a difference in our community,” Lyons-Pruitt said. “That’s the idea behind Black history; to celebrate the troubles and triumphs of Black people. Although Black people have experienced racism and discrimination, we rejoice and still have been able to overcome those things.”
With that in mind, the NAACP celebrated 20 Black health care professionals in Santa Barbara County, five of them from North County, and Lyons-Pruitt presented them to the Santa Maria City Council, the Lompoc City Council, and the Board of Supervisors.
“Generally we always have a program that’s usually in-person, and we’d go in person with the Board of Supervisors. There’s usually a reception, but not this year or last year,” she said.
A lot of NAACP programming moved online or was canceled due to the omicron variant, but there are a few local, outdoor opportunities for people to celebrate Black History Month. The first is a vaccine clinic in Lompoc, and the second is the second annual Black History Celebration in Lavagnino Plaza outside of the Santa Maria Public Library.
“In lieu of the big barbecue that we generally have at Pioneer Park, we are having a free, COVID vaccine clinic. … There’s still a need, and why don’t we meet the needs of the community?” Lyons-Pruitt said. “I’m sure there will be other events that will come up, but we are limited because of COVID.”
The Lavagnino Plaza event is typically an opportunity to educate the community through actors portraying different important historical figures throughout Black history, but Lyons-Pruitt said she still needs to work out the details.
“It’s important that we honor, that we celebrate, and naturally, we will remember because it inspires. By remembering, we do not allow history to repeat itself,” she said.
Lyons-Pruitt said there are plenty of ways people can take the time to educate themselves, like watching documentaries—as opposed to movies, which can be edited for dramatization—reading Black history, and attending online Black history events happening throughout the county, she said.
“It’s OK for people to do their own research, [and] to ask questions if they don’t understand. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Lyons-Pruitt said.
The NAACP likes to highlight historical events like the Emancipation Proclamation and the civil rights movement, and provide information about slavery to keep the community informed, she said.
“There are a whole lot of Black people that have contributed and made significant contributions to American history, and their story needs to be told,” she said.
Growing up in rural Mississippi, Lyons-Pruitt said she never saw her own history in her school experiences, and sees that reoccurring with states making decisions on what should be removed from history books. She said she’s hopeful that will change.
“There’s a lot of people who’ve made a significant difference in American history, but people don’t know about them,” Lyons-Pruitt said. “We need to make sure we put it in the history books. It’s important to us because it’s our history. It’s American history.”
The COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be on Feb. 11 at Lompoc’s Dick DeWees Center Community and Senior Center from 4 to 7 p.m. The outdoor Santa Maria Public Library event is on Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. Direct questions to info@santamarialompocnaacp.com.
Highlight
• The Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is offering a Valentine’s Make and Take Craft class. People can create a custom Valentine’s Day Door Hanger to complete the holiday look for their home or office. Participants can register for the class at cityofsantamaria.org/register. The craft costs $13 per participant and it includes all the supplies to make the door hanger. The class is on Thursday, Feb. 10, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Elwin Mussell Senior Center—510 East Park Ave. Participants who prefer to complete the project at home may pick up the craft supplies and written instructions at the center. Call Recreation and Parks Department for more information at (805) 925-0951, Ext. 2260.
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 10-17, 2022.