NATCHEZ — Natchez public schools Interim Superintendent Joyce Johnson reminded those gathered at the NAACP banquet honoring Martin Luther King Jr. what their children and grandchildren might not know about the man and his movement.

“We can no longer afford to ignore that our children don’t know there was a struggle to get to this point,” Johnson said.

“They don’t know,” she repeated, with affirmations from the crowd at the NAACP sponsored event.

Johnson said she recalled trying to pick the least ragged book that had already been used back when education was separate and not equal.

She said there was a time when black people were thought of as a piece of a man, despite the eyes, ears, hair limbs and body parts they had that made them human.

Family members of Johnson’s family were sent to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman for merely fighting for their own civil rights, she said.

She remembered in her speech the locals who fought for the right to go to hotels, eat at a lunch counter and enter through the front door.

“(Today’s youth) take everything for granted; they want instant gratification,” she said.

Johnson said the older generations must reinforce that it requires hard work to get to the stage of life they want.

Johnson said King’s dream is partially realized in Natchez and in America, pointing out that there are black legislators and a black president.

“But some of us have become too complacent where we are — forgetting the struggle,” she said.

Johnson said she found truth in the saying that it takes a village to raise a child.

“I was raised by a village,” she said.

Johnson told the crowd that they must encourage the young to get their education.

“God is power — yes, yes He is, but knowledge is power.”

She said she found truth in the saying that it takes a village to raise a child.

“I was raised by a village,” she said.

People cannot look at their neighbors and shake their heads, Johnson said.

“What we need to do is help each other,” she said.

Johnson said working together people could make the dream that King had, which is an American dream, a truer reality in Natchez.

“You don’t have to see the staircase, you only have to take one step at a time,” she said.

Prior to Johnson’s keynote speech, Ward 4 Alderman and Morgantown Elementary School Assistant Principal Ernest “Tony” Fields sang a solo and received a standing ovation.

Paul Bacon and Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell handed out awards following Johnson’s speech and dinner.

The following people received awards:

Jacqueline Marsaw — Woman of the Year

Natchez Police Chief Danny White — Man of the Year

Dorothy Sanders — Wharlest Jackson Award

Debra Whitley — NAACP youth of the year

The Rev. Clifton Marvel — Medgar Evers Award

Coach Joseph Johnson — Bob Lee Williams Award

Jessie Bell Williams — Long Distance Runner Award

Angela Hutchins — George Metcalfe Award

Jennifer Minor — Martin Luther King Jr. Award

Joyce Johnson — Speaker of the Year Award