Editor’s note: The original version of this story incorrectly identified the recipient of the Willie S. Scott Award. David Lewis received the award. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight.

NATCHEZ — An important lesson of standing on your own two feet has been lost since the days African-Americans fought for their freedom during the Civil Rights Movement.

That lesson, Rep. Robert L. Johnson III, D-Natchez, said, is that freedom to Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists was not just about going up to any lunch counter they wanted or drinking from a fountain not marked “colored.”

“It was also about economic freedom,” he said. “They knew if you didn’t own something … or you didn’t do something to create something in your community, then you weren’t truly free.”

Johnson was the keynote speaker at the Natchez Business and Civic League’s annual awards banquet Friday at the Natchez Convention Center.

“The lesson that has been forgotten is, ‘Just let me stand on my own two feet.’ If you stand on your two feet, you’re not a slave to anybody’s gifts or direction but your own.”

The NBCL honored a few community members who have stood on their own two feet to make a difference in Natchez.

Husband and wife Jimmy Ware and Quartreate Ware, owners of Sunset View Memorial Park Cemetery were named George F. West Man of the Year and Alice Felix Woman of the Year.

The man and woman of the year awards are given to men and women exemplifying entrepreneurial success.

Community volunteer David Lewis was given the Willie S. Scott Civic Award for his 21 years of volunteer work with the Natchez Stewpot.

The Special Award was given to Sabrena Bartley, executive director for the Natchez Transit System and the Natchez Senior Citizen Multi-purpose Center, for her work in overseeing the construction of the $3 million Natchez Regional Transit Facility. Bartley was also recently named one of the Mississippi Business Journal’s 50 Leading Businesswomen for 2013.

Natchez High School senior Kiana Jones and Cathedral School student Breonna Monique Wright were recipients of the Youth Award.

Jones is a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club and Student Council and serves as president of her class. She is also on the NHS basketball team and volunteers at area nursing homes and the Stewpot.

Wright has a GPA of 3.97 at Cathedral, where she is a member of Key Club. She is also a volunteer with the Natchez Children’s Home and helps organize area coat, food and blanket drives.

The NBCL was founded in the early 1920s as the Negro League and became an instrumental tool in organizing during the Civil Rights Movement.

The NBCL hosts educational workshops, organizes food drives during the holidays and supports many other civic activities.