"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" DOROTHY BELL-GUNDY WASHINGTON

"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" "If there is no struggle, there is no progress” - Frederick Douglass Just in case you missed it, this past Friday, February 28, 2025, which was the final day of Black History Month, a call went out for "A 24 HOUR NATIONAL ECONOMIC BLACKOUT!" Although, people of all races could participate in the Blackout, Black People, in general, were strongly encouraged to take part in the 24 Hour Economic Protest! On February 28, 2025, from 12:01 am - 11:59 pm, participants were to refrain from spending any money at Walmart, Target, Amazon, McDonald's, and other Non-Black Businesses. The main point of the Blackout was to send an "ECONOMIC MESSAGE" to corporations and businesses in America that "BLACK PEOPLE and OUR BLACK DOLLARS MATTER!" I hope that many of the citizens in Monroe were able to take part in this worthy cause. With that being said, on to this week's Black Pioneer! Dorothy Bell-Gundy Washington was born in Rayville, Louisiana on May 20, 1928. As a child, Dorothy attended Rayville Colored High School, in Rayville, Louisiana. Upon graduation from high school, she enrolled at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Along with Fisk University, Dorothy attended several other Universities including Tuskegee, Grambling, and Northeast La. University where she received her Master's degree in 1967. Also she was one of the first Black students to ever graduate from NLU. In 1949, Dorothy relocated to Bastrop, Louisiana to take a teaching position at The Morehouse Parish Training School, where Henry V. Adams served as principal. At Morehouse, She was employed as a Mathematics and Physical Education Teacher. One of the main highlights of her tenure at the school was in 1976, when she and other members of "Place' Aux Dames Civic and Social Club" produced a school memory book called "The Tiger." The book was a pictorial and historical accounting of the Morehouse School from 1916, up until it's closing in 1969. After the closing of Morehouse, Dorothy was able to transfer to the school that became Bastrop Junior High School East, as a Physical Education teacher. Along with all her other activities, Dorothy was actively involved in her family's businesses, The Progressive Burial Insurance Company and Sims and GUNDY Funeral Home Company. In addition to serving as a member of the Board of Directors, throughout the year, she personally made visits to the Branch Offices in Rayville, Monroe, and Tallulah. Finally, a few of her other accomplishments included ; being a founding member of The Place' Aux Dames Civic and Social Club ; "1961 and 1962 Morehouse Parish Training School AA Championship Tennis Coach" ; and Host of the KTRY FM/AM radio show,"Harambee," in 1983 - 1984. Sadly, on Friday, July 22, 2016, after several decades of dedicated service in Morehouse Parish, Dorothy Bell-Gundy Washington went home to glory.