"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : RICHARD L. JACKSON and THE SOUTHSIDE BOY'S CLUB.

Recently, it has been brought to my attention that A familiar symbol,"Fleur-de-Lis," which is displayed on LOUISIANA'S STATE FLAG and on the FOOTBALL HELMETS of the NFL FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS FOOTBALL TEAM, and was also designated as the official state symbol in 2008,"WAS USED DURING SLAVERY IN BRANDING COLORED SLAVES, LIKE CATTLE!" They say, the practice was a way of identifying slaves who had escaped from various plantations, as well as helping determine whether a Colored Person was a SLAVE or a "Free Person of Color." Wow, I wonder how many of the Black New Orleans Saints Football fans will "feel differently about the "Fleur-de-Lis symbol,"after reading and hearing about how it was used during slavery! With that said, let me inform everyone about a former Black Organization that helped save many Young Black Kids in Monroe from the streets. The organization was known as "THE SOUTHSIDE BOY'S CLUB." The director of The Southside Boy's Club was a police officer by the name of Richard L. Jackson. Since the Boys Club was housed in the gymnasium of Swayze Elementary School, you can say that the Boy's Club was a Community Partnership Project. Back when the Club existed, Charles H. Johnson was principal of Swayze, and he would visit the Boy's Club on a regular basis. By the way,me and my brothers were members of The Southside Boy's Club. Along with basketball, the club offered other game opportunities such as, table tennis, pool, and bumper pool. In addition to providing Young Black Kids from several local Black Communities a place to play and get to know each other, during the summer, Officer Jackson collaborated with Ervin Peter Turner, who was the director of "THE TRI-DISTRICT BOY'S CLUB" in Monroe to make sure that the children from both clubs were provided with nutritional meals for lunch.Officer Jackson would load us all on a bus, and we would travel up the highway to Tri-District Boy's Club, where we got to break bread with other Young Black Kids from across the City of Monroe. Yes, The Southside Boy's Club helped save and changed the lives of many Young Black Kids in Monroe,"Myself Being One of Them!" In August 2023, a special "Thank-you Program" was held in Monroe, Louisiana to honor Richard L. Jackson for his dedicated service and the wonderful things he accomplished as the director of The Southside Boy's Club!