Hopkinsville residents gathered Monday to celebrate prominent native black journalist, Ted Poston.
Poston, born in Hopkinsville, became the first African American journalist to work at a notable newspaper. He began his career at the New York Post in the late 1930’s. Poston retired from The New York Post in 1972, ending a forty-six-year-long journalism career. Poston passed in 1974 and is buried in Hopkinsville.
The event honoring the late Ted Poston at Hopkinsville Community College, offered a venue for speakers to share stories and emotions through the art of storytelling. Speakers throughout the event at Hopkinsville Community College shared stories and emotions related to the art of storytelling. oriented around Poston’s book, “The Dark Side Of Hopkinsville.”
Local surgeon David Kabithe read an except out of Poston’s book, telling the story of Poston being unable to play the role of Prince Charming in the community-wide “Sleeping Beauty” theatre production put on by local youth. Poston’s story told how black children were often cast as “evil fairies” in the play.
The excerpt shared by Kabithe set the tone of the evening, as others told personal stories of injustice as children themselves.
Paulette Robinson, a retired employee with the Housing Authority of Hopkinsville, began her story by sharing a picture of her grandfather, Archie B. Nance. “My 75 year old grandaddy lived on the Westside of Hopkinsville when he caught a cab off Elm St. and went to the Kentucky New Era,” Robinson said, “He told them ‘my name is Archie Nance and I have a story to tell. I’m gonna die one of these days and I want my name and picture in the paper so I can be remembered.’”
Robinson told the audience that her time on stage was dedicated to her grandfather, and said “I want you to clap for my grandfather, because he finally made it somewhere, where he could be seen.”
Robinson also shared how she grew up on the Westside of Hopkinsville. “It was wonderful,” Robinson said. She said she went to the Westside Elementary School, predominantly white. She was the only African American in her classroom and recalled being name-called every day as she walked home.
Robinson also talked about neighbors sharing ice cream with her or hiring her to run errands. Although Robinson dealt with injustices, she added, “I would not take anything for the way I grew up.”
The same accounts of racial injustice, being overcome by the positivity of community interaction, was a reoccuring theme in the stories shared.
Local business owner Austin Moss was the final speaker to share. He began by sharing an experience he had as a child at his doctor’s office. Moss recounted having to sit in a separate waiting room from the white children.
“I wondered what I did to deserve this treatment,” said Moss, “There is s wound that gets created after experiencing that level of cruelty. A wound that shapes the rest of the decisions you make for your life.”
Moss said after having that experience, he refused to have his mom take him to anywhere but the local black doctor’s office/ Moss said he didn’t care how large the needle could have been, but that he just knew he wanted to be somewhere he would be accepted.
Moss listed the schools he went to and the jobs he worked at around town.
He also talked about a night after he worked a shift at “Minnie Pearl’s Fried Chicken” in Hopkinsville. Moss said after he got off work that night, he and his cousin went downtown hangout spot called “Martin’s.”
That night, Moss was jumped by a group of three men he had never met before. His said his face was left cut open, and is scared to this day.
A couple of years later, Moss came across the same man who had cut him when he was a sophomore at Christian County High School. Moss and the man got into a confrontation, and the man shot Moss in the chest. That night Moss believed he would die. “That night taught me never to argue again,” said Moss.
During recovery from the incident, Moss missed three weeks of his first semester at Hopkinsville Community College. He ended up finishing the semester with a “B” average and transferred to the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
He lived in Lexington for 23 years. He said he returned home to Hopkinsville to share what he has learned while living away to make his hometown a better place. Moss said he chose to share his story at the event to show people the power of forgiveness. From the time he experienced racially based injustice as a child, to altercations with the individual who cut and shot him as a young man, Moss said he’s learned to move on.
“How did I use these experiences? I made sure I never experienced within me towards any individual a level of hate,” said Moss, “I can’t hate.”
Correction: This story previously stated that local surgeon Jeff Taylor read an except out of Ted Poston's book. The person was actually David Kabithe, another local surgeon.
