{"id":1593,"date":"2019-02-22T18:38:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T02:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:35:05","slug":"a-world-of-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2019\/02\/22\/a-world-of-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"A world of difference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By now you know that I really like and appreciate history \u2013 and the people who have confronted significant challenges and overcame them.\u00a0 So, have you heard about the amazing life of Dr. Nettie Asberry? I must admit I had not until we shared her story on Twitter as part of Black History Month.<\/p>\n<p>She was born at the end of the Civil War to a father who was a plantation owner and a mother who was a slave.\u00a0 Think for a second about the social upheaval at that time in our country\u2019s history and the challenges she faced personally.\u00a0 What if I told you she was not only one of the few women of color to enroll in college, but went on to earn a doctorate in music?<\/p>\n<p>In doing some research, I learned she leveraged her talents in music, her exceptional communication and strong organization skills, and leadership ability to become a key civil rights leader.\u00a0 She confronted racial discrimination on behalf of all people of color, defeating a measure to outlaw interracial marriage, discriminatory seating in theaters, and many unjust practices of the time.\u00a0 She organized clubs that focused on \u201cself-help activism\u201d as advocated by Booker T. Washington.\u00a0 AND by the way, Dr. Asberry was an icon in our very own Tacoma!\u00a0 She co-founded the local chapter of the NAACP in 1913, the first chapter west of the Rockies.\u00a0 She was also the organist and choir director of Allen AME Church and, in later years, was a volunteer social worker.\u00a0 Finally, she lived to 103!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1595\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1595\" style=\"width: 422px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1595\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2019\/02\/Nettie.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"422\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2019\/02\/Nettie.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2019\/02\/Nettie-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2019\/02\/Nettie-768x1037.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2019\/02\/Nettie-758x1024.jpg 758w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 422px) 100vw, 422px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1595\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Nettie Asberry &#8211; photo courtesy of HistoryLink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What an amazing leader for our community doing trailblazing work and overcoming countless barriers. I wish I had the chance to know Nettie.\u00a0 She defied the odds and stereotypes to make our community more just and equitable for all people. You can read more about Dr. Asberry at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.historylink.org\/File\/8632\">HistoryLink<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During Black History Month we especially reflect on the tremendous contributions African Americans have made to our country.\u00a0 And locally, we have many African American leaders like Dr. Asberry, who have made our community stronger and better for all our residents.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, I\u2019ve been fortunate to know and work with African American leaders\u00a0like Lyle Quasim, Jim Walton, Harold Moss, Thomas Dixon, and Willie Stewart \u2013 all of them powerful, respected pillars\u00a0in our community for decades.<\/p>\n<p>Others are in the prime of their impressive careers &#8211; including Judge Frank Cuthbertson, Judge Helen Whitener, Judge Karl Williams, Judge Dwayne Christopher, Dona Ponepinto, Denise Johnson, Carol Mitchell and Yolanda Wilson, to name a few \u2013 leading and serving our County and our community in key roles.<\/p>\n<p>And others still, like Andrea Cobb, Nate Bowling, T\u2019wina Franklin Nobles, Korbett Mosesly, Keith Blocker and our own Dom Hardeman and Lisa Mansfield have emerged as young leaders who are delivering results today and earning high expectations for what they will contribute to our community in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Black History Month is also an appropriate time for Pierce County to look forward \u2013 ensuring we have the strongest possible workforce today and building toward a future workforce that includes a powerful variety of perspectives, opinions, skills and backgrounds.\u00a0 More on that next week!<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for reading,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-78 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2017\/01\/Bruce-blue-signature.png\" alt=\"Bruce\" width=\"70\" height=\"37\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2017\/01\/Bruce-blue-signature.png 680w, https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2017\/01\/Bruce-blue-signature-300x157.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 70px) 100vw, 70px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bruce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By now you know that I really like and appreciate history \u2013 and the people who have confronted significant challenges and overcame them.\u00a0 So, have you heard about the amazing life of Dr. Nettie Asberry? I must admit I had not until we shared her story on Twitter as part of Black History Month. She [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":1594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38509],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A world of difference - Pierce County Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2019\/02\/22\/a-world-of-difference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A world of difference - Pierce County Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By now you know that I really like and appreciate history \u2013 and the people who have confronted significant challenges and overcame them.\u00a0 So, have you heard about the amazing life of Dr. Nettie Asberry? 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