‘Fierce warrior.’ State leaders honor late Rep. Darryl Owens at Black History Celebration
At Tuesday’s Black History Celebration in the Capitol rotunda, Gov. Andy Beshear listed off a number of Black figures in Kentucky history who he said deserve more attention: powerful Louisville-born attorney Alberta Jones, Bourbon County inventor Garrett Morgan and prominent legislator and activist Mae Street Kidd, among others.
One name, Beshear said, that should be added to that list: former state Rep. Darryl Owens.
Owens served in several leadership posts in his native Louisville, was in the state legislature for more than a decade and inspired several other legislators — those from Louisville as well as other Black legislators — to serve. Owens died in early January after living with cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, said Owens’ run inspired his own.
“When I was a young lad I watched him run for Fiscal Court in Jefferson County,” Graham said. “Here was a Black man running overall in the county, which means there were more Caucasians than African-Americans. When I saw him win that race it instilled in me that I could also do that.”
A military veteran, Owens was the the first Black countywide officeholder and the first Black president of the Legal Aid Society in Louisville. Owens was also judge, a state representative in Louisville from 2005 to 2018 and president of the NAACP’s Louisville branch.
Brenda Owens received the 2022 Legacy Award for her husband.
The former legislator’s wife, alongside her daughters Deborah and Dedra, emphasized her husband’s penchant for “good trouble” as well as his work on felony expungement and voting rights legislation.
“He was a fierce warrior for what was right and would never back down,” Beshear said. “He could fight for what’s right, while at the same time being a gentleman.”
Leaders talk legislation
Beshear, in his speech at the celebration, argued that a constitutional amendment for the expansion of voting rights — he restored that right to more than 100,000 Kentuckians with previous felony convictions early in his tenure — was needed. He also mentioned expanding Louisville’s Waterfront Park to the predominantly-Black West End and providing more services than the Republicans’ current budget proposes.
Sen. Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington, called Beshear’s budget the most progressive and creative that he’s seen in the history of the state. He also stressed that fully funding pre-K, an item included in Beshear’s budget but not House Republicans’, would go a long way toward addressing achievement gaps among Kentucky’s students.
Graham spoke at length about Kentucky State University, his alma mater. The financially embattled, historically Black university in Frankfort needs $23 million by April to stay afloat, school officials say, and will have to cut its expenses by $7 million, according to the Frankfort State Journal.
“We cannot change what has happened in the past, but it is no overstatement to say that its future is in the hands of people in this building,” Graham said.
Graham is a co-sponsor on House Bill 250, which would give the school its requested funds in potentially forgivable loans.
Rep. Pamela Stevenson, referencing bills that attempt to address the much-maligned and often misunderstood Critical Race Theory, told the crowd to “watch these bills” drafted by members of the Kentucky legislature and contact representatives about them. She didn’t cite a specific bill.
The most-highlighted piece of legislation on that front has been Senate Bill 138, which Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass recently criticized for establishing some control over race-related curriculum statewide.
Stevenson likened some legislation proposed to “censorship.”
“In 2022 we’re talking about censoring what’s said, censoring the books, censoring the people we know about,” Stevenson said. “... Without having to own our history and our past, then how effective can we be?”
Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville; Rep. George Brown Jr., D-Lexington, and Frankfort Mayor Pro Tem Katrisha Waldridge also spoke at the celebration, which was hosted by Kentucky’s Black Legislative Caucus. The group formally welcomed Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, who in a special election last year became the first Black Republican senator in the state’s history.
D’Corey Johnson, a young Louisville singer who rose to national prominence in a viral video singing the national anthem at his elementary school, opened the ceremony with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 7:21 PM.
