Berry Betrayal

Dear Black people of Monroe, LA,

Why do we sit back and allow our own people to oppress us and deny us the progress that we seek and fight so hard to succeed and achieve for our people? Witnessing the voting process at the Monroe City School Board meeting held Tuesday, January 10, 2023, was humiliating and demeaning. It was especially disturbing to see Betty Ward Cooper be betrayed, stabbed in the back, and trampled over by Daryll Berry, who single-handedly made a mockery of our Black struggles when he voted against Cooper for President, a position that would allow her to make a difference in our community for Black schools and our students' success. It was a slap in the face to his mother and wife to vote against a woman who is overqualified for the position and who has served the Black community for years. When the vote was taken, it was a tie for each candidate, 3 - 3. Daryll Berry broke the tie when he voted for Bill Wilson, who had the full support of his three-member caucus, as did Cooper. If we ever expect to overcome and defeat inequality, we need to learn how to support one another and stick together for the greater cause. That's what our oppressors do. Why can't we? Berry's vote would have given us and our community a leg up. Why wasn't that a priority for Daryll Berry, who claims to represent our/his community? We need to examine this as a community more closely. We need change now! No more "betrayals". Let's move forward together.

We just celebrated the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., yet some of us are not aiding in his dream being realized. Moving "forward", this should never happen again...

A Concerned Citizen