LETTERS: I Wish to Honor the First Great Black American in the High Country
February 26, 2024 Letters to the Editor. By Mary E. Moretz / February is Black History Month. Proportionately, there are as many great Black citizens as there are White or Asian. Those of us in the High Country do not have to search outside our own territory to find such people. They are living among us now and some have passed on. As a representative of all great Black Americans, I wish to honor the first great Black American in the High Country. He was a founding iconic pioneer, Burrell (c.1745-1845). Burrell was the “Joseph of His People” for his time and place. Like Joseph, son of Jacob, Burrell was enslaved through no fault of his own. In spite of that, he rose to become honored and loved within his community by both Black and White races.