Tuesday night September 21st is the night where the City of Danville honors seven people who filed a lawsuit in 1987, and got exactly what they were looking for: a change in Danville to an aldermanic form of government with an elected mayor and elected aldermen. At the time it was a mayor and four commissioners, and current Danville mayor Rickey Williams, Jr says, that essentially made them both executives and legislators.
AUDIO: Essentially like aldermen of today, but they also were department heads. Up until that point there had never been any minorities of any kind, including women, who had been elected to representative government in the City of Danville. So these seven gentlemen, very bravely and courageously, decided to take on city hall.
Three of the seven that took this step are no longer with us: Albert Derrickson, Frank Abram, and Eugene Thomspson. Mayor Williams says the great thing is the four others ARE HERE, and can be rightly honored.
AUDIO: Thankfully Mr. Bashir Ali, Mr. Wence Cunningham, Mr. Nate Cummingham, and Reverend R.J. Davis are still with us. Unfortunately the other three gentlemen have passed away. We had hoped to have this last spring, and then COVID hit. And then unfortunately, in the meantime, that’s when we lost Mr. Thompson.
Tuesday evening’s special ceremony will be held during the Danville City Council meeting, with starting time moved up to 5:30 for this event.
