Lawanda Troutman speaks at SGTC Crisp County Center Black History month celebration
Lawanda Troutman, Human Relations Director at West Fraser and the Cordele-Crisp County Chamber Chairperson was the keynote speaker at the South Georgia Technical College Crisp County Center’s Black History Month program held in the LaPorte Auditorium in Cordele recently.
Her theme for the program was “Trailblazers of the Past, Leaders of the Future – Embrace the Past, Empower the Present, Envision the Future.” Troutman stressed to the SGTC faculty, staff, and students, “If they can do it, so can you!”
SGTC Crisp County Center Black History Speaker Lawanda Troutman is shown above with her husband, Richard, Ashburn Police Department Public Safety Director/Chief.
She opened with a quote from Harriet Tubman, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world.”
She also shared a quote by Langston Hughes. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” The point of the quotes was to inspire individuals to remember, “if they can do it, so can you!”
Troutman highlighted the accomplishments of several African American inventors such as: Frederick McKinley Jones – Mobile Refrigeration; Louis W. Roberts – Microwave Technology; Alexander Miles – Automatic Elevator Doors; Granville T. Woods – Telegraph System; Lewis Latimer – Filament for Electric Light Bulbs; James A. Parson – Stainless Steel; Otis Boykin – Pacemaker; Charles Drew – Blood Bank-Blood Transfusions; Marie Ban Brittan-Brown – Home Security System; and more including President Barack Hussein Obama, II, the first African Americus President of the United States.
She closed with the quote from President Obama, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Then she challenged the audience, “If they can do it, so can you.”