They came from many places to share their ventures, adventures and misadventures. They are doctors, lawyers, accountants, ministers, teachers and folks that represent a wide variety of vocations, lifestyles and directions. But they are united by one thing: their lives have made a difference. They are way pavers, road pacers, and light show-ers for generations of folks who overcome obstacles and become something special. They are the Class of 1967 from Central High School of in a town called Natchitoches, Louisiana where slavery once flourished and segregation was the order of the day..

41 years ago, America was in the midst of a great struggle that many people believed might never end. But out of that struggle has come significant changes, from which many have achieved.

These folks needed a hand up years ago, and many reached for and got it. So there were doctors, teachers, lawyers, professors, union bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers and folks of every occupation who wouldn’t have had a chance if the foundation for civil rights for everyone had not been laid by people like those in the class of 1967. That class was in many towns throughout the South, and for many it was still a time when people were just breaking free from the bonds of segregation. These people had few to show the way, so they became the beacons for their children who were to come more than a generation later.

Now the children of that 1967 high school graduating class are part of a sweeping change across America, a change that says, “yes we can” to moving ahead and being truly that example in the world that America once was and yearns to be again. With our young people today, we will begin a whole new chapter in our history, a chapter that will unfold like the pages in ancient scriptures with wisdom, generosity, and love.

One of the speakers at the gathering of that class of 1967 told those assembled that they should be grateful for being here, that at one time many were “walking dead men” because of the death threats that were made on their lives every day. Young people only hear this as stories from their families, not as a reality in which they have lived. But black folk in America were like the Jews wandering in the desert only to be brought to the Promised Land, which is looking like its just over the horizon as the young people embrace a whole different freedom. That freedom will be the fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s message that one day every child would be able to go to school, work, live and enjoy life to its fullest on equal ground. The nomination of Barack Obama, whether he wins or loses the Presidency, or is victorious in any other achievement, has been itself the hallmark of a new beginning that can give us hope that America can indeed make it out of its darkness, its war, and its spiritual pain after all.

All of this movement towards the light of true political and social freedom didn’t begin with the candidacy of Barack Obama. It began more than 150 years ago, continued for the class of 1967 and is bearing fruit today.

There were six young people who courageously decided to be the first to integrate Natchitoches High School, now Natchitoches Central, in 1967, from that special class. They were Pedro Guy, Charles Cornwell, Juanita Gordon, Velma Morris, Ellen Marie Payne, and Joyce Elaine Walters. That period of time was difficult for all of them because they were isolated by their black friends and threatened by white students. Some teachers didn’t like integration, and there were those who literally laughed at the struggles of the African American students. Nevertheless, there were numbers of white students and teachers who took personal risks to secretly help these new students. Although some townspeople voiced long and loud complaints about integration, there were also many who aided the transition. Numbers of those who didn’t help, or who were antagonistic to integration at the time, are remembered by their black classmates with some degree of fondness and respect since apologies have been made over the years to try to bring new understanding for everyone.

It’s now 2008 and counting, 41 years and more since the Class of 1967 left the adolescent safety of high school, the security of friends, and settled, some in Natchitoches and others in Texas, California, Virginia, the Carolinas and other points around the country, from which numbers of them went to their reunion in a small Southern town. All of them, however, are leaders in a world where those who can’t change will be left behind, because the Class of 1967 was out in front to lead the way.