BALDIWN VILLAGE — Excitement and anticipation filled the air July 27 at Jim Gilliam Park where the 11th annual Global Day of Compassion was held to spread unity and brotherly love.
“The purpose is to set aside differences such as race, creed, and nationality and to just unite for a day of compassion,” said Tony Goodall, also known as Brother Hanan, who organized the local event. “The Global Day of Compassion is always held on the last Sunday in July, and is simultaneously held in Detroit, Atlanta, Ghana, Hawaii and Thailand.”
The event featured booths offering information about affordable housing, finances, substance abuse prevention, life insurance, health care, parenting classes, mental health referrals, resume building and education.
New shoes and T-shirts were distributed to children in attendance. The day was capped by a free movie showing.
Hanan said that the need to promote unity among different races and religions had been his mission for more than 10 years.
“Years ago, I and a friend had just returned from Israel and we were impressed by the unity that we saw among the people,” Hanan said. “We then flew back to Atlanta to attend a men’s think tank.
“Among the topics discussed, we talked about all the things that our Black folks have been through, so we wondered why hasn’t total unity (among our people) ever been accomplished?”
Hanan, who has lived in Baldwin Village for 48 years, noticed that many of the young people living in the apartment complexes seemed to be idle. He wanted to provide an opportunity where seniors and youths could interact and help each other. It started out with local youth distributing water to senior citizens in the neighborhood.
“When we started canvassing the community with the youths in 2014, we asked them, ‘Do you know of any seniors who seldom come out of their apartments?’ They said yes and I told them to write down their apartment numbers so that we could begin to deliver free water to their doors.”
During the Day of Compassion, the young volunteers, who were dressed in bright green Day of Compassion T-shirts, delivered 133 cases of water. Senior citizens also received $25 gift cards. Hanan said that both groups were happy to participate in the project.
“The seniors always look forward to the water deliveries and the young people love participating in something positive,” Hanan said. “It changed the young people’s lives when they saw the elders smile.”
Hanan also wanted to pay tribute to his uncle, Oliver Goodall, a first lieutenant in the Tuskegee Airmen squadron. A special booth was set up that featured information about the legendary pilots. Hanan’s uncle was part of the all-Black fighter bomber group that broke racial barriers during World War II.
Two people manning the Tuskegee Airmen booth fondly remembered family members who flew with the legendary outfit.
“My uncle was Lieutenant Colonel John Whitehead who was a member of the 301st fighter squadron/332nd Fighter group in the 15th U. S. Army air force,” said Joycelin Tomlin, who is the membership chairman of the Tuskegee Airmen’s Los Angeles chapter.
“He graduated from the Tuskegee Institute flight school in September 1944 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant and fighter pilot.”
Larry McElroy said his father, Clenan McElroy, was deeply involved in the civil rights movement.
“He was in engineering school at Wilberforce University when he left to join the Tuskegee Airmen,” McElroy said. “He thought it was his duty to show the country that Blacks were also capable of being pilots.”
Hanan recalled that his grandfather was among the last of the Tuskegee Airmen. Goodall was 88 years old when he died in 2010.
“He always believed in helping the ones that come after you,” Hanan said.
Hanan has taken his grandfather’s advice to heart.
“Helping others is what we are doing,” he said.
Shirley Hawkins is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers. She can be reached at shirleyhawkins700@gmail.com.
