Longtime community worker to receive Black Excellence Award
TEXARKANA, Ark. — The second annual Black History Celebration hosted by Pillars & Plants will honor a longtime community leader Thursday with the Black Excellence Award.
The 2023 recipient is Barbara Pitts Riley, whom celebration organizer LaToyia Hawkins Williams said is the blueprint of how to be an impactful servant.
“She is always there to give, to mentor and to serve. We just want to take the time to acknowledge her, since she’s definitely a part of Black history here,” Williams said Monday to the Gazette.
Riley is a familiar face in Texarkana. She is executive director and managing partner of Bridging the Gaps of Arkansas, which Riley said creates and manages local, state, national and international programs that provide social, economic, housing and intervention/ prevention resources.
Riley also operates the Sandflat-Glendale-Shannon Neighborhood Center. She is the former director of the Ozan Inghram Iron Mountain Neighborhood Center, founder of the Martin Luther King Jr. gala and parade, past chairman of the Texarkana, Texas, Housing Authority Board of Directors, and former director of housing and community development for the city of Texarkana, Arkansas.
Williams said Riley’s labors inspired her to get involved in community work.
“As a girl, I saw her work. She left an impression on me and my life,” Williams said. “You never know who’s looking from outside.”
The banquet will be at 11:30 a.m. at Ozan Inghram Iron Mountain Neighborhood Center, 1101 Couch St. Pastor Christy Davis Nelson will provide a special musical presentation.
Pillars & Plants oversees the Ozan Inghram Iron Mountain center.
The public is invited, but seating is limited. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by calling the center at 870-330-0062.