Don’t forget that “An Evening with Paul Prather” will be held at 7 p.m. today, Thursday, Feb. 11, in the sanctuary at Midway Baptist Church. The event is free and open to the public and is organized and sponsored by the Midway Woman’s Club and The Homeplace at Midway. If it’s half as interesting as Mr. Prather’s columns in the Lexington Herald-Leader, it’ll be well worth your time. Also, if you have a loved one laid to rest at the Midway Cemetery, please keep in mind that in accordance with our cemetery policy all artificial flowers and arrangements must be picked up by March 1. As we celebrate Black History Month, I find myself thinking about one of the most fascinating figures from one of the most significant eras in American history: the great Frederick Douglass. Before escaping slavery in 1838, Douglass secretly taught himself to read and once free became one of the country’s leading abolitionist voices. During the Civil War, Douglass was a great influence on a hesitant Abraham Lincoln in making emancipation the central focus of the conflict, and continued to fight for equal rights throughout and beyond Reconstruction. He was also an ardent supporter of women’s rights and was quick to remind that by denying women’s suffrage, the country was disenfranchising “one half of the moral and intellectual power…of the world.” Frederick Douglass continues to inspire millions of people all over the world as a self-made former slave who made an indelible mark on world history.