Look That Devil In The Eye And Say ‘No.’

PANAMA CITY, FL - Edward Bell was born in Jackson County, out on Bump Nose Road, to parents with fourth or fifth grade educations. He was raised by his aunt, in a house with no running water. He mainly went to school to eat. After a rough beginning, including flunking fourth grade, he earned a scholarship to Troy State University, majoring in the last thing he ever expected: criminal justice.
 
Bell graduated from Troy State University in November of 1984 and went back to Marianna to work at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He said, “I was the most educated African American in Jackson County.”
 
Three months later, he was hired to go into elementary schools to present a drug prevention program. When funding ran out, he worked at a prison for two years, then went on to the State Attorney’s Office in Panama City, “back when gasoline was 89 cents a gallon.” He worked in probation and parole and worked a second job at Walmart to pay child support. 
 
Bell said deciding where to place someone on parole requires a lot of thought. "You have to know the client and where to put them." Sometimes, placing a client in a place where they may be “tempted to use” again is appropriate because for some people, "the best way to fight an addiction is to look it right in the eye." If you live temporarily in a place, knowing that crack is right there at your disposal, and you resist for a few weeks without using, before you know it, you can save your money and get out of there. One client told him, “It was the best advice you ever gave me. I fought that devil. I was sweating that night. You don't know how many times I wanted to go out there and hit that pipe. Well, sometimes, the best way to fight that devil is to look him in the eye and say ‘no.’"

Bell values his involvement in Kiwanis Club and is an advisor to the Kiwanis Builders Club at Jinks Middle School. He speaks from the heart about the need to make strong connections with the younger generations, to teach them self-discipline and to help them understand the sacrifices that were made to get them where they are. As a child, he was taught self-discipline, and it stayed with him. His Mama only had to tell him to do something one time. When he got to the table to eat, the food was already on his plate and he ate it. He didn't have a choice of what to eat because that's all he was getting.
 
Bell said, “It's our duty to try to get these blessings and these messages that have been engraved on us all our lives to the next generation that's supposed to be running this world. That's my belief.”
 
 Stay tuned for Edward Bell’s history of Bay County in future articles.