The journey toward equality for blacks in America has been long and tedious, says one Orlando-area community activist.

  • Beverlye Neal wants Black History Month to be celebrated year-round
  • Neal lived through civil rights movement
  • She founded Orlando chapter of National Congress of Black Women
  • RELATED: Black History Month coverage

Beverlye Neal thinks the changes celebrated during Black History Month should be celebrated all year long.

“We got on the bus, got to go to the back of the bus, and I am just saying, these are the things I lived with,” Neal said. “This is not something somebody sat down and told me. I actually can speak about (this) from firsthand.”

Now the president of the Orange County branch of the NAACP, Neal said her mother, who was a civil rights activist, is her inspiration to fight for everything she believes is right.

“I don’t want to follow the legacy, I want to continue the legacy. I know living with my mother and father, I know the passion that they had,” Neal said. “(I have a passion) for speaking for people who couldn't speak for themselves.”

Alice Flowers is a friend and colleague of Neal. They met a few years ago when Neal read a newspaper article about Flowers’ nephew brutally murdering her sister.

Neal reached out because she wanted to help Flowers in her journey to pass a bill that would define parent abuse as a separate category of domestic violence — that bill passed last year.

“I know that there have been times when I was just really exhausted, tired of fighting for the bill, but Beverlye never gives up,” Flowers said. “She’s been doing this since she was a child, so I admire her, her commitment, and I admire her faith in the movement.”

In 2002, Neal was the national NAACP’s voting empowerment coordinator, overseeing Florida. That year, she said the Sunshine State got the most people registered to vote in the country.

In 2009, she founded the Orlando chapter of the National Congress of Black Women.

Her work doesn't end there, as she continues to lift people's voices.

“I am here to advocate for black people,” Neal said. “And the reason being because they don't have people out there advocating for them.”

The changes celebrated during Black History Month have not been easy to achieve, and Neal said the fight is far from over.

“It’s not just going to take one person, it’s going to take a lot of us. Each one, teach one,” Neal added.

Neal said that under her leadership, the first early voting in Florida was instituted.