EAST COBB - Making the decision to move to Cobb after graduating college was the easy part of state Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan's (D-Austell) bid to become the first black person to represent the county in the Georgia General Assembly.

On Friday, Morgan spoke as a guest speaker at east Cobb-based InfoMart's Black History Month celebration. Founded in 1989, the background screening company has hosted the annual celebration for five years, with Cobb leaders and officials in attendance at the company's office on Terrell Mill Road.

In 2002, Morgan lost a ruling that challenged her one-year residency requirement during her party's primary. It was a pivotal moment in the then 23-year-old's life. She remembered crying while driving on Interstate 20 when a call from a Journal reporter informed her that her campaign was essentially dead.

"The tears ran down my face and I started thinking, 'Why is this happening to me?'" Morgan said.

However, after making the decision to continue fighting, an appeal of the ruling later proved successful and Morgan went on to make history.

"That would have been enough for some people to just give it up," Morgan said. "When people said my skin was too dark, my age was too young, my thoughts too liberal, I was running against two men who were twice my age, I got 65 percent of the votes and became the first African-American to serve in the legislature from Cobb County."

The theme of the event was Metro Atlanta Black History: the Last Decade.

Among the invited guests were Cobb NAACP president Deane Bonner, Cobb Chief Deputy Sheriff Lynda Coker, Austell's New Birth Community Church pastor Robert C. Moore and Brumby Elementary School Principal Dr. Amanda Richie.

Students from the choir and step dance team of nearby Brumby Elementary School performed in front of the crowd. A monologue about black leaders was presented by Shon Sims of InfoMart. And InfoMart's special choir led guests in the singing of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," often called the black national anthem. A second guest speaker, Born II Win president R.J. Hodges, a life education coach, offered financial and wellness advice for a successful life.

InfoMart president Tammy Cohen said, "I love our Black History Month celebration, it is so fabulous, and I think for me personally it represents so much of InfoMart, not just for people of color, but all our colors and everything that we represent."

Bonner, Cobb State Court Judge Bridgette Campbell, Georgia Court of Appeals Chief Judge M. Yvette Miller, state Attorney General Thurbert Baker, state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, were among those mentioned by Morgan as historic trailblazers.

"We have numerous individuals who have made history and contributed greatly, not just to black history, but to American history. But it's not enough for us to just celebrate those accomplishments from afar," Morgan said. "Think about those traits of those trailblazers and all the people along the way who said that they could not do it. That the history that they were trying to make was impossible because the county, state or country wasn't ready to see what it is that they wanted to do. Imagine if you set your mind to doing what it is that you have been called to do."