February 20, 2022
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Vol. 27, Issue 05 Why was the only time blacks were equal to whites was during the Reconstruction Era from 1865–1877?
“Addressing Current & Historical Realties Affecting Our Community”
- Roy Douglas Malonson
ERIC FAGAN
Ruth Olivia Purifoy
By: Chelsea Davis-Bibb, Ed.D.
Eric Fagan has been a Fort Bend Country resident for 30 years. He was elected as the Sheriff of Fort Bend County on November 3, 2020. He was sworn in on January 1, 2021, and became the 45th Sheriff of Fort Bend County, Texas and the first African American to serve in this position since reconstruction 151 years ago. pay a poll tax which His education includes a Bachelor’s degree they couldn’t afford, in Criminal Justice, and a Master’s degree in and if you could afJuvenile Forensic Psychology from Prairie ford it, then you had View A & M University. While earning his to take a literacy test. master’s degree, he was able to obtain If you passed the liteducation and training regarding mental eracy test, they would health. This allowed him to conduct accuse you of cheatpsychological evaluations on inmates under ing, and they would a licensed psychiatrist before their day give you another test in court. With this knowledge, he’s able and make you answer to recognize mental illness, and how to questions like how deescalate a situation that involves someone many beans are in a who is mentally ill. bushel.” These were Due to these experiences, Sheriff Fagan some of the things understands the importance of officers being that were put in place properly trained on how to to try Selma cont’d handle their encounters with Fagan cont’d and page 2 those who are mentally ill. page 3
LIFE IN SELMA
By: Chelsea Davis-Bibb, Ed.D.
Dr. Ruth Cummings grew up during the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama. She was born on February 29, 1952, the seventh born of thirteen children. Her father Nelson Purifoy was a Methodist pastor for the AME church and was a church planter. He would plant AME churches in cities that did not have one and would revive the AME churches that needed coming back
to life. Her mother, Laura Ellen Perry Purifoy, stayed home to take care of the household and children, until she decided she wanted to do more and became a bus driver. She would later transport people to and from mass meetings, the voting polls, and so much more. In the early 1940’s, her family moved into a three-room house, but her father, who was also a carpenter, expanded the house
over time and they had three bedrooms, a dining room, an inside bathroom, and a den. Growing up in Selma, Alabama was not easy as Dr. Cummings experienced and witnessed a lot from her time there as a child. Her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement began when blacks (at that time were called Negroes) were fighting for their right to vote. She reflected on how black people “had to