The Collins family

By: Crystal LaShan

“Get you some dirt. They’re not making any more,” resigned from many thoughts after having an extraordinary interview with Mr. and Mrs. Collins, also known as Mr. Ernest and Mrs. Floretta. They represent a legacy like no other. A Black landownership legacy is seen as an anomaly because most black families were denied their forty acres and a mule after reconstruction. Some were even terrorized out of their land by White men who didn’t respect the hard work they put into it, or simply believed that they were entitled to something they didn’t earn just because society deemed them a superior race. Well, that is not the story of the Collins family legacy. After the end of the Civil War and during Reconstruction in 1871, Mr. Ernest’s great, great grandfather, Mr. Newton Isaac Collins, purchased 130 acres of land. That one purchase started a rich, loving, and committed legacy for six generations of Black landownership.

“Flo and I are in the business of agriculture, and she has been supporting me in the ranching.” These first words from Mr. Ernest warmed my heart immediately as he explained the secret of his success is his family. On March 5, 1965, on a Friday evening, Flo met Ernest at the student union on the campus Collins cont. on pg. 3

By: Afram News

We must remember a beautiful soul and pay tribute to the life of Doris R. Countee, a phenomenal educator who touched the lives of many. She died on January 21, 2021, after a strong battle with health issues. She served as an HISD teacher for 46 years at Booker T. Washington and Robert E. Lee High Schools and was a Marine Biology teacher.

Doris was the oldest great-great granddaughter of the great Rev. Jack Yates and attended Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Christ, Inc. She was heavily involved in church and had participated in Sunday School for 50 plus years. She was also involved the schools she worked at and was the half time announcing voice at football games at both schools.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Velma Amboree, great granddaughter of Jack Yates, and Alphonse Richards, adopted mother Nannie Y. Countee, two brothers (Robert and Willie Earl), and a sister (Betty Price), She is survived by a brother Charley Earl (Betty), sister Lennie Marie Davis, and her niece/goddaughter Martha Whiting-Goddard. She is also survived by a host of Yates, Earl, Countee, and Whiting nieces, nephews, and cousins.

BLACK HISTORY IS 24/7/365, NOT 28–29 dAYS

Contributing Writers Dr. Bobby Mills

The Overflow

EDITORIAL a Revival of God Consciousness

“Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me ‘eat in the kitchen,’ then.”

Bobby Mills, Phd

News: Office: (713) 692-1892

too

Hughes wasn’t allowed to eat at the table because of his skin color, but when he used the word “tomorrow,” he was hopeful that one day, he would be able to sit at the table without judgment or discrimination. I long too for the day when we all will be able to sit together without being focused on our differences, but to find common ground, mutual respect, with the understanding that our differences are a part of who we are, and that we too have a lot in common with each other.

The poem “I, Too” by Hughes was relevant during its time, and is still relevant in today’s society. He started the poem off with, “I, too, sing America,” letting everyone know that even though I am Black, and my skin color is not favored by most, I am an American too.

White Privilege Autocracy

Some will say if being White

Hughes concluded his poem with, “BesidesThey’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes made it known that if they had spent more time getting to know him and had judged him by his character instead of his looks, then they would have seen a great person who is more than his skin color, who was not only America, but who was a human being as well. Look at a person’s character first before you judge them by their outward appearance. I proudly say, “I am America Too.”

Privilege oriented is wrong, then I do not want to be right. Therefore, autocracy is about making a lie your false truth, because the objective is to live by the power of guns, guns, and more guns. Guns provide the ability to maximize power, privilege, and pleasure, because of skin tone: something for nothing. The classic example is the (1619) Project in the Southern States. Making a lie your false truth is a classic example of hypocrisy. Our Lord and

Savior always admonished us to: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil: cling to what is good” (Romans 12: 9). America let’s cease playing political games with one another for material advantage because, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 9: 9-10). Black history month should be an enlightenment and reflection time for every American, especially Black Americans, because Blacks are the God conscience of American society.

Today, Blacks are still facing many challenges with being Black in America and racism and discrimination still exists. Hughes wanted that to be known and to embrace the fact that he is too American. He also said, “They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, eat well, and grow strong.” He then said, For more visit aframnews.com That can produce stories that address current and historical realities affecting our community. Please send your inquiries to prod@aframnews.com of Prairie View A&M University. They were introduced by mutual friends and quickly became inseparable. Their first date was at the movies. Ernest had to ask Flo’s parents’ permission to take her on a date. He picked her up at seven and was told to have her back by nine. “I was so nervous; I couldn’t even enjoy the movie because I knew I had to get Flo back to her parents on time.”

After getting Flo back home on time, Ernest’s car wouldn’t start, so when Flo discovered he was still in her driveway, she went to check on him. After realizing that the car was not going to work, Flo’s parents permitted Ernest to stay the night with her brother in his room. That night solidified their friendship which progressed into a beautiful relationship that evolved into a loving and devoted marriage of almost sixty years. Three children and six grandchildren later, they have continued the Collins family legacy of family first and success will naturally flow.

Mr. Ernest, also known lovingly as Ernie to his friends, grew up on a farm in Travis County, approximately seven miles southeast of Austin, Texas. The farm, located on Dee Gabriel Collins Road, has been owned and operated by members of the Collins family since the late 1800s. Their family farm has been recognized by the state of Texas for owning and operating for over 100 consecutive years. He is one of eleven children born to the late Talferd and Ella Collins. His parents believed in hard work and education and that was their top priority for the family. All of their children were supported and encouraged to take full advantage of educational opportunities. As a result, they have an amazing legacy of all eleven children graduating from high school, and all attended college.

Ernie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Prairie View A&M University and has additional studies toward an MBA at Texas Southern University. His wife, Floretta graduated in 1966 with a degree in elementary education. Upon graduation, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. Before reporting for officer’s basic training in artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Ernie married the lady of his dreams, Floretta Brown, in her hometown of Bay City, Texas.

Ernie served two years in the Army as a Fort Ord, California training officer. He was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in 1969. Upon returning to civilian life, he joined Humble Oil and Refining Company, now ExxonMobil in Denver, Colorado. After having a very successful career in various marketing and management positions, in 2003, he retired after 34 years of service.

During his time with ExxonMobil, they purchased their first farm, Files Valley, in 1973. After retiring, Mr. and Mrs. Collins decided to return to the simple life of their family farm. They both grew up on Texas farms, Ernie near Austin, and Floretta in Bay City. Ms. Floretta’s family purchased their land in 1940 and it is still in her family today. By the late 1890s, Ernie’s family had purchased 1000 acres of land in Pilot Knob. In 1891, Newton Collins sold his 130 acres of improved land for 500 acres of unimproved land. Then in the late 1890s, his son Dee Gabriel Collins purchased an adjacent 500 acres of land. Pilot Knob is considered A Freedman’s Town, a settlement created by formerly enslaved people.

“Farming is turning the soil and growing crops to sell. Ranching is landownership with cattle and maintaining grass for your cattle to eat. A rancher deals with cows and calves. We sell calves to market.” Mr. Collins made the distinction between Farmers and Ranchers so easy to understand and even more interesting to explore. When he shared that his father and mother did this all of their lives, he admitted to trying to escape the tradition through education. “Education was a tool to see that there was a Great Escape.” He admitted that Ms. Floretta thought farming was fun and he said “No”. He realized that he loved the Cattle and Horses, not the cotton and corn. So he focused on what he loved and now almost fifty years later he has a very successful Cattle Ranch, Red Hill Ranch.

By following the family tradition, he maintained a cattle herd on a farm that boasts six generations of land ownership. What an extraordinary story to tell and utilize to empower more African American families to invest in their family legacy through land ownership. The Collins family is a blueprint for what can be accomplished when we put family first, invest in the traditions, and commit to the longevity of Generational Wealth Building. “It was hard to get away from six generations of land ownership because I saw my father and grandfather work their land. I also knew the history of my ancestors in other generations did it too.” He understands that cattle ranching is labor and capital-intensive. “You need knowledge of Cattle. My family owned their land and sharecropping was perceived as horrible because they were working someone else’s land.”

It is so empowering to hear a story that doesn’t end in Black family trauma like Black Wall Street, Rosedale, Greenwood, or the infamous Lake Lanier. The Collins family didn’t experience negativity because they owned their property and fearlessly protected their investment. “Farming was perceived as horrible because most Black people were sharecroppers. When you own your land, it is pretty good and there was no negativity. Mr. Collin’s great grandfather, Dee Gabriel, was a stand-up kind of guy with eighteen children, so there was no taking his land.” Mr. Collins admits that “Education made progress possible.”

The original ranch house had no telephones. The kids loved learning and enjoying the country life on the ranch. He remembered his granddad saying, “Get you some dirt, Boy! They’re not making any more of it.”

According to Mr. Collins, “You must be committed to investing your time and money. Most people don’t understand how to operate a farm if they didn’t grow up on a farm, but you can educate yourself and you need a mentor. People think farming is still hard like it was for our ancestors, but now farming equipment does a lot of the major work. Equipment has progressed, which allows them to experience the evolution of farming in the 21st