VOL XVIII ISSUE 21 JUNE 5, 2019
MY TRUTH Cheryl Smith Publisher
Celebrating Women
“My friends ask what do I see in you.” Every time I sing those words from one of my favorite hits from the tantalizing Temptations, I say to myself, “I wish someone would say those words to me!” He wouldn’t have to worry because I would have told him, “go be with your friends.” You see, I’m a firm believer that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and you can’t believe everything you see. Just look at posts on social media. You see something that looks outrageous but the remarks below the picture clearly illustrate that what you see, others see entirely differently. You’re thinking “WTH” while others are typing “beautiful,” “absolutely gorgeous.” A lesson to the wise: don’t judge. Live your life, because no one else should and you
QUIT PLAYIN’
By Vincent L. Hall
Uncle Ben can Double Stuff It! When Massa Trump relented and agreed to put a fly in all that Buttermilk, he found the right one. Trump thinks like a slavemaster so it follows that he secured the best “House Nigger” that an annual salary of $199,700 could buy. Ben Carson ain’t no actor, but if the movie Django’s ‘Colored
CEO” Stephen got sick; Ben would be the perfect double. Trump has a tidy little group of representatives from NUTS, (The National Uncle Tom Syndicate) who do his bidding. He has those two “Mammy” impersonators that go by the names “Diamond” and “Silk.” He has Ben Carson
See QUIT PLAYIN, page 5
LEADER PASTOR, MAYOR, COMMUNITY
Lady Opal Johnson Smith
shouldn’t try to live anyone elses’! You have your own journey and as many have said, they don’t look like what they’ve been through, so there’s much you don’t know when looking at a person you don’t know. After all, like the Temptations say, “Beauty’s only skin deep.” Recently, there was a beautiful message on social media. A woman, The Stay At Home Chef, responded to a critic with a classic “clap back.” When the rude, insensitive person hiding behind a post wrote the Stay At Home Chef telling her that her gray hair made her look like a hag, she talked about her life challenges and how she felt blessed to still be alive. Her message was so poignant. Then I heard a quote from former NBAer Dick Garrett, who said, “Mother Nature and Father Time are undefeated.” So, you can Be the Person that the Stay at Home Chef talked about and think before you talk and make your life count, or you can be a total waste. Sometimes what you see is not totally what you get, so you can’t judge a book by the cover. Which brings me to my truth. At first glance, you see beauty, regalness, and so much more! In this instance, the beauty is more than skin deep. I always refer to her as the most beautiful woman in Dallas. I’m talking about Opal Johnson Smith.A proud 1954 graduate of Prairie View A&M University, she served as Miss Prairie View A&M, president of the PV National Alumni Association, and she has the distinction of having an auditorium named after her at her alma mater. The youngest of eight children born to Professor Wayne Wright and Elsie Johnson of Nigton (now I could write about that name but I digress), young Opal was 15 when she graduated from high school and 19 when she received a degree in mathematics from PV. Now she is definitely PV royalty. Her father graduated from Prairie View Normal, then went on to Tuskegee where the one and only Dr. George Washington Carver mentored him. Her mom entered PV then took a break to be at home with the children. That break lasted for 35 years, then she went back and graduated, walking down the aisle with her youngest son. It’s not a surprise that Lady Opal entered the See MY TRUTH, page 5
By Cheryl Smith
during a very trying period that included 116 days in the hospital. “I had to learn how to walk again,” he said, Parishioners, supporters, former employees, as he detailed a lengthy process that included elected officials and commit leaders are expected intense physical therapy sessions to regain many to show their love, appreciation and support of of his basic motor skills. “It was tough at times.” Honorable Rev. Dr. Ronald Jones on Saturday, But if anyone who knows the former Mayor of June 15, 2019. Garland, TX., they will say that he is tough, too, It was an always-dapper and pleasant statesman with a deep and abiding faith. who greeted folks recently at a retirement And he was up and out again later in the week celebration for one of his parishioners, Candace as he attended the Verna H.E.L.P.’s Foundation’s Wicks, who served 30 years as an educator Empowerment Prayer Brunch where Living in Dallas Independent Legends were honored. School District. There too, he was Taking measured WHAT: Retirement Celebration showered with praise and steps as he walked with for Rev. Ronald Jones well wishes. a cane, Rev. Jones, after Forget he’s small in extended hospital and WHEN: Saturday, June 15, stature. If you’ve ever seen recuperation periods him in council meetings, 2019 at 2:30 pm is back up and active. standing in the pulpit or Married to Peggy for over out in the community; you 50 years, this father of a WHERE: New Hope Baptist know that he’s a giant in baptist minister, whose Church, 5002 S. Central so many ways. brother and son have also Expressway A servant leader, Rev. both become ministers, Jones is one of Dallas’ preached his final sermon finest. Yes, Dallas won’t as the 113th Senior Pastor of Dallas’ historic relinquish ownership, although Garland citizens New Hope Baptist Church, just a little over three stress that he is their mayor! weeks prior. He’s a native son, born and raised in Dallas. A At the celebration scheduled at the oldest 1962 graduate of James Madison High School, African American Church in Dallas, at 5002 S. in “Sunny South Dallas,” he went on to receive a Central Expressway, at 2:30 pm, the doors of the bachelors degree from Dallas Baptist University church will be open for all as his tenure, which before going on to earn a Master of Science includes several stints as Interim Pastor, comes to Degree in Human Relations and Business an end. Management from Abilene Christian University Offering praise and blessings, Rev. Jones, or and a Doctorate Degree in Clinical Christian “Mayor Jones” as he is still affectionately called, Counseling from Cornerstone University. talked about his recent health issues and how he Prior to being elected as Garland’s first received so many messages of love and support See MAYOR, page 2 Garland Journal
WORDZ OF WILSON By Chelle Luper Wilson
This Calls for a Celebration Our souls look back In wondrous surprise At how we have made it So far from where we started Maya Angelou My social media feeds have been full of Black scholars celebrating dissertation defenses, completion of advanced degrees, graduate school and Post-Doc acceptances, joyous graduation ceremonies with family and friends, and the most inspiring and absolutely fabulous graduation photo shoots I have ever seen. I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few ceremonies this month and let me just say, from the undergraduates who have already filed patents to the Autherine Lucy Foster new PhDs doing groundbreaking research, I am so excited about what lie ahead for us. “Sankofa means go back and get it. While some may assume our greatness lies in the future, it truly lies in the past,” that was just one of the many gems Ammishaddai GrandJean dropped in the “student speech” at the University of Georgia’s Rite of Sankofa Ceremony. This spring’s commencement exercises have brought many opportunities to go back and look at the past. After Autherine Lucy Foster earned her B.A. in English from Miles College, she sought to continue her education and applied to the University of Alabama. She received her letter of acceptance, but a few days later the offer was rescinded. It was 1952 and admissions realized that Autherine Lucy was Black. The university’s unwritten “whites only” policy had gone unchallenged for 121 years, but that would soon change. Attorneys Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shores launched a legal battle on her behalf. After three years and by court order, Lucy was admitted. She wasn’t allowed in the dining hall or dormitories and had to be driven either by university officials or the police to her classes and home. This was the South and no diversitywelcoming committee existed. Instead, Lucy was met with death threats, mobbed by students, bombarded with rotten eggs, and after three days, the university expelled her. I can’t imagine what that must have been like; to have a three-year legal battle result in expulsion after only three days, and in an extremely hostile environment at that. Marshall understood the weighted burden of defeat but never allowed it to cloud his vision of the future. In a letter to Lucy he wrote, “Whatever happens…remember for all concerned, that your contribution has been made toward equal justice for all Americans and that you have done everything in your power to bring this about.” Eventually, the University of Alabama invited Lucy Foster back. She earned a master’s in elementary education in 1992. Then, 67 years after she first applied, the University of Alabama again invited her back, awarding Lucy Foster an honorary doctorate during the Spring Com-mencement. The class of 1969 at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University was also recognized during their university’s Spring Com-mencement. In a time that should have been filled with preparation for finals, planning for graduation, and making decisions about post-college life, this historic class found themselves in the middle of the Greensboro uprising. Many described their campus as a “war-like zone” as the governor and mayor sent a tank, helicopter, and hundreds of national See WORDZ, page 5