PEOPLE WHO VALUE US I
PART THREE
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The victory was ultimately attained when two brave and courageous Harris County district court judges -Judge Alexandra Smoots-Hogan and Judge Larry Weiman -- listened to the compelling historical evidence in the case and entered several orders protecting these wonderful historic streets, including an injunction to prevent alteration, removal or damage to the streets. CONTINUED FROM (PAGE - 03)
stood up, spoke out and stopped the unnecessary destruction of a significant part of black history. They reversed the irreverent disrespect shown by city officials to the accomplishments of original black Houstonians. When confronted with the callous
Africa. The history books do not reveal any evidence of white Houstonians at the time knowing anything about these hidden messages in the bricked streets. Indeed, the recent actions of Houston's mayor and city council demonstrate the ignorance persists. The Freedmen stamped each of the roads with their religious symbolism. The
and better utility lines, city officials wished to remove the original bricks laid by our ancestors. Progress at any cost can be too expensive! No doubt the Waling Wall in Jerusalem could be replaced with a more perfect and stable modern wall. No doubt the pyramids of Egypt can be rebuilt with
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Freedmen's Town. Just as evident as it is to protect the other mentioned structures so should the streets of Freedmen's Town be protected and preserved. Thank you to the Freedmen's Town Preservation Coalition members for standing up and speaking out to save this valuable history. Thank you to Doris Ellis
Black History Is Worth Saving In Houston plan of a city hell-bent on destroying 130+ year old bricked streets laid by emancipated black slaves and their descendants--bricks that a racist city at the time refused to allow "white tax dollars" to pay for-- this band of courageous souls protested, risked certain incarceration, and filed suit to protect this precious history. They succeeded! The bricked streets of Freedmen's Town, in the Fourth Ward of Houston, Tx., have been protected. These bricked streets were paid for and installed by emancipated black men and women. These original black Houstonians cobbled together the necessary money required by the city to pay for the bricks when city officials refused to use tax dollars to provide paved streets -- even when it was well known by city officials that the absence of paved roads was causing an outbreak of malaria that was caused by mosquitos breeding in mud puddles in the dirt streets. Instead of abandoning these heartless conditions, these original black Houstonians hewed out of despair a sanctuary of hope. They paid their own money to improve a city that did not care enough to protect them from malaria. Before their improvements to the area, Fourth Ward was described as a "place where no decent white person would dare live." Unknown to the whites who forced them to pay for and pave their own streets, these black former slaves and their descendants engaged in a secret revolt while laying the bricks. Harkening back to their African roots, they arranged the bricks in a unique "crossroads pattern" that called upon the spirit world to protect them from evil. White Houstonians at the time would not have known of these secret messages in the bricks. To this day, the bricked streets still reveal the clear religious intention of the bricklayers to solicit their "god" and ancestors to help them in the difficult areas in which they were forced to live. The bricks evidence abrupt changes in angles at several locations to coincide precisely with the cardinal angles of the universe (north, south, east and west) consistent with tribal practices of the Yoruba of West
bricked roads are a secret messaging network for early freed slaves. No other location in Houston or Harris County is known to have anything similar. It is this unique history that Houston's city leaders did not care enough to learn about. It is this history that city leaders were not informed enough to save. It is this history that the City claimed it could improve upon. Under the pretext of progress
modern engineering. No doubt the Leaning Tower of Pisa could have been demolished and a new building constructed for less money than it took to stabilize the old tilting edifice. However, no right thinking person today would allow, let alone encourage, such "improvements." Unfortunately, the same sense of automatic protectionism is not evident when considering the masterpieces that lay in the bricked streets of
for risking her personal freedom by placing her body in the way of city contractors who had commenced removal of the bricks. Thank you to Catherine Roberts and all the people who contributed funds to pay for the effort, especially the residents of Cuney Homes.
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“Judge Alexandra Smoots-Hogan
Saves Black History in Houston, Texas.” 164th Civil District Court in Harris County www.aubreyrtaylor.blogspot.com - HOUSTON BUSINESS CONNECTIONS NEWSPAPER n 05