Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/GarlandJournal
ACLU
TEXAS DEMOCRATS TAKE ACTION!
Follow us on Twitter @GarlandJournal
Texas
Go to www.garlandjournal.com and www.texasmetronews.com for indepth coverage
Your Ad belongs here, contact: 214-941-0110
http://www.aclutx.org/ http://www.facebook.com/acluoftexas http://www.twitter.com/aclutx
GarlandJournal SERVING NORTH EAST TEXAS
WWW.GARLANDJOURNAL.COM
MY TRUTH
By Cheryl Smith Publisher
The Real Dick Gregory To be recognized during your lifetime has to be a great feeling. If folks didn’t learn anything as a result of COVID-19, showing love and appreciation should have been on the list.
Dr. E. Faye Williams
Sadly, however; so many missed the memo and therefore grace is not in their vocabularies. To Dr. E. Faye Williams’ credit, it didn’t take a pandemic for her to realize how precious life and friends are. She had a friend in Dick Gregory and while he is no longer here to be showered with love, when he was alive Mr. Gregory knew he had a friend in her. And that is so important! Actually it is powerful. And, Mr. Gregory said that information was power! The author of several books, Dick Gregory was about sharing information. Get him talking and you were in for a treat, because it was like having your own personal lecturer. Rapper and businessman Killer Mike said that when Mr. Gregory died, it was like an entire library burned down.
Dick Gregory
Which brings me to my truth. Dr. Williams is also a library and she is continuing in the same mode as her long-time friend; by writing books, hosting and appearing on radio shows, speaking at lecturns to speak truth to power, and being a voice for the voiceless. Her latest labor of love is: “Dick Gregory, Wake Up and Stay Woke: Running for Life.” Believe me when I tell you, you need to read this book! Much like Mr. Gregory, she candidly discusses issues and provides a history lesson for readers. This is Black History! And guess what? Folks are going to be writing about Dr. Williams also. Who is she? She’s all that and more! The National President of the National Congress of Black Women, Dr. Williams is the president of the Dick Gregory Society and a board member of the World Conference of Mayors. She’s a former Professor of International Law at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. She previously served as Chief of Staff for the late Mayor Marion Barry and See MY TRUTH, page 2
THURSDAY JULY 15, 2021 VOLUME X
More than Most Qualified!
Mayor Cornelious’ life experiences shape leadership By Eva D. Coleman
Lifestyle and Culture Editor
He has come a long way from the farm in what is now known as Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. Curtis J. Cornelious has not strayed from the values his upbringing instilled and carries them into his new role as mayor of the Town of Little Elm, Texas. “My dad always farmed, my mom, always a full-time nurse, so we had the best of both worlds,” Cornelious said. “We were either out helping on the farm, or we were out learning something about helping people healthcare wise.” Next to the youngest of eight children, which he laughed as he fondly invoked a well-known country term as being the “knee baby,” Cornelious has a high regard for his father and mother and their sense of care. “Both of our parents were
just heartfelt and that’s how they raised us to be,” he said. Growing up, Cornelious shared that they didn’t have a lot, yet their home was often a shelter for others in need. “It’s a three bed, one bath house on the hill. The water ran slow, and at any given time, we always had a cousin from each family living with us,” Cornelious said. “It was nothing to have the 10 of us plus four or five others, but it was a family thing.” He emphasized that with hard work, they had fun. The family togetherness with the minimum yielded lessons he’ll never forget in foreseeing maximum rewards. “What they taught us is, whatever you have, appreciate it; and just because you see others with it, it does not mean you don’t have what you deserve,” Cornelious said. “Use that to drive you to get what you want.” And drive, he did. The University of Arkan-
Little Elm’s First Family - L to R - Christian Cornelious, Stephanie Stevenson, Mayor Curtis J. Cornelious, Charlet Cornelious, Collyn Cornelious-Courtesy of Cornelious Family Credit: Cornelious Family
sas at Pine Bluff, a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) institution, graduate who holds double degrees in chemistry and agriculture moved from Arkansas to Carrollton, Tex. At that time, he was a chemist with the world’s largest chemical company, BASF. A friend living in The Colony knew that Corne-
lious and his wife, Charlet, were looking to purchase a home and suggested they check out his city. “We were literally driving trying to find The Colony and shot straight through it and found Little Elm, Texas,” Cornelious shared with a huge smile. “Being from Arkansas, country boy, as soon as we
hit Little Elm I saw all these cows on the side of the road. So, I told my wife, ‘Let’s just drive through and look at some houses since we’re out here.’” They’ve lived in Little Elm since 2004. Cornelious’ personal drive started long before. He recalled being student See MOST QUALIFIED page 5
Bean Pie my brother, Bean Pie my sister? By Amore
Natural Baked Goods may be the best dessert you’ve ever had
Texas Metro News
Bean pies are now infused into the Black food experience like soul food. Unlike most soul food, the bean pie consists of healthy components that are full of nutrients. In the 1930s the Nation of Islam’s eternal father, The Hon. Elijah Muhammad, introduced the pie as the dessert counterpart to his “How to Eat to Live” diet utilized by his followers. Muhammad’s better health doctrine sparked wellness consciousness throughout the Black community and with such came the popularity of the bean pie. In the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Mother Earth Natural Baked Good’s bean pie is at the helm of numerous dinner tables as their premier dessert choice. Sis. Eartha Muhammad, a member of N.O.I. Muhammad Mosque No. 48 in South Dallas, is the owner of Mother Earth.
Sis. Eartha Muhammad
MOTHER EARTH When people say, “Why make a pie out of beans?” Her response is quite simple. “The navy bean is full of protein, anti-oxidants, anti-radiation properties, this why The Hon. Elijah Muhammad gave it to us to
eat as a complete food.” Navy beans have been called one of the healthiest foods on earth. This bean has been hailed as a great source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. It also minimizes blood
sugar levels from a rapid rise, this makes the bean good for diabetics. In addition, the bean also provides energy, helps maintain memory, and lowers risk of heart attack. People who are not familiar with the bean pie often imagine it as a pie full of whole beans, which is not widely appealing. That’s not the case. The navy beans are cooked and pureed then seasoned with spices and sweetness that gives the bean pie a taste likened to sweet potato, or pumpkin pie, but better according to patrons of it. Rashad Miller is definitely sold, he had this to say about Mother Earth’s. “I fell in love with these delicious pies at first bite. I can’t imagine a better all-natural dessert See MOTHER EARTH page 3
SMU Perkins five Black trailblazers changed face of campus – Part I I Was Just Thinking By Norma Adams-Wade It was the early-1950s when lily-white began to fade as the only skin color seen on campus at Southern Methodist University in North Dallas. That change was significant but not so remembered or discussed today. One has to dig deep to find much mention about the first five Black Southern Methodist University students. The time was 1952 – two years before the U. S. Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling that ended segregation in public schools; at least legally on paper,
(Lt to Rt) A. Cecil Williams, James Lyles, James Hawkins, John Elliot, Negail Riley
though not much in reality. Rummaging through some local history documents, I ran across an utterly fascinating recollection of how African-Americans became a part of the SMU student body that one researcher called “lily-white.” The pioneering Black students largely kept their distance from the main student body, yet successfully achieving their goal to graduate and claim their place
in history. The five men were graduate students from other schools who entered SMU’s Perkins School of Theology, a private, Methodist church-affiliated institution. They arrived there relatively smoothly because of the quiet crusading of a brainy, Dallas-born Anglo educator, Augustus Merrimon Cuninggim,[cq a Rhodes Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa and Oxford
Credit: SMU Perkins Bridwell Library
University graduate who in 1951 became Dean of Perkin’s School of Theology. Cuninggim,[cq in his quest to integrate Perkins, secured the discreet support of then SMU President Umprey Lee. Forward-thinking Lee had smartly convinced reluctant school trustees in 1950 to remove SMU bylaw language that uphold See THINKING, page 3