Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Citizen of the Month for March 2011

The Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce (CTAACC) named Link Mia Moody-Ramirez Citizen of the Month for March 2011. This is an honor for me. I have lived in Waco for more than 20 years. During that time, I have seen some progress in many areas. I am glad that CTAACC has a program that recognizes citizens for their works. The will make a special presentation at their membership meeting on Thursday, March 17th. 

Their Blurb:
The Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce named Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez Citizen of the Month for March 2011. Moody-Ramirez is a professor of Journalism and Media Arts at Baylor University. She teaches courses in public relations campaigns, minorities and women in the media and reporting and writing. She also instructs a digital media workshop for the Baylor University for Young People, an annual program for gifted and talented students.

Moody is well published. She is the author of Black and Mainstream Press’ Framing of Racial Profiling: a Historical Perspective, published by University Press of America in 2009. Her other works focus on misogynistic messages in rap music, negativity in the 2008 presidential primaries and media framing of women and minorities. She has been featured on KRLD Talk Radio, Dallas, The Ron Insana Show, and in numerous national and international publications. She also serves as faculty researcher for the Church Swap initiative sponsored by Baylor’s Academy for Leader Development and Civic Engagement and Waco’s Community Race Relations Coalition.”

Moody-Ramirez is also active in the community. Her involvements include The Waco Chapter of The Links, Inc., Jack and Jill, Inc., The National Association of Black Journalists and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Moody-Ramirez earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas, two master's degrees from Baylor University and a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University. The Bryan native served as a staff writer and columnist for the lifestyle section of the Waco Tribune-Herald from 1990 to 1997,

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Church Swap - Civil Rights Tour - Tulsa Riot



Waco's Church Swap group, led by Link Ramona Curtis, went on a Civil Right's Tour this past weekend, which featured visits to Memphis, Tenn.; Little Rock, Ark. and Tulsa, Okla. I joined the group in Oklahoma. We visited The Department of Special Collections and University Archives of the McFarlin Library at The University of Tulsa. It was there that I learned for the first time of the Tulsa Riots.

The event seems almost impossible to believe. During the course of18 hours, more than 1,000 homes in "Black Wall Street" were burned to the ground. Practically overnight, entire neighborhoods were suddenly reduced to ashes. In less than 24 hours, nearly all of Tulsa's African American residential district -- some 40-square- blocks in all -- had been laid to waste, leaving nearly nine-thousand people homeless. The area featured two theatres, several grocery stores, hotels, skating rinks, schools, churches, etc.

The riots began after black men, who were WWI vets, tried to protect a 19-year-old black man accused of "bothering" a white women. Sometime around or after 4 p.m. Dick Rowland, a nineteen-year old black shoeshiner employed at a Main Street shine parlor, entered the elevator at the rear of the nearby Drexel Building at 319 South Main Street en route to the 'colored' washroom on the top floor. Upon entering the elevator, he encountered Sarah Page, the seventeen-year old white elevator operator who was on duty at the time. It has never been determined with any certainty whether the two young people were acquainted. A clerk at Renberg's, a clothing store located on the first floor of the Drexel, heard what sounded like a woman's scream and observed a young black man hurriedly leaving the building. Upon rushing to the elevator, the clerk found Page in what he perceived to be a distraught state. The clerk reached the conclusion that the young woman had been assualted and subsequently summoned the authorities. She later admitted he was innocent.

Many of the members of the Church Swap group became emotional as they learned of the lost potential of the thriving black settlement, which was called "Black Wall Street" because of the many successful African-Americans who lived there, including attorneys, teachers and the a top surgeon.

Tulsa African-Americans received a formal apology for the riots a few years ago. They were also promised reparations. However, they have not collected them. The city also funded scholarships and a multi-purpose center in the area.