I said a prayer for Texas because Texas has lost its way.  In the prayer I thanked my creator for sending champions that are fighting day in and out to prevent regressive public policies from driving our state into more of a hole. I prayed the majority of Texans in this state will understand that elections have consequences and unfortunately we will feel the effects of these for years to come.

“These banners are not a fair representation of the school,” the message said. “We should support diversity, not just African-American males. The portraits and paintings in the law school sing the same song. It is a shame that the only place many groups see representation at the law school is with their reflection in the bathroom mirrors.”

The Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 1, the budget bill for the state of Texas for the 2012-2013 biennium. I voted “no” on this bill because in my 20 years as a state legislator, I’ve never seen a budget so devastating to children and seniors. All we’ve done today is move around the deck chairs as the Titanic sinks.

TULIA- The good news is that the last two victims of the Tulia drug sting, Landis and Mandis Barrow, have had their records cleared. The bad news is that both men remain entangled in the criminal justice system.

It is difficult to decipher the extent of the Barrow twins’ involvement with Tom Coleman in Tulia.  A few Tulia defendants admitted selling crack to the undercover agent, but they were charged with selling powder cocaine.

DBCC Pres. Charles O’Neal

DALLAS- When Charles O’Neal took the helm of the Dallas Black Chamber after now Tarrant County College Vice Chancellor Reginald Gates stepped down on June 1, he had tall shoes to fill. Gates had been a proven leader and had developed strong relationships for the chamber. But O’Neal was not only charged with filling Gates’ shoes, but also of those who had gone before him in the 84-year-old history of the chamber. The Dallas Black Chamber is the oldest African-American Chamber in the nation.

Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce President Charles O’Neal speaks at
a meeting held at DISD Administrative facilities.

Elise Lenoir Morris

HOUSTON- Elise LeNoir Morris is the founder of the National Drexel Society, Inc., a lay Catholic service organization unique in that it is the only Black Catholic organization founded and chartered for Catholic women with an affiliate of Drexel Squires.

COLLEGE STATION- Family pressure on African-American college students to maintain their cultural identity while attending a predominantly White university increases the amount of stress experienced by these students, recent research suggests. “Students go through what we call acculturation, in that they’re trying to reconcile the values with which they grew up with what’s in the university environment. They experience a certain amount of stress in the process, and it’s called acculturative stress,” says Keisha Thompson, a doctoral student in counseling psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology. The article appears in the recent issue of International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling.

DALLAS- The Dallas Independent School District’s Food and Child Nutrition Services, along with the Texas Department of Agriculture, will provide free lunch and snacks to Dallas children and youth, ages one through 18, at more than 30 sites throughout the city. The purpose of the Summer Food Program, which will run June 7 through Aug. 13, is to ensure the youth throughout Dallas will not go without proper nutrition duing the summer months. Approximately 10,000 lunches and snacks will be distributed weekly. The program will also probide summer employment for approximately 100 food service employees. For more information call (214)932-5500.

Sen. Rodney Ellis

Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) recently demonstrated his position on Texas’ responsibility to right wrongs in the state’s justice system when he assisted the family of the late Timothy Cole of Lubbock, Texas in arranging Texas’ first posthumous pardon. He is currently pushing to reform the Board of Pardons and Paroles during the 2011 legislative session. He plans to reintroduce measures  that would require the board to meet in person, by conference call or by videoconference to decide on clemency in capital cases. The attorney representing the inmate and representatives of the victim’s family would be allowed to make presentations. The inmate could attend in person or be on the call, unless there was an overriding security issue. Additionally, the clemency recommendation and the reason of each board member would be announced publicly.

Dr. Jimmy and wife Margie Johnson.
Now retired, he served as an extraordinarily accomplished
medic in the army. He volunteered for DUSTOFF (Dedicated
Unhesitating Service To Our Fighting Forces) duty.

“Although African-Americans have participated in every major U.S. war, the battle for integration and for recognition of the accomplishments of Black soldiers has been a slow process. It wasn’t until after World War II that the U.S. armed forces became integrated, under a 1948 executive order by President Harry S. Truman. Credit to Blacks in the military has gradually been awarded where due and where long overdue,” said Elissa Haney, writing for the web site, Blacks in the Military.

AUSTIN– Austin Children’s Shelter recently paid tribute to Newton Isaac Collins Sr. Collins was a freed slave from Birmingham, Ala. who settled in Manor, Texas in 1863, where he was re-enslaved. After the Civil War, Collins received his freedom and became a carpenter and construction business owner, purchasing about 92 acres in 1872 in what is now East Austin. In 1891, he traded a portion of his property to buy 506 acres of farmland in Pilot Knob, near what is now known as McKinney Falls State Park. Information about Collins was discovered by Ada C. Anderson, 88, (his great granddaughter).

Convicted rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson stands next to a picture of Timothy Brian Cole, who was convicted for a crime Johnson committed. Johnson confessed his guilt to the courts after Cole’s conviction, but was repeatedly ignored.

Ruby Session, mother of Timothy Cole fights
tears as she sits next to rape victim Michelle
Mallin during court a court hearing aimed at
exonerating her son. Confronting convicted
rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson after his testimony
in which he expressed sorrow for his role in
Cole’s incarceration, Mallin said "[I am] going
to try to forgive you, but it's going to take a long,
hard time. ... No person deserves what that man
got. He could have been a father, he could have
been a grandfather right now."



AUSTIN– More than 10 years after his death, the family of Timothy Brian Cole finally receives justice. One day before the March 2 Primary Election, Gov. Rick Perry posthumously pardoned Cole, clearing his name after he died in a Texas prison for a crime he did not commit. The pardon came one week following a recommendation by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.