By: Vincent L. Hall
Well, if you want Black History these days, you better get it for yourself. Any time the federal government scrubs icons like Jackie Robinson and the Tuskegee Airman from its official website, you know that when it comes to justice, it’s “just us!”
Don’t be surprised if you look up next week and “Fox Noose” runs a documentary on Fannie Lou Hamer depicting her as a Trump supporter.
And by the way, what the hell were you expecting?
My daddy says if you kill my dog, I’ll kill your cat!
Don’t you understand that their assault on DEI is related to your attacks on Robert E. Lee? Did you really believe that hardline, card-carrying White folk were going to let you tear down their monuments and strip their names from schools and military bases without striking back?
Google the Reconstruction era and white backlash!
We did, and that’s our problem as a people. We want to talk a fight, while our adversaries are throwing blows.
As Malcolm X always reminded us, “We do too much singin’ and not enough swingin’!
Quit Playin.
But on a softer note, let me tell you how a brush against Black History fed my soul the other day.
Last week, I was at the Flying Fish, about to seize on a meal that has historical status in most Southern Black families. I was looking at my deep-fried whole
catfish, and all I could think about was my grandmother.
I looked to my left and gasped. It was Ron Fuller. You don’t know him, huh?
Let me introduce to some and remind others who Ron Fuller is through a March 1984 article in The Oklahoman.
“Though they’re fairly new in the modeling business, identical twins Rod and Ron Fuller, Dallas, are used to being in front of a crowd.
Before they learned to strut across a stage in front of a fashion-conscious audience, they played college basketball in a gymnasium packed with sports fans.
But showing off one’s athletic ability is a lot different from showing off one’s fashion-clad physique, Rod said in a telephone interview from Mississippi while the two were on tour with the Ebony Fashion Fair.
“At first, with Ebony,” he said, “we were a little tense. You feel a little exposed. It was embarrassing when women whistled. It throws you off.”
The ticket price includes a one-year subscription to Ebony or six months to Jet. In its 26th year, the fashion show originally intended to feature black models in clothes by world-famous designers.
Over the years, it has also become a popular fund-raising project for civic and social organizations. This season’s tour includes presentations in 173 cities. Back before “integration” and the internet, you could only read about positive and purposeful Black experiences in Black publications. Ebony and Jet introduced us to the best of us.
The Ebony Fashion Fair ignited the career of Richard Roundtree, who would become a “badmutha-shut-yo-mouth” for life!
Ron lives in Dallas, and if you want to shake hands with some real Oak Cliff/Dallas history, you can meet Ron these days at Neiman Marcus, somewhere near the women’s fragrance bar.
He can probably tell you where Rod is!
You better get as much history as possible before Elon and that Felon remove all signs of Blackness from the digisphere!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
