I had the privilege and honor of working with Mrs. Juanita Craft from 1965 thru 1971. I was a member of her South Dallas NAACP Youth Council where I served as secretary for 2 years and Texas State youth secretary for one year. I am now at age 70 a volunteer docent in the museum built in her honor in Dallas Texas.
In 1965 my mother was no longer able to take care of her children. She sent my baby brother and I to live with her brother and his wife. I was born in NYC in 1953. The ensuing culture shock was jarring and traumatic.
My aunt and [NAACP leader] Mrs. Juanita Craft were friends. Two days after arriving in Dallas I attended my first NAACP Youth Council meeting. I worked with Mrs. Craft's youth council until I finished high school. Our council worked on many voter registration drives. We also edited those applications so mistakes couldn't be used to void votes.
The youth council started the Kids Kan Kampaign or the KKK to clean up the neighborhood on Saturday mornings. We would pick a different block or lot every week. I attended 3 national NAACP conventions. We traveled with Mrs. Craft to other cities in Texas to help start more youth councils. We even helped start one in Shreveport LA.
Mrs. Craft started me in volunteering which my first volunteer job was thru the Red Cross at my neighborhood park. I went to school at NTSU [North Texas State University] (now University of North Texas, UNT) and worked with the African American Student Union. Our organization ran free breakfast, mentorship and tutorial programs in the underserved community in Denton Texas.
In 2017 I moved back to Dallas where I have had the honor of working on the steering committee and then being aboard member on The Friends of Juanita Craft Civil Rights House and Museum. I am the volunteer docent at the Juanita Craft House.
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