The

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

population in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, has been a significant part of the city's community since its establishment.Haley, John H. (

University of North Carolina at Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

). " Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston" (Book Review). ''

The Georgia Historical Quarterly The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and tau ...

'', July 1, 1993, Vol. 77(2), pp. 412–413
Available from

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

. CITED: p. 412. "Blacks were already present in Houston at the time of its founding in 1836, .. The

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

area has the largest population of African Americans in Texas and

west of the Mississippi River Trans-Mississippi was a common name of the geographic area west of the Mississippi River during the 19th century. The area included Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and many other territories. The te ...

Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl ...

has referred to Houston as a black mecca.

History

When Houston was founded in 1836, an African-American community had already begun to be established. In 1860, 49% of the city's African American population was enslaved;Treviño, Robert R. '' The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston''.

UNC Press Books The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the Southern United States. It is a member of the Ass ...

, February 27, 2006
29
. Retrieved from

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

on November 22, 2011. , . there were eight free blacks and 1,060 slaves. Before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, enslaved African-Americans living near Houston worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those living within the city limits held domestic and artisan jobs. Although slavery ended after the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, by the mid-1870s

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

became codified throughout the South, including

. African Americans in Houston were poorly represented by the predominantly white state legislature and city council, and were politically disenfranchised during the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...

era; whites had used a variety of tactics, including militias and legislation, to re-establish political and social supremacy throughout the South.Woodward, C. Vann and McFeely, William S. ''The Strange Career of Jim Crow''. 2001, p. 6 In 1929 Houston Planning Commission chairperson Will Hogg made a proposal to designate areas of the city by race in its zoning so African-Americans do not become too numerous near White communities; the city did not enact this as it never adopted zoning.Kaplan, Barry J. (

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

).
Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970
." ''

The Houston Review ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 186. In the 1940s and 1950s black people from small southern towns moved to Houston, resulting in the black communities increasing in size. The black population in the Third Ward became larger and therefore closer in proximity to nearby Jewish communities.Kaplan, Barry J. (

).
Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970
." ''

''. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 188. White people began to move from the Third Ward area, partly due to the passage of

Brown vs. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

in 1954.Kaplan, Barry J. (

).
Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970
." ''

''. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 191-192.

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

students led the integration of Houston in the 1960s. On Friday, March 4, 1960, Texas Southern University students led Houston's first sit-in at the Weingarten's grocery store lunch counter located at 4110 Almeda Road. That sit-in played a major role in the desegregation of Houston's white owned businesses. Today, a U.S. Post Office sits at that location; however, a Texas Historical Marker sits in the front of the building reminding visitors of the courageous role TSU students played in the desegregation of Houston, Texas. Six months after their first sit-in, 70 Houston lunch counters were desegregated. The success of their continued efforts eventually led to the full integration of businesses within the city. In 1970, 90% of the black people in Houston lived in mostly

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

s. By 1980 this decreased to 82%.Finkel, Adam N. ''Worst Things First?: The Debate Over Risk-Based National Environmental Priorities''.

Resources for the Future Resources for the Future (RFF) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1952 that conducts independent research into environmental, energy, and natural resource issues, primarily via economics and other social sciences. Headquartered in ...

, 1995
249
. Retrieved from

on October 6, 2011. , Historically, the City of Houston placed established landfill facilities in established African American neighborhoods. Private companies also located landfills in black neighborhoods. Between the early 1920s and the late 1970s the five municipal sanitary landfills were in black neighborhoods. During the same period, six of the eight

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste ...

incinerators resided in mostly black neighborhoods. From 1970 to 1978 three of the four private landfills established during that period were located in Houston black neighborhoods. Around that era African Americans made up around 25% of the city's population. Houston City Council, which decided where the landfills would be located, was entirely composed of white residents until 1972.Gaventa, John, Barbara E. Smith, and Alex W. Willingham. ''Communities in Economic Crisis:'' Appalachia and the South''.

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

, 1990
196
. Retrieved from

on October 6, 2011. , .'' The political efforts and advocacy behind a 1979 federal lawsuit regarding one proposed landfill led to political changes that ended the deliberate placement of landfills in black neighborhoods.Gaventa, John, Barbara E. Smith, and Alex W. Willingham. ''Communities in Economic Crisis: Appalachia and the South''.

, 1990
197
. Retrieved from

on October 6, 2011. , . In 1980, the city had 440,257 African American residents, making it one of the largest black populations in the country. As of 1987 most African Americans in Houston continued to live in inner-city black neighborhoods, even though they gained the legal right to move to any neighborhood. According to research at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, many African Americans choose to live in neighborhoods where they were raised. From the

1980 U.S. Census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was t ...

to the 1990 U.S. Census, many African Americans left traditional African-American neighborhoods such as the MacGregor area, Settegast, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward and entered parts of

Southwest Houston Southwest Houston is a region in Houston, Texas, United States. The area is considered to be from Texas State Highway 6, south of Westpark Tollway to north of U.S. Route 90. Many Section 8 (housing) complexes are located in Southwest Houston. ...

, such as

Alief Alief is a working-class suburb in Southwest Harris County, Texas, United States. Most of Alief is within the city limits of Houston, while a portion of the community is in unincorporated Harris County. First settled in 1894 as a rural farm co ...

Fondren Southwest Brays Oaks, formerly known as Fondren Southwest, is an area in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States. The Brays Oaks Management District, also known as the Harris County Improvement District #5, governs the Brays Oaks area as well as other surro ...

Sharpstown Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown), Southwest Houston, Texas.Westchase, and Westwood. Meanwhile, a significant percentage of Houston's

Non-Hispanic whites Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Ame ...

population (particularly those with children under 18) left the city for suburban communities, this phenomenon was known as

white flight White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...

. In 2004, some African-Americans who had lived in the suburbs had returned to the inner city area due to their previous ties to those communities. By 2005 the outflow from traditional black neighborhoods, such as the Third Ward, Sunnyside, Kashmere Gardens, and the Fifth Ward continued, with blacks moving to Alief, other parts of Southwest Houston,

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, Missouri City, and northwestern suburbs. Around 2005, African Americans began to move to an area around

Farm to Market Road 1960 Farm to Market Road 1960 (FM 1960) is a farm-to-market road in the U.S. state of Texas, maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Its western terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Highway 290 (US 290) and State Highway 6 (S ...

, in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in Harris County. In many traditional inner-city black neighborhoods, Mexican and Latino residents moved in. In addition to the

New Great Migration The New Great Migration is the demographic change from 1970 to the present, which is a reversal of the previous 60-year trend of black migration within the United States. Since 1970, deindustrialization of cities in the Northeastern and ...

, many African Americans in the US are now recently moving to Houston for lower cost of living and more job opportunities. Houston gained approximately 233,000 African-Americans between 2000 and 2010. Having the largest black population west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

, Houston is known as a center of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

political power, education, economic prosperity, and culture, often referred to as a black mecca. Houston is ranked among best U.S. metros for Black professionals. An additional 150,000 to 250,000 mostly black evacuees arrived in 2005 from the New Orleans metro after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, with many of them deciding to stay in Houston.

Commerce

The African American community in Houston had a rich diverse economic history. Throughout the communities, many businesses flourished. The Wards, 3rd, 4th and 5th had many restaurants, theaters, clubs, boarding houses, carriage delivery services, millinery shops (hat shops), stationery shops, newspaper publishers, dry goods stores, banks-savings and loans, insurance companies, seamstresses and tailor shops just to name a few. There were two major office buildings that housed many African American businesses, the Pilgrims Building https://www.stoppingpoints.com/texas/sights.cgi?marker=Ancient+Order+of+Pilgrims&cnty=harris) and the Odd Fellows Building (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eeh10). The agricultural history included a host of farmers and ranchers.(Red Book of Houston,https://woodsononline.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/the-red-book-of-houston/ ) As a matter of fact one of the largest ranches (still owned by the original family-The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch, 100 acres-http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_HoustonS.htm) was home to Sky Ranch the African American airport/air transport service, started by Tuskegee Airmen in the mid 1900s. In the early 1900s the community celebrated DeRoLoc which helped to promote the economic development of the community. This week long event was celebrated by an Agricultural/Industrial Exhibition, Ball, and Carnival. Many of the businesses benefited by all the people that attended from the region. The first Official DeRoLoc Event in Emancipation Park (Oldest park in Texas-donated by Freed Slaves) hosted 4,000 people (Fall 1901-some people say it was 1909), the event stopped in 1929 and was recently revived by a local business (NuWaters Co-op) in Houston. In Acres homes, there was the first African American Bus Company that made many runs to/from downtown Houston, to Acres homes providing transportation to many African Americans. (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dgama - annexed 1960s).

Cuisine

The

Louisiana Creole people Louisiana Creoles (french: Créoles de la Louisiane, lou, Moun Kréyòl la Lwizyàn, es, Criollos de Luisiana) are people descended from the inhabitants of colonial Louisiana (New France), Louisiana before it became a part of the United States ...

who settled Houston around the 1920s brought their cuisine with them. The Creole and Cajun cuisine style spread in Houston in the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

era,Pruitt, p
78
. which led to various Creole food chains such as Frenchy's Chicken, Pappadeaux, and Popeyes.Pruitt, p
78
. Creole dishes include

boudin Boudin () are various kinds of sausage in French, Luxembourgish, Belgian, Swiss, Québécois, Acadian, Aostan, Louisiana Creole, and Cajun cuisine. Etymology The Anglo-Norman word meant 'sausage', 'blood sausage' or 'entrails' in general. ...

black rice Black rice, also known as purple rice, is a range of rice types of the species ''Oryza sativa'', some of which are glutinous rice. There are several varieties of black rice available today. These include Indonesian black rice, Philippine heirl ...

and

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

creole,

crawfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...

gumbo Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gombo) is a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole "h ...

, and

jambalaya Jambalaya ( , ) is an American Creole and Cajun rice dish of French (especially Provençal cuisine), African, and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice. Ingredients Traditionally, the meat includes s ...

. Bernadette Pruitt, author of ''The Other Great Migration: The Movement of Rural African Americans to Houston, 1900-1941'', wrote that Creole cooking became "an important cultural bridge" in the city and in its African American community, and that, "As cooks, Creole housewives transformed Houston's typical southern cuisine." In 2021 Alison Cook of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' wrote that hamburger restaurants in historically black neighborhoods in Houston typically prepare hamburgers "exceptionally charred and well-done". In 2020, according to Emma Balter of the ''

'' most of the vegan restaurants she chronicled, in a list that was "comprehensive, yet not exhaustive", were owned by African-Americans.

Demographics

From the 1870s to the 1890s, African Americans made up almost 40% of Houston's population. Between 1910 and 1970 the African American population ranged from 21% to 32.7%. In 1870 36% of the African-Americans in Houston lived in the Fourth Ward, 29% lived in the Third Ward, 16% lived in the Fifth Ward, and 19% lived in other areas. In 1910 the plurality now lived in the Third Ward, with 32%; the Fourth Ward, Fifth Ward, and other areas had 27%, 21%, and 20% respectively. There were about 34,000 African-Americans in Houston in the 1920s, and in the 1930s there were about 63,000 African-Americans.Steptoe, ''Dixie West'', p
211
. In 1920, 20% of the people classified as "black" were subclassified as "

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

"; the census stopped taking statistics on "mulatto" people after 1920. In the racial segregation era people of

Louisiana Creole Louisiana Creole ( lou, Kréyòl Lalwizyàn, links=no) is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the state of Louisiana. It is spoken today by people who may racially identify as White, Black, mixed, and N ...

origin with African heritage attended black institutions such as schools even though they often considered themselves racially distinct from non-Creole African Americans.Steptoe, ''Houston Bound'', p
73

75
. Creoles spoke

Louisiana Creole French Louisiana Creole ( lou, Kréyòl Lalwizyàn, links=no) is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the state of Louisiana. It is spoken today by people who may racially identify as White, Black, mixed, and N ...

, making them linguistically distinct. Creoles also had different musical practices as they performed Southwest Louisiana-style " la-la". In the 1920s the "San Felipe districts" had the largest group of African-Americans, the Third and Fifth wards had other significant communities.Kaplan, Barry J. (

).
Race, Income, and Ethnicity: Residential Change in a Houston Community, 1920-1970
." ''

''. Winter 1981. pp. 178-202. CITED: p. 185. In 1940 the African-American population numbered 86,302, 21.4% of the number of people in Houston. The same population increased to 125,400, 21% of the city population, in 1950. 87.9% of the population increase from 1940 to 1950 was due to African-Americans moving from other parts of the United States, mostly Louisiana and Texas; most of the migrating African-Americans from rural areas and small towns. 1960 the African-American population numbered 215,037, 25.7% of the city population. In the central city, from 1950 to 1960, the African-American population increased by 20,299. Their percentage of the total population increased during that period from 23.4% to 31.1% because large numbers of white people left the central city. In 1970 the African-American population numbered 316,922, 25.7% of the city population. By 1980, Houston had 440,257 African American residents, making it one of the largest black populations in the country. In 2004 55% of the African American population born in Harris County originated from the Houston area either by birth or through growing up there as children. Between 2010 and 2015, Houston added about 100,000 new black residents to the area. Only behind the Atlanta and Dallas areas. Many African Americans in the US are now recently moving to Houston due to the city's well-established and influential Black or African American community.Pendergrass, Sabrina (January 3, 2017
“No Longer ‘Bound for the Promised Land’: African Americans’ Religious Experiences in the Reversal of the Great Migration.”
''Race and Social Problems 9''. Retrieved November 2, 2020. The Houston area has the largest African-American community in Texas and one of the top 10 in the nation.

Cultural institutions

The Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC) and Buffalo Soldier National Museum located in the

Houston Museum District The Houston Museum District is an association of 19 museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting art, science, history and culture. The Houston Museum District currently inc ...

. The Community Artists' Collective located in the midtown area is a hub for black creatives and art. The University Museum located on the campus of Texas Southern University is an art gallery that primarily highlights art by and about people in the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were ...

. The Rutherford B. H. Yates Museum preserves the legacy of African Americans in Houston's Freedmen's Town. Shrine of the Black Madonna is a cultural center, museum and bookstore that is owned and operated by the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church. Ovide Duncantell (died 2018) founded the Houston Black Heritage Society. The Houston Black Chamber of Commerce serves black businesses and professionals.

Politics

Lee P. Brown Lee Patrick Brown (born October 4, 1937) is an American politician, criminologist and businessman; in 1997 he was the first African-American to be elected mayor of Houston, Texas. He was re-elected twice to serve the maximum of three terms fro ...

, elected in 1997, was the first black

Mayor of Houston The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...

. He was the city's 50th mayor. As of 1997, African Americans typically constituted less than 25% of the electorate of the City of Houston. For the election of Lee P. Brown, blacks may have made up over 33% of the turnout. Brown won 90% or more in African-American neighborhoods. As of 2005

Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson Lee (born January 12, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative for , having served since 1995. The district includes most of central Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and served ...

, a Houstonian, is one of two black Texan U.S. House of Representatives members.

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

(Texas 9th district), also from Houston, is the other. On December 13, 2015, Houston elected its second African-American mayor,

Sylvester Turner Sylvester Turner (born September 27, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who is serving as the 62nd mayor of Houston, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 201 ...

Religion

The number of African American Catholics in Houston increased after the

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with inundated in depths of up to over the course of several months in early 1927. The uninflated cost of the damage has been estimat ...

affected rural areas in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

.Pruitt, p
114
. Most of them moved to the Fifth Ward.Pruitt, p
114115
. Due to a perception of the Catholic church being more favorable to African Americans than Protestant churches, the Catholic church in Houston increased in popularity with African Americans in the 1930s.Pruitt, p
116
. The oldest black church in Houston is Trinity United Methodist Church, which was started by Rev. Elias Dibble who came from Mississippi to establish churches. The oldest Black Baptist church in Houston is the

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church at 313 Robin Street in Downtown Houston, Texas. It was historically a part of the Fourth Ward.Davis, Rod.Houston's really good idea Bus tour celebrates communities that forged a c ...

, historically a part of the Freedmen's Town of Fourth Ward and now in

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The ...

.Davis, Rod.
Houston's really good idea Bus tour celebrates communities that forged a city.
" ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

''. Sunday August 3, 2003. Travel 1M. Retrieved on February 11, 2012.

Jack Yates John Henry "Jack" Yates (July 11, 1828 – December 22, 1897) was an American freedman, minister, and community leader. Born enslaved in Gloucester County, Virginia on July 11, 1828, Yates was taught to read at an early age by his enslaver's ch ...

once served as the pastor of this church.YATES, JOHN HENRY
." ''

Handbook of Texas Online The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President W ...

''. The city's first black Catholic church was St. Nicholas, located in the Third Ward.Steptoe, ''Dixie West'', p
195
. The

Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church is a Black Catholic church in Frenchtown, an area within the Fifth Ward of Houston. It was the second Black parish to be established in the city and the first established by Louisiana Creoles.Catholic Youth Or ...

in the Fifth Ward, Houston's second black Catholic church, was officially founded in June 1929.Catholic Youth Organization, Diocese of Galveston. Houston District. ''Centennial: The Story of the Kingdom of God on Earth in that Portion of the Vineyard which for One Hundred Years Has Been the Diocese of Galveston''. Catholic Youth Organization, Centennial Book Committee, 1947. p
76
. "Our Mother of Mercy Church, the second Negro parish to be established in Houston, was founded in June, 1929. Bishop Christopher E. Byrne purchased two city blocks, on Sumpter Street, and ground was .. ("Negro" is an outdated term for African-American). Houston area black Catholic churches have elements of Louisiana Creole culture such as

zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...

parties. In the 1920s, prior to the construction of Our Mother of Mercy, a group of

attended the Hispanic Our Lady of Guadalupe Church because it was the closest church to the Frenchtown area of the Fifth Ward. Because the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church treated the Creole people in a discriminatory manner, by forcing them to confess and take communion after people of other races, and requiring them to take the back pews,Steptoe, ''Dixie West'', p
195196
. the Creoles opted to build their own church.Steptoe, ''Dixie West'', p
196
. The number of African-American Catholics in Houston increased after the

affected rural areas in the

. Most of them moved to the Fifth Ward. Due to a perception of the Catholic church being more favorable to African-Americans than Protestant churches, the Catholic church in Houston increased in popularity with African-Americans in the 1930s. St. Anne de Beaupre in Sunset Heights, near the

Houston Heights Houston Heights (often referred to simply as "The Heights") is a community in northwest-central Houston, Texas, United States. "The Heights" is often referred to colloquially to describe a larger collection of neighborhoods next to and includin ...

, is the third black church. Named after the

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (french: Basilique Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré) is a basilica set along the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, east of Quebec City, and one of the eight national shrines of Canada. It has been credited by ...

Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is a town in La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, along the Saint Lawrence River, north-east of Quebec City. The population was 2,803 according to the Canada 2006 Census. Major religiou ...

, Quebec, Canada, opened in 1938. The naming after a Francophone Canadian site reflects the Louisiana Creole culture.Steptoe, ''Houston Bound'', p
117
.

Media

The ''

Houston Forward Times The ''Houston Forward Times'' (FT) is a weekly newspaper headquartered in Houston, Texas. It is one of the largest black-owned newspapers in the city. It is published by the Forward Times Publishing Company, which also publishes other publications ...

'', which began publication in 1960,Houston Forward Times
."

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President W ...

. Retrieved on March 17, 2014. is the largest black-owned newspaper in the city. The ''

Houston Defender The ''Houston Defender'' is an African-American newspaper published weekly in Houston, Texas. The newspaper was established October 11, 1930 by C. F. Richardson Sr., who was also publisher of the '' Houston Informer''. The Defender served as a c ...

'' and the '' African-American News and Issues'' are other well established black-owned papers. The ''

Texas Freeman The ''Texas Freeman'' was a newspaper for African Americans established in 1893 in Houston, Texas. It was established by Charles N. Love along with his wife Lilla as well as Jack Tibbitto, and Emmett J. Scott who became its editor. It was the ci ...

'' was founded in 1893 and later merged to become ''The Houston Informer and Texas Freeman''.

KCOH KCOH (1230 AM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas that airs an urban talk/urban contemporary format. It is a return to the heritage format that aired in Houston from 1953 to 2013 on 1430 KCOH, moving to this facility after 1430 w ...

1430 AM was a black-owned radio stationed started in 1953. It was a focal point for the Houston black community located at the iconic "looking-glass" studios on 5011 Almeda in Midtown Houston. KCOR launched the careers of radio personalities Michael Harris, Ralph Cooper, Don Samuel, Wash Allen. The station was purchased in 1976 by a consortium of investors, led by its general manager at the time, Michael Petrizzo. After his death in January 2012, the radio station was put up for sale. The 1430 AM signal was eventually sold to Catholic-oriented, La Promessa Foundation's Guadalupe Radio Network in November 2012. The Petrizzo family continued to own the historic building and equipment, leasing them and the 1230 AM signal to Dunn Ministries which continued the Urban Oldies format. KCOH announced in January 2016 that it has plans to move to the FM dial. The ''Houston Sun'' was established by Dorris Ellis and Lonal Robinson in 1983. It has won more than 200 awards and recognition and presents the First Amendment Conference annually for high school and college journalism students during March, African American Press Month. Dorris Ellis was awarded the Gutenberg Press Award by the Printing Museum of Houston in 2015. The ''Sun''s staff is made up of journalists and interns who covers city hall, school board and local community news.

Education

is the largest HBCU in Texas and the only historically black university based in Houston.

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher lear ...

based in Prairie View, Texas (immediately northwest of Houston) is the second largest HBCU and the second oldest public university in the state. Historically black high schools (schools reserved for black students prior to desegregation in the 1960s) in Houston include: * Booker T. Washington High School * Wheatley High School *

Yates High School Jack Yates Senior High School is a public high school located at 3650 Alabama Street, very near Texas Southern University, in the historic Third Ward in Houston, Texas, United States. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is par ...

* Worthing High School Historically black middle schools include: * Ryan Middle School (closed 2013) The Imani School is marketed towards African-American families.Churches Bestow Aid `to Save the Soul of the Community' Series: CRITICAL CONDITION: THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CITIES Series Number: occ.
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. September 21, 1993. A01. Retrieved on October 18, 2011
Available on

LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer info ...

. Opinions varied on whether the

North Forest Independent School District North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) was a school district in northeast Houston, Texas, Houston, Texas. Established in the early 1920s in a low-income white area, it later became majority-black and black-run. The district had a histo ...

(NFISD), which closed in 2013, was a "historically black" district, and therefore also the largest historically black district in the state to be closed; Kimberly Reeves of the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'' noted that the district had not been predominately African-American in the

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

era and remained so since

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

, into the 1970s.Reeves, Kimberly.
Administrator Not Surprised to See North Forest ISD Shuttered by State
." ''

''. Friday July 15, 2010. Retrieved on July 18, 2011.

History of primary and secondary education

After the U.S. Civil War Freedmen's schools served black children. Later a private school in the Fourth Ward, the Gregory Institute, opened and began serving the children. In 1892 Colored High School, the first high school for black students, opened. There were 8,293 students in Houston's schools for black students in the 1924–1925 school year.Kellar, p
32
(Google Books PT13). In 1925 the Houston school board announced that a new high school would open in the Third Ward, in light of the large increase in the black population. The '' Houston Informer'' stated that the schools needed to be named after prominent black people from the city and/or other successful black persons. With the construction of the former

Jack Yates High School Jack Yates Senior High School is a public high school located at 3650 Alabama Street, very near Texas Southern University, in the historic Third Ward in Houston, Texas, United States. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is par ...

(later Ryan Middle School), Wheatley High School, and other schools, the capacity of Houston's secondary schools for black children increased by three times from 1924 to 1929.Kellar, p
31
(Google Books PT12). The original secondary school for blacks, Colored High School, became Booker T. Washington High School. At the time all three secondary schools had junior high and senior high levels. There were 12,217 students in the black schools in the 1929–1930 school year. William Henry Kellar, author of '' Make Haste Slowly: Moderates, Conservatives, and School Desegregation in Houston'', wrote that conditions in black schools "improved dramatically" in the 1920s. Jackyateshighschool-1

On January 27, 1958, Worthing High School opened, relieving Yates. Yates moved to its current location in September 1958. Yates's former site became Ryan Colored Junior High School (now Ryan Middle School), named after the first principal of Yates.About
().

. Accessed October 20, 2008. Booker T. Washington moved to its present-day location in Independence Heights in 1959. In

Fort Bend Independent School District The Fort Bend Independent School District, also known as Fort Bend ISD or FBISD, is a school district system in the U.S. state of Texas based in the city of Sugar Land. The district spans covering almost all of the city of Sugar Land, the ci ...

(FBISD),

M.R. Wood School M. R. Wood Alternative Education Center (MRW), also known as the M. R. Wood Center for Learning, was an alternative school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD). It was in proximity to the Imperial Sug ...

served as one of three schools for black students, including the sole black senior high school, until the district desegregated in 1965.History
."

. Retrieved on July 20, 2017. Racial desegregation of the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

(HISD), resulting from the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

in the 1950s and 1960s,Knight, Paul.
Third Ward High
." ''

''. Wednesday April 7, 2010. Retrieved on April 2, 2014. occurred in the 1970s.Berryhill, Michael.
What's Wrong With Wheatley?
" ''

''. April 17, 1997. Retrieved on March 31, 2009. Yates High School began to lose upper and middle class students due to flight to the suburbs, and the establishment of magnet schools in HISD.Ouchi, William G. ''Making Schools Work: A Revolutionary Plan to Get Your Children the Education They Need''.

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

, June 24, 2008. , 9781439108109. p
108
. As a result of the losses, Yates began to deteriorate. Wheatley lost its upper and middle class students due to the same factors, and in 1979 its principal, Charles Herald, stated that integration caused the best students and teachers to leave the school.West, Richard. "Only the Strong Survive." ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

''.

Emmis Communications Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...

, February 1979. Volume 7, No. 2. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p
94
. CITED: p
178
.

History of tertiary education

In 1927 the Yates building began housing Houston Colored Junior College, later Houston College for Negroes.

Public libraries

The

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...

operates the

African American Library at the Gregory School African American Library at the Gregory School is a branch of the Houston Public Library (HPL) in the Fourth Ward, Houston. The library preserves historical information about the African-American community in Houston. It is the city's first librar ...

. The library preserves historical information about the African-American community in Houston. It is the city's first library to focus on African-American history and culture. W.L.D. Johnson Neighborhood Library is the successor of the former Carnegie Library.

Culture and recreation

Ensemble Theatre

The Ensemble Theatre The Ensemble Theatre, located in the heart of midtown at 3535 Main Street in Houston, Texas, is the largest African-American professional theatre company in the United States that produces plays in-house and owns its own facility. History The En ...

, an African-American theater company, has its studio in Midtown. The theater, founded by George Hawkins in 1976, is the largest African-American theater company in the United States.

Juneteenth

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

is an annual celebration recognizing the emancipation of black slaves in Texas.

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

signed the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, Civil War. The Proclamation c ...

and published it on January 1, 1863, but it did not reach

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

, Texas until June 19, 1865. Over the next few years, African-American populations across Texas collected money to buy property dedicated to Juneteenth celebrations. In Houston, the effort was led by the Reverend

, a Baptist minister and former slave. His church, Antioch Baptist, and Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church formed the Colored People's Festival and Emancipation Park Association. In 1872, they pooled $800 to put down on ten acres of open land as home for their Juneteenth celebration. In honor of their freedom, they named it Emancipation Park. There are several events throughout Houston commemorating this occasion. Th
Friends of Emancipation Park (FEP)
a non-profit group of volunteers, was founded in 2007 by Dorris Ellis and Lonal Robinson to preserve and protect the interest and legacy of Emancipation Park. The FEP picked up the parade and keeps it going along with other exemplary programs. The FEP led the $33,000,000 renovation campaign to restore Emancipation Park and this campaign serves as an anchor to revitalize the Third Ward community and thwart the onslaught of gentrification. Emancipation Park, with a space of , is located in the Third Ward and is a popular destination for annual Juneteenth celebrations. The State of Texas made Juneteenth a holiday at the state level after Al Edwards, a member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

from Houston, proposed it as a bill.

Martin Luther King Day

There are two rival

Martin Luther King Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monda ...

parades held every year. The MLK Grande Parade is held by the MLK Parade Foundation,Stiles, Matt.
Rival MLK parades will both march downtown
." ''

''. January 11, 2007. Retrieved on May 20, 2014. and the other, the Original MLK Birthday Parade,TWO PARADES HELD IN HOUSTON TO HONOR MLK

Archive
. ''

KTRK-TV KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Bissonnet Stre ...

''. Retrieved on May 21, 2014. is held by the Black Heritage Society. As of 2007 Ovide Duncantell was the executive director of the Black Heritage Society and Charles Stamps is the CEO of the MLK Parade Foundation. Previously there was one MLK day parade held annually,Stiles, Matt.
MLK group sues city in decade-old parade flap
." ''

''. January 6, 2007. Retrieved on May 21, 2014. and Stamps was a part of Duncantell's organization. In 1995, Stamps left and formed a separate parade. The two parades began competing for the favored times and days to hold their events. By 2007 the City of Houston had regulations stating that one parade can be held in

on a particular day. The Black Heritage Society and Duncantell sued the city in 2007 after Duncantell did not get the permit, arguing that several provisions of the ordinance enforcing the one parade per day in Downtown rule were unconstitutional. In 2007 Lee Rosenthal, a U.S. district judge, on January 10, 2007, ordered the city government to allow both parades to hold their events in Downtown Houston. By 2008 the one parade per day rule, with the prized parade day decided by a

coin toss A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

, was again in place. The ''

'' ranked the 2006 MLK day parade, when the two rival parades joined, as the "Best Parade Houston 2006". Service projects and voter registration drives also occur on MLK Day in Houston.

Black Heritage Day at Houston Rodeo

Every

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

, the

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been held at NRG Sta ...

dedicates a day of the festival to acknowledge and celebrate black culture. A different popular black music artist headlines and performs at the event each year.

Houston hip hop

The Houston hip hop scene is very influential and has a unique sound that is recognized and celebrated worldwide.

Texas Southern–Prairie View rivalry

The Texas Southern University versus Prairie View A&M University athletic events are a big draw for African-Americans in the Houston area. The

Labor Day Classic The Labor Day Classic is an annual American football "classic" which features Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University, two of Texas' largest historically black universities on Labor Day weekend. It is played at the BBVA Comp ...

is the only HBCU football classic in the Houston area. The basketball games in the winter always draw large crowds and interest on both campuses.

National Battle of the Bands

Since 2019, Houston has been home to the second largest collegiate marching band event in the nation. Annually over 40,000 fans and spectators show up to the

NRG Stadium NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...

to see several

HBCU band A Historically Black College and University marching band (also known as a HBCU band) is the marching band sponsored by a historically black college or university. A distinctive "HBCU-style" of marching band originated in the American South in the ...

programs perform and help raise money for them.

Houston Black Restaurant Week

Houston is internationally renowned for its world-class restaurants and cuisines and black owned restaurants play a big part in that. For two weeks every year, many black-owned restaurants and black culinary professionals participate in this event that highlights their contributions to the city's food scene.

Black gay pride

Houston's black LGBT community annually celebrate its presence during a special event called "Splash", which organizes gay and lesbian events in order to improve the cultural, environmental, medical and social health of gay men, lesbian and transgender people of African descent. It is the oldest black gay event in Texas.

Cemeteries

Humble Negro Cemetery is in the suburb of Humble.

Notable people

Beyoncé at The Lion King European Premiere 2019

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom '' The Cosby ...

- actress * Quanell X (Quanell Ralph Evans) - Leader and National Chairman of the New Black Panther Nation. *

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an ...

- actress *

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

(Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter) – singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and actress *

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

(Kelendria Trene Rowland-Witherspoon) – singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and actress * Solange - singer-songerwriter, entrepreneur and actress * Mathew Knowles - music mogul, entrepreneur and educator *

LeToya Luckett LeToya Nicole Luckett (born March 11, 1981) is an American R&B singer and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a founding member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. As a me ...

- singer-songerwriter, entrepreneur and actress *

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

- rapper *

Trae tha Truth Frazier Othel Thompson III (born July 3, 1980), better known by his stage name Trae tha Truth (or simply Trae), is an American rapper and record executive from Houston, Texas. Embarking on a musical career in 1998, he soon established himself ...

- rapper * Scarface - rapper *

Arizona Fleming Arizona Fleming (March 23, 1884 – January 18, 1976) was an African-American small business owner from Richmond, Texas, who became part of the Civil Rights Movement by joining a lawsuit against an all-white political club that prevented black ...

- Activist * H-town - R&B group *

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

- R&B group *

Isiah Washington Isaiah Washington IV is an American actor and media personality. Following a series of film appearances, he came to prominence for portraying Dr. Preston Burke in the first three seasons of the series ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2007. Wash ...

- actor *

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...

- gymnast *

Brittney Griner Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...

- basketball player *

Michael Strahan Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Nation ...

- athlete and TV personality *

Yolanda Adams Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961) is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albums ...

- singer *

Christia Adair Christia V. Daniels Adair (October 22, 1893 – December 31, 1989) was an African-American suffragist and civil rights worker based in Texas. There is a mural in Texas about her life, displayed in a county park which is named for her. Early life ...

- Civil rights activist * Richard Allen – politician *

Michael Arceneaux Michael Arceneaux (born April 12, 1984) is an American writer. He is the author of the 2018 essay collection '' I Can't Date Jesus'', a ''New York Times'' bestselling book. His second book is titled ''I Don't Want to Die Poor'' (2020). Early l ...

(author of '' I Can't Date Jesus'') *

Slim Thug Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1980), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He initially gained mainstream attention for his contribution to the hit single by rapper Mike Jones, " Still Tippin'". In July 2005, ...

- rapper and entrepreneur * Mike Jones - rapper and entrepreneur * Kirko Bangz - rapper *

- former mayor of Houston *

Robert D. Bullard Robert Doyle Bullard (born December 21, 1946) is an American academic who is the former Dean of the Barbara Jordan - Mickey Leland School Of Public Affairs (October 2011 – August 2016) and currently Distinguished Professor at Texas Southern U ...

– sociologist * Kirbyjon Caldwell – pastor of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church *

Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He was the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click from 2001 until the group split in 2005. He began his ...

(Hakeem Seriki) - rapper * Percy Creuzot - founder of Frenchy's Chicken * Ruth Simmons - academic *

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...

- actress * Detria Marie Ward - actress * J. E. Franklin - playwright * Timothy Eric Dixion - actor *

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as '' Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), '' Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a ...

- actress, singer *

Rodney Ellis Rodney Glenn Ellis (born April 7, 1954) is an American politician. He represented Texas' 13th state senate district in the Texas Senate from 1990 to 2017. The district contains portions of Harris County, including downtown Houston, and Fort B ...

* Fat Tony (Anthony Obi) - rapper *

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champi ...

– Olympic Gold medalist, two-time Heavyweight Champion, entrepreneur * Van G. Garrett (poet)Home
. Van G. Garrett Official Website. Retrieved on March 15, 2020. For his hometown: *

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...

(Sam John Hopkins) *

Lenwood Johnson Lenwood E. Johnson (died May 2018) was an activist who fought for public housing and African-American rights in Houston, Texas. He campaigned to prevent the demolition of Allen Parkway Village (APV), a public housing complex in the Fourth Ward, ...

– activist *

Vince Young Vincent Paul Young Jr. (born May 18, 1983) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and ...

- Former NFL player *

Rashard Lewis Rashard Quovon Lewis (born August 8, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Lewis entered the NBA directly from Alief Elsik High School. He rose to prominence in the NBA as a scorer with the Seattle SuperSonics, and was later ...

- Former NBA player *

Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-A ...

- Congresswoman * Elwyn Lee - University of Houston administrator *

– Congresswoman *

Mickey Leland George Thomas "Mickey" Leland III (November 27, 1944 – August 7, 1989) was an anti-poverty activist who later became a congressman from the Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He was a Democrat. Early years Leland ...

- Congressman * Thaddeus S. Lott Sr. - school principal in Houston ISD *

Rod Paige Roderick Raynor Paige (born June 17, 1933) served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from college football coach and classroom teacher to college dean and school superinten ...

- Former Houston ISD superintendent and U.S. Secretary of Education * Dr.

Anthony B. Pinn Anthony B. Pinn is an American professor working at the intersections of African-American religion, constructive theology, and humanist thought. Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice Uni ...

– professor, Rice University * James Prince - CEO of

Rap-a-Lot Records Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records with the release of Raheem's 1988 debut ''The Vigilante''. The label w ...

Monica Roberts Monica Katrice Roberts (May 4, 1962October 5, 2020) was an African-American blogger, writer, and transgender rights advocate. She was the founding editor of ''TransGriot'', a blog focusing on issues pertaining to trans women, particularly Africa ...

- current mayor of Houston *

Roland S. Martin Roland Sebastian Martin (born November 14, 1968) is an American journalist. He was a commentator for TV One, the host of ''News One Now'', and ''Washington on Watch With Roland S. Martin''. He was also a CNN contributor, appearing on a variety ...

- American journalist *

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit tw ...

-Former rapper and founding member of SwishaHouse Records and Black man who was choked to death by white police officer for using a fake twenty dollar bill.

Bibliography

https://houstoninblack.com/ * Beeth, Howard and Cary D. Wintz (editors). '' Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston'' (Volume 41 of Centennial Series of the Association of Series).

Texas A&M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A& ...

, June 1, 2000. , 9780890969762. * Kellar, William Henry. '' Make Haste Slowly: Moderates, Conservatives, and School Desegregation in Houston''.

, 1999. , 9781603447188. * Pruitt, Bernadette. ''The Other Great Migration: The Movement of Rural African Americans to Houston, 1900-1941'' (

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

Series on Rural Life, sponsored by

Texas A&M University-Commerce Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, October 24, 2013. , 9781603449489. * Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice (

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree).

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

, 2008. , 9780549635871. * Steptoe, Tyina L. ''Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City'' (Volume 41 of American Crossroads).

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

, November 3, 2015. , 9780520958531. p
117

References

External links

Houston Museum of African American Culture

Black Houston
{{Houston Ethnic groups in Houston African-American cultural history History of Houston African-American history of Texas

History

Commerce

Cuisine

Demographics

Cultural institutions

Politics

Religion

Media

Education

History of primary and secondary education

History of tertiary education

Public libraries

Culture and recreation

Ensemble Theatre

Juneteenth

Martin Luther King Day

Black Heritage Day at Houston Rodeo

Houston hip hop

Texas Southern–Prairie View rivalry

National Battle of the Bands

Houston Black Restaurant Week

Black gay pride

Cemeteries

Notable people

See also

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links