Black History Month: A Conversation with Draco Miller

Written by Amanda Coers – During the Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony held on Monday, January 16th, Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes addressed the crowd gathered and spoke of the need for a candid conversation about race relations in Brownwood. During his remarks, Mayor Haynes gave a confession: “I’m afraid. I’m scared the words I might say could unintentionally offend members of the audience today. I’m tired of being afraid. Because fear leads to silence. And so we say nothing at all about the things that really matter.”

Mayor Haynes made a pledge in honor of Dr. King. “We cannot continue to remain silent. We cannot continue to be afraid. Let’s make 2017 the year that we kill the fear and begin an open dialogue to improve race relations in Brownwood.”

City Councilman, and Mayor Pro Tem, Draco Miller, believes it’s a good time to start a conversation about race relations in Brownwood.

“I was so happy when the mayor said that. It took a lot for him to say ‘we have issues here,'” Miller said. “The only way we’re going to work through this is to have a conversation.”

Miller explained he was moved recently by a song by Diego Fuller, entitled, “Do you have room for me at the table?” Miller feels that when community members of all races can ‘come to the table’ and speak openly, change can occur.

A sample of that song can be heard here: Diego Fuller: “Do you have room for me at the table?”

“A lot of people thought it was just a rap song, but it wasn’t. It was about his life as a foster kid. He’s asking ‘do you have room for me at your table?’ Let’s have dialogue, let’s talk about it.”

Though Black History Month is celebrated in February, Miller feels it’s important to celebrate the accomplishments of the black community every day. “I tell people, yes we should celebrate Black History Month, first of all celebrate being a human, because it’s life. We can get caught up in our race, we forget the human race. We should celebrate life every day.”

Draco Miller also shared his hope of moving away from terms like Black History Month, and the black community, or black neighborhoods.

“I am a black man who was raised in what was then considered the black community,” Miller said. “I never liked that, because the community is Brownwood. There is no segregation, there’s no such thing as the black part of town, or the white part of town. I try to get away from that type of verbiage.”

Part of his work to unite the community has been the establishment of ROC: Revitalizing our Community, an outreach organization dedicated to “promoting empowerment of people, protecting our youth which is vital to our community, respecting cultural diversity, strengthening and focusing on community relationship with our local Government and improving quality of life throughout the community by unifying all ethnicity to the betterment of our community of Brownwood.”

“It’s not an all black organization,” Miller explained. “We have black members, hispanic members, and white. I did that by design, because that is the culture of Brownwood. We want to reach all ethnicities in all areas of Brownwood.”

ROC is currently working to revitalize Cecil Holman Park. Plans for the park include a memorial walkway with engraved memorial bricks, which are now being sold in memory of or honoring donors, their family members, or special groups.  These bricks, recently donated by the City of Brownwood, will be used to construct a walkway through the park.  The cost of each brick is $75 and allows donors to order an engraving on their brick.  Larger granite bricks are also available for $200.

For more information, please contact ROC members Draco Miller at 325-642-7921 or Marisha Stidham at 325-642-4447.

Cecil Holman Park is located near Cordell and Hall Street and has been in disrepair for many years, and with that disrepair it has become a known area for illegal activities. That’s something Miller and ROC are hopeful to change.

“Our youth can’t even come to play without seeing syringes and baggies,” Miller said. “It took the people that live in that community to say ‘enough is enough.’ This is an eye sore, it’s a product of Brownwood. An injustice on the south side of town is the same injustice that happens on the north, east, and west. It happens in your community. Race has no play in that. People do, of all colors.”

Along with working to restore the park, ROC has also begun steps to transform the closed Rufus F. Hardin High School into a museum dedicated to preserving Brownwood’s diverse history.

Rufus F. Hardin, an experienced teacher, was contacted several times and encouraged by school officials to come to Brownwood to teach black children. He came to Brownwood in 1896 and became a principal and teacher. He taught school in buildings located at the corner of Cordell and Hendricks streets and Beaver and Cordell streets. The school was referred to as the “Cordell School.”

More of the history of the school can be found here: BrownCountyHistory.org

“My mom, my dad, uncles and aunts, they graduated from Rufus Hardin,” Miller shared. “If history teaches us anything it’s you’ll never know where you’re going until you know where you come from. And that’s the driving force of revitalizing that building. It’s our heritage, it’s our history. It’s in our city. We want our city to have history. We must understand that history is knowledge and knowledge is power.”

Along with revitalizing areas of Brownwood, Councilman Miller is working to combat inequality within the justice system.

“We want to make sure the justice system is equal, and the foot of the cross is level for us all,” explained Miller. “I’ve been here all of my life and I’ve seen a lot of injustice as far as African American men and women. I boldly say this, it seems our 35th District Court hands down a lot of time to minorities than they do to other races. One of the things we’re trying to do is work with the DA, not in anger,” Miller said.

“One thing I can say about Brownwood is we’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go as far as trying to bridge the gap with racial barriers.”

Councilman Miller also has advice for the young black community as they grow to become leaders hoping to inspire change: “If you want to see a change, you need to be part of that change. Don’t talk about it, be about it.”

“It has to start with you. If it doesn’t start with you how can it start with anyone else,” Miller continued. “You have to respect yourself, and respect your race. Let’s not use the ‘N’ word, and say it’s okay because ‘oh it’s okay, we’re black,’ my advice is to not use that because if a different race uses that word it draws tension. Prevent this [tension], and love your fellow brother. That is your neighbor.”

Referencing a biblical thought to love God and our neighbors, Miller shared what he often asks others when having discussions regarding racial inequality.

“How can you say you love God, whom you’ve never seen, but hate your brother who you see every day?”

He went on to share, “Treat people like you want to be treated. We’re all the same on the inside. We bleed the same and at the end of the day, we’re all going to die the same. It has nothing to do with the pigment of your skin. It’s the character of a man or woman.”

A full recording of the conversation with Draco Miller can be heard here: