am and all that I will be started with
my relationship with God
I was raised in a two-parent home they
were godly people and in my day and time
there was no daycares and there if there
were a few take cares
there was no daycares for a person like
me you know what I’m talking about a
person of color but my grandmother my
grandfather my mother’s parents lived
next door to us I’m here to tell you
right now that was the best daycare that
anybody could have I had the best meals
I had the best toys I had somebody that
was understanding and was for me at all
times
so I started out with parents teaching
me who God was
my grandparents enforcing it and they’re
molding me and getting me ready for a
world that might not be so kind they
didn’t tell me right off the bat that I
was a person of color and that the world
may not be nice to me because I’m a
person of color they started me off
telling me I could do anything that I
wanted to do I could accomplish anything
that I wanted to accomplish but I had to
keep God as my foundation you know as a
child I’m wondering okay that sounds
good and I came through a generation to
from what mother and dad said and
grandmother and Griffin
you believe that you took that to the
bank that was a check that you took to
the bank and it was not going to bounce
so right off the bat I know God was this
cool dude he was very cool and anything
that I needed he was going to be there
for me he was going to take care of me
he was going to he was just going to be
my guy then I started getting into some
things coming on up in elementary school
getting into some things trying to show
a little taste I’m going like okay when
I got in trouble where is God so I came
home one day and I asked my mom okay you
know
this happened and got in trouble and got
a little spanking and God wasn’t there
and my mother said to me real quickly
now you see a wreath okay when you make
your trouble he doesn’t have to be there
but you need to understand something
that you got a whippin it wasn’t any
worse than that he was still there
because it could have been worse they
could have sent you home from school you
could have lost grades my mama always
was the person of reason so as I began
to move up the ladder in education
education became very very important to
me and in my home education was
important and the first thing that I got
in trouble about really serious trouble
about was not making good grades and not
trying my mother said to me you’re not a
d student you may not be a straight A
student but you’re not a d student and I
want you to learn early not to settle
not to think that you can wait to the
last minute and get by and at 61 years
old guys I am still a procrastinator but
I am NOT a last minute person I’m the
last five minutes I can operate real
well if give me five minutes and I can I
can I can I can perform miracles okay
all right now I’m not a last minute
person now I raise the son who is the
last second person he can Kalakh but
when he involves me then there’s a
problem I can’t go to the last second
and it took me forever to get that
across to him okay G we’re good partners
if you give me five minutes but if you
give me a second we’re in trouble
especially if you’re dependent on me but
the other side of that is if at the end
of my five minutes I’ve only got a
second and I needed five more minutes
who do you think i’ma call not
Ghostbusters but Grail in person because
he can get it done in a second I was
born and raised here I’m not just old
socks on but I’m Clarksville
and one of the reasons why that I never
really encountered a lot of obstacles of
what I wanted to do and I couldn’t do it
is because I was raised in a community
that believed in it’s on and I never
ever ever really experienced racism
you’re going like okay you are crazy
no I didn’t when we integrate integrated
when I was in the sixth grade when we
integrated there was no problem
because the kids that I was going to
school with or the kids that I played
with every day they lived across the
street from me and we kids who people
don’t know think no anything we couldn’t
understand while I went that way to
school and they went that way to school
man and then when we integrated it was
just a big old family reunion not a big
old party
okay now the grown-ups they were a
little bit nervous about things okay but
we kids we had it we had it going on we
were already friends
we’re already knew the likes and
dislikes of each other we had it going
on Clarksville High School that’s my
place when I got to Clarksville High
School the first thing that I found out
one of the first things I was reassured
about was that whatever I wanted to do
if I was willing to work for it really
strive for it and not quit I could get
it done I am a person that was the first
person of color to do a lot of things
but as I was doing those things
I didn’t think okay I’m black no black
person has ever done this before all I
was thinking about was this is something
that I’m passionate about this is
something I want to achieve and I’m
going for it my mom and daddy had told
me I could my grandparents who were my
first teachers told me I could all my
teachers had told me I could her pastor
at church had told me I could so why was
I not going to try the only way to fail
my brothers and my sisters is to never
try and not to keep on trying it can’t
quit no matter what the end results are
he can’t quit as my brother said his
outcomes may not have been what he
wanted them to be but it was a win when
he gave it all he had and they did
everything that they thought they could
to win three weeks ago my high school
the high school that I teach it took
running Tuckerman Tucker in Arkansas
Jackson County School District High
School basketball team went to the
championship state championship and we
felt like we won we lost but we felt
like we weren’t because we did
everything possible that we could do we
didn’t feel like we got some great calls
but we did everything possible so it’s
almost a win for us a big win was that
we got there that was a great feat we
were in the Final Four so a lot of
schools never made it but I’m gonna go
back to college when I came to this
college I met a gentleman by the name of
dr. Charles Dawson
he was my music dad and he saw something
in me that no one else ever saw I sang
in church all the time my momma started
me as a little girl singing in church
got whippings about singing in church
she didn’t want to the one to sit in the
back and pass notes and show out the way
kids want to do my mom would always come
and get me if I sneak to the back and
bring me to the front and sometimes my
punishment was right in front of
everybody
a pinch of heart pinch and your face
couldn’t show that it would hurt and you
certainly couldn’t say ouch because that
called for two or three more pinches and
if you looked crazy that called for a
trip outside and a trip outside what’s
going to be a spankin can y’all tell me
something where was scan in those days
nobody told my mom and daddy that they
couldn’t with me and let me tell you
something I was not abused I tell my
kids if I’d gotten one last Whitman one
less grounding there is no telling what
type of menace to society I would have
been whatever I’ve done I’ve done it big
and I’ve done it well that this is a
kind of raw crazy analogy but I’d have
probably had about 25 children
by about 35 different men that scary in
it now that’s something my mom and dad
saw in me and they whipped it out of me
now not that I was excited about men but
that I like to do things in a big way
and that I could be very very colorful
in my choices they scared me about their
promiscuity thing so I wasn’t one of
those girls either but going back to
college I came on to this campus and
right about that time I realized that I
was too young to be in college I turned
16 in January of my senior year okay I
had to come home and sit down and talk
to momma about this okay now what
happened well what happened was when I
started school at the proper age I was
in a black school my mom had taught me
how to read she had taught me how to
write so what do you think I was what
ahead of the game I am the recipient of
a double promotion so I graduated high
school at the age of 16 I came on this
college campus at the age of 16 and
still to this day I’m trying to figure
out how why my mom and dad let me do
that I came to this campus everybody was
dating everybody was driving everybody
was doing a lot of things that I had not
done they were doing a lot of things
that I was not going to do but it sure
looked like fun
well my music dad dr. Dawson
he got 16 thing out of my mind and
grabbed me gave me a scholarship put me
in the choir not just mentored me as my
music dad but he all will all became my
dad the second year that I was here I
went into my voice lesson and he said to
me miss college Ozarks Evers College –
those are seeing miss college Ozarks
pageant is going to be in about a month
and you’re going to represent the choir
– wait a minute what what you say you’re
going to represent the choir and I said
I don’t know about that now what is it
about he said well there’s a evening
gown competition there’s a swimsuit
competition and there’s a talent
competition I know you’ll kill that
talent competition I said so you think
I’m ugly but I can sing so I said no I’m
just saying that you are the total
package backs me he calls me backs when
you’re the total package nothing doc I
still don’t know about that okay
I’m 17 then all right I’m getting ready
to turn 18 he said well I think it would
be a good deal so I’m already in my mind
nice it’s not going to happen what
happens that day is when I come in from
school he called my mama and my daddy my
mom and my daddy were large and in
charge at my house and if they were
alive today they would still be large
and in charge so I came in the door my
mom was all excited you’re got to be at
that pageant and I said well love I just
don’t know about that my daddy said
you’re going to be in their pageant okay
something that I didn’t want to do and I
was really scared of open doors for this
little girl that I could have never
imagined okay I won the pageant and I
was going like Oh what is this and then
they told me they didn’t tell me until
later that that pageant was a
prerequisite of the miss Arkansas
pageant so I’m sure not for that thing
miss Arkansas patches then it
kinda clicked in my mind that because of
who I was that that night might not even
be something that could happen doc said
you go and be the bag speed that I know
you’re going to be fine I went to that
miss Arkansas pageant and I won the
Coleman overall talent winner that was
the best talent in the pageant talent
was 50% I won the evening gown per
division and I was second in swimsuit
okay that set me up for something pretty
good right I win I win that talent
preliminary and that qualifies me for
top ten I get to top 10 that qualifies
me for our serious run for Miss Arkansas
I’m still not sure if I want this thing
or not but my daddy is sitting on the
second row looking at me ie I wanted
yeah I wanted okay I wanted what I
wanted or not I wanted okay so that
night I wondered overall talent and I
became the second runner-up I was the
first person of color to win a
preliminary that was the talent
preliminary they didn’t announce they
even again but I won that to first
person of color to become top ten and
when you have in all of these points why
was I second runner-up and not miss
Arkansas you’re probably going okay what
happened the girl that won was in my
division I’d already beat her in
swimsuit in talent and evening gown so
how did she win the title the people
that were in charge of the pageant came
to me after the pageant was over now
imagine this little girl 18 years old
from Clarksville Arkansas from the
University of those arts colleges Ozarks
Ozarks had never had a queen to go down
there and even be noticed
was i proud was i even worrying about
being miss Arkansas I had one and not
one because I did everything that I
could do to win
I always liked dressing up my mama and
my Girl Scout leader who designed my
gowns they had me together doc had my
talent together and that swimsuit thing
a little nervous about that but when I
got there I found out I was okay in that
division too I was a tomboy so I was one
muscle I used to be teased about being
muscular and didn’t realize that was to
my benefit my use of my sister used to
say those big old ugly muscles in your
legs and I wanted to hide them so I was
really scared when I put that swimsuit
on that everybody was going to pay
attention to those muscles and they did
but they won me that position after the
pageant and me being excited about that
and everybody been excited and happy for
me it still didn’t come to me that I
probably should have won that pageant
pageant organizers came to me and they
said we had a northern judge you should
have won this pageant once again I say
to you I did win first person of color
to win a preliminary first person of
color to be in the top ten first curve
person of color to win the talent award
first person of color to be a runner-up
she was just miss Arkansas she didn’t
win any of those people were still
trying to figure out how she won okay
miss Arkansas gets a contract to make
several appearances she gets a wardrobe
she gets a car runner-ups give us a
contract I got a contract let me tell
you how I really won that thing she had
about 20 appearances I had about fifty
did I win that thing
I’ve won that night okay now we’re in 74
I don’t know how Clarksville lives for
you guys right now but once again I
never experienced racism and
discrimination let me tell you a quick
story my father law I found my
sweetheart here at Ozarks
I married a Ozarks man and my father law
brought all of his siblings came to us
our my father said to me when he came in
66 or 67 that as he came up the hill
that he saw this young black men and
young white woman walking down the hill
and he said oh my god they’re gonna hang
him by nightfall
he said the hardest decision he had to
make was whether to leave his daughter
here or not and she called him later on
said daddy you know that’s what goes on
on the campus of Ozarks so I’m in good
shape I never experienced that so I
didn’t really get it didn’t have a
chance to be sour or bitter about not
winning Miss Arkansas because to me I
want had more appearances in her people
knew me they knew me they didn’t know
her there were a couple of places I went
to to represent the Arkansas pageant and
they saw me and they said we were
looking for Kay back speed I am K back
speed oh okay well we just want you to
judge we don’t want you to sing singing
music has been my passion I learned I
understood God better through music I
understood a lot of life lessons through
music and music opened a lot of doors
for me something happened during this
one pageant where they told me they
didn’t want to sing me want me to sing
and they came and got me said we need
you to sing
I sang and at the end of that pageant
when the practice was over the very
people that came to me and told me they
didn’t have time for me to sing for the
people that came up to me and were
crying is it so music opened that door
Ozark opened many doors for me guys it
taught me to persevere it taught me that
I could do anything that I wanted to do
if I was willing to work hard for it it
taught me to love and trust God because
I went to Chapel every Tuesday my
parents chose a Christian college so
that I would have a foundation in God
and I had strong parents had taught me
part
then I got college parents his Qualis is
one of our college parents I have a show
choir a lot of the moves that we use in
choreography miss Qualls taught me in
dance this is one of the graces greatest
places that I’ve ever been and it opened
many doors for me if you will use it as
you’re supposed to
you’ll take positive vibes from here you
can make a break even if you leave in
the middle if you have adversity it will
teach you how to deal with that versity
but if you’re successful you’re on your
way I always want to be a game-changer
and I always want to make a difference I
teach at a school that has 950 students
all the way all the way through and I
teach k12 music in the morning I see a
different group of young people every 40
minutes in the afternoon I have three
high school choir classes so was I
prepared yes I was more than prepared I
know more music than I could ever teach
but I thank God for the opportunity that
he opened the door for me to be here
through scholarship and he opened the
door for me to have a service-oriented
career now if you let me I want to sing
a little something that will tell you
something about me let there be peace on
earth and let it begin with me O Lord
let there be peace on earth
puppy snot was meant to be with God
as a father brothers all are we let me
walk with my brother in perfect or phony
let peace begin with me let this be the
mom now with every step I take let this
be my solemn vow to take each moment I
there be peace on earth on the lady
it began with me
II thank you [Applause]