Life Through the Eyes of an Interracial Couple: With a Special Chapter Dedicated to Prince Harry and Princess Meghan

By Steve A. White and Ruth B. White

This book goes in depth into this couple’s triumphs and challenges as vocal pioneers of or for those who are now the majority in our society with the hopes that they recognize their strengths are “Interracially Married”, “Multiracial/Biracial” no matter what their skin color is. DHA tells the entire story. Drs. Steven and Ruth Bryant White have accomplished their victory together, with God leading the way, since 1980. In this book The Whites tell you their own story in their descriptive narrative, but they also include many color, and black and white photos and articles about their family and their work. They speak about Singleness, Teen Pregnancy, being an unwed mother of 3, but they want to bring you into their world to feel what they felt, so you can read about what actions they took in the midst of the chaos of the 1992 LA Race Riots. The racial hypocrisy of Religious Leaders and Politicians like Dr. Dobson who may be a main reason why so many interracial couples believe in others more than God. Ruth and Steve tell about the racism surrounding the OJ Simpson trial and Dianne Watson vs Ward Connerly matters. They talk about the racist trials of Kobe Bryant, and young Marcus Dixon, former KKK Senator Strom Thurmond’s Biracial Daughter. Steve and Ruth explain how the News Media, Entertainment Industry, and others continue to use heavily charged racist terms like “African American” (referring to Black-skinned people only), “Minority” etc. and how they feel celebrities like Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, Diana Ross, Tiger Woods, Sidney Poitier and others may have ignored the Multiracial children in society. They pray the next generation of victorious warriors proceed with courage as the Whites pass down the mantle to and hope their work is continued by everyday people as well as celebrities like Prince Harry and Princess Meghan, Ryan Bomberger, Russell Wilson, Keanu Reeves and lots more. The world had never heard of Mr. and Mrs. Loving, but the Whites and other leaders were introduced to Mrs. Mildred Lovings. The White’s organization gave the Racial Harmony Hall of Fame’s Inductees Award to her and were consultants on the movie by Viacom/Paramount on Showtime called, Mr. and Mrs. Lovings. The White’s received the Changing Images in America Awards in Hollywood for their work in drawing attention to what “Colorblind” means. Whitney Houston’s version of Roger and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” was inspired by the White’s work in Hollywood. The White’s were inspired by former First Lady, Barbara Bush, who was the inspiration behind their actions to move America towards a colorblind society. To check out more, see www.aplaceforusnational.com.

The Empire builders are now creators of the “Clean TV Revolution” on Breaking News Journal TV and Film Broadcasting Company, a/ka/ BNJ TV and Breaking News Journal, on Amazon Prime, Fire TV, Roku TV, Facebook and Twitter. Contact the White’s at [e-mail] at the time of this release.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 4, 2004
• ISBN: 9781418471859

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2004 Drs. Steven A. White and Ruth B. White. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/08/2021

ISBN: 978-1-4184-3865-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4184-3864-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4184-7185-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

******************************************************

The Whites would like to extend a special thanks to all of the staff writers of newspapers and magazines. Thanks also to the news assignment editors, producers, hosts of the many talk shows the Whites were privy to participate in.

Special thanks for the chapter contributions by Son-In-Law, Ronald Ryan Gollner and Son, Pershaun Marnelle Reynolds. Thanks also to those who gave the personal approval for their touching stories to be added to this book, Kay Allison and Judith McGee (as dictated written and told to Ruth Bryant White).

Thanks to La Vonda M. Gollner for encouraging and insisting that this book be written, so her future Grandchildren can see the legacy left behind for them.

This book is dedicated to all of our future grandchildren, and the ones already here, Ayanna Monet Reynolds, and Taelyr Reynolds Jackson, Ocean Jade Gollner, and the Bryant Grandbabies. This book is for people of all mature ages and ethnicities for generations to come.

Overseen by: Melvon Renee Anderson

Book Design Creation by Ruth Bryant White

Covered Designed by: Jimmy Nguyen, Carlos Aguilar, and Burke Jones for Total Documents Solutions. www.tdsusa.com

Life Through The Eyes Of An Interracial Couple, Copyright 2003 by Steven Alan White and Ruth Bryant White. All rights reserved by Steven Alan White and Ruth Bryant White, A Place For Us National, UP Entertainment/Productions. All pictures and articles in this book are the property of Steven Alan White and Ruth Bryant White for work done during the contributions they made to make our society a better place.

This book is printed in the United States of America. No part of this book is be used or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of Steven Alan White and Ruth Bryant White except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book may be purchased for educational, business, spiritual, and promotional use.

For information please call or write: 1st Books Library, 1663 liberty Dr. Suite 200, Bloomington Indiana 47403. Phone number 1-888-519-5121, 812l-339-6000 (inside the USA), 812-961-1023 (outside the USA and Canada), or by email: [e-mail]

To send mail to the Whites: P.O. Box 50016, Henderson, NV 89016-0036

QUOTES BY THE MEDIA ABOUT THE WHITES

A little boy on my show said to me: It’s too bad Martin Luther King is gone. We could use him right now, and I said: You’re right, but we can use what he taught us. Now we have Ruth and Steve who live a life of love, tolerance, and acceptance, who teach us that caring doesn’t come in colors and that there is no patina to privilege or hue to honor.

Leeza Gibbons

Steve and Ruth, you are a true Inspiration and a hope for humanity. Best Wishes.

Mark & Gail Mathabane

Best-selling authors of "Love in Black & White"

Published by Harper Collins

Mark is the Best-selling author of Kaffir Boy

And Kaffir Boy in America

Alabama High School Principal Huland Humphries doesn’t know Steven and Ruth White, but he will. Humphries wanted to ban interracial couples from attending his school’s prom. The Whites have collected 2000 signatures condemning Hemphries’ proposal and calling for his firing.

Alan Janson

Staff Writer

South Bay Daily Breeze

Steve and Ruth White, co-founders of A Place For Us/National are working on a State Voter’s Initiative to add Multiracial categories on state forms that ask about race or ethnicity. The proposed measure is dedicated to Sydney and Justin Simpson, the children of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson.

Laura Flores

Staff Writer

Long Beach Press-Telegram

THANK YOU’S**

Auntie Isla Garth of Long Beach California, along with Auntie Dean who resided in Santa Barbara, California were Steve’s Aunts. They were the solid rocks of stability for Steve, Ruth and the children, when they went through their hardest days of beginning their marriage. Auntie Isla stood up to her baby sister, Steve’s mother, and Auntie Dean, Steve’s father’s aunt gave strong family support and stood up to Steve’s father when Steve’s father tried to undermine their relationship. They were the ones who supported Steve and Ruth. Then there was Aunt Marie Steve’s mother’s Aunt, whose father was one of the first community leaders in Laverne California.

Cynthia Eadmon, one of Steve’s good friends just happens to have black skin. She’s the one who introduced the pair and has been a family friend for over 22 years. Liz Jenkins was very inspirational and encouraged the children of the White’s not give up when they invested almost all of their savings in a family project that was in the process of being licensed by the NFL. When the children lost almost $6,000.00, Liz and their parents gave the children ways in which to enterprise themselves, and inspired them to continue praying, not give up and keep that entrepreneurial spirit.

Thanks to Juanita Hallett, the one who first encouraged Steve and Ruth to put this book out on the market. Juanita stayed up day and night editing and preparing the book for print. Juanita was Steve and Ruth’s Personal Assistant, and she did everything for them from keeping their files in order, to making plane reservations to watching the children while the Whites kept their speaking engagements. Juanita did this for over 5 years. She made sure A Place For Us National was an organization people remembered.

Although no one can take the place of Juanita, the Lord really blessed us with Rita Frazier to come along. For over 10 years Rita has dedicated herself to the White’s organization A Place For Us National, as Chief National Director in Little Rock Arkansas. Rita’s daughter Promise has grown up as National Youth Spokesperson for the organization. Promise made her national television debut on The Leeza Show, and also gave her debut speech in 2000 in Washington D.C. for C-Span for the Census 2000 Multiracial Round Table discussion and Press Conference. In 2001 Rita and her new husband were the first couple/interracial couple in the country that got married under the Covenant Marriage Commitment and there is an article that speaks what it is about in the New York Times Newspaper.

Steve and Ruth also thank those who supported the Census 2000 Roundtable and Press Conference namely, Charles Byrd of Interracial Voice, James Landrith of Interracial Activist, and their dear friends Dan & Yvette Walker Hollis of New People Magazine. Ward Connerly has always been there for A Place For Us, and as friends of the White’s have called them to encourage them on things like the Multiracial Children’s Initiative, he gave his endorsement of the initiative; sadly it didn’t get to the ballot. Dr. Nico Smith from South Africa had a similar move like an underground railroad designed under the Apartheid system to bring whites and blacks in South Africa together Dr. Smith worked with Ruth and Steve to bring a similar concept to America to help bring people in racially segregated churches together. Brian Harris who was the first national Youth Spokesperson for A Place For Us/National who developed so much within the organization that he started his own organization, Friendship Sees No Color, and pen pal writing service for young people to be matched up with others friends of different ethnicities. Quincy Ali, who has maintained the operations of A Place For Us, while the Whites take a well deserved sabbatical. Valerie Wilkins Godbee, a former New York Director of A Place For Us/National who put her life on the line to support Transracial Adoptions. Mark & Gail Mathabane, Interracial authors of Love In Black and White, (Mark authored Kaffir Boy, and Kaffir Boy In America). Mark and Gail made frequent appearances on The Oprah show. They gave support to Steve and Ruth as they moved in uncertain circles. Anytime Mark & Gail needed the Whites, they were there for them, and the same if the Whites needed support.

Judy McGee the former Northern California Director for A Place For Us/National in Salinas California, now residing in Nevada, along with her 1st husband was the 1st interracially married couple in Denver Colorado in 1957. The Whites hope their book will open the doors for her story to be told. It’s an untold part of history that has not been investigated and reported on. She and her black boyfriend then husband had to flee their hometown because people were looking for them so they could lynch him, and teach her a lesson as well for being an interracial relationship in that town. It’s awful how the judge in Denver separated her two children and said she could not have the one who looked blacker. She had not seen her child or known if her child was alive or dead for over 40 years.

Bob Knaus near Modesto California has been dedicated to the vision of the Whites for over 10 years and has worked to bring attention to the Whites work for racial harmony, and to draw attention to the Whites daughter’s book "Never Say Never" An Informative Journal. Bob took the information to those who might need it during the time Chandra Levy was missing. He is also a comedian who said the White’s are cool people even if they are purple and green. Thanks to The Southern Poverty Law Center for supporting A Place For Us National and forwarding the over 3000 signatures the organization gathered to be sent to the Wedowee Alabama High School to force the firing of the High School Principal for his slanderous remarks to a biracial teen about her race the segregation of interracial relationships at the High School Prom! Thanks to Bishop Blake and Pastor Frank Robinson (who’s interracially married), for helping the Whites accumulate the 3000 signatures from their West Los Angeles Church, (where many notable celebrities attend such as Denzel Washington, and magic Johnson, among others). Frank also arranged for Steve & Ruth to privately meet Rosa Parks. They also thank Donzaleigh Abernathy, star on the Lifetime Channels’ "Any Day Now"! Donzaleigh (a good friend of the Whites) arranged for Ruth to be personally introduced to Corretta Scott King in a private photo session with Women Leaders, which includes Ruth in the picture also.

Thanks to the White’s children who stood together when Ruth was a Single Mother, when times were tough, from the days of taco shells, and peanut butter and jelly to the days of Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding. Pershaun had to be the man of the house when the young ones needed to be taken care of. He was a latch key kid, who believed in education so much that his shoes would be so worn out that they would flap, and he still went to school. He proved his point when he graduated from Chapman University with his B.A. in Psychology. Le Jeune is a Professional Model and who has graced the pages of Bridal Magazine, Mr. August 2002 on the Chippendales 2002 Calendar, the NFL and acted in a commercial with Jennifer Love Hewitt for Dr. Pepper among other projects. Author of the book "Never Say Never" and Informative Journal La Vonda J. Mc Clain, aka M. Gollner, also is studying to get her PhD in Child Psychology and, who was raised to love a life of being Colorblind young people in the 21st century. To Pastor Bill Gross (former pastor of South bay Ca church) who put his career on the line and told many of his white congregation that maybe they didn’t belong there if they had a problem with interracial dating, referring to the White’ s son Le Jeune who was dating a white skinned girl at the Church and the consequences that followed.

Thanks to Rich Buhler the first Radio Talk Show Host to interview Ruth & Steve, who because of an inside joke being the reason the White’s are using their names the way they are in this book. Jim McClellan, former talk show host of the TBN show " Joy In The Morning", was the first television Talk Show Host to have Steve and Ruth speak about the first edition of the book release, and Sally Jesse Rafael was the first nationally recognized popular talk show host to mention some of the things that interested her in the book to her studio and television audience. Special thanks to Lillian Smith, Producer of the Phil Donahue Show at the time, and the Mark Walberg Show, who made sure Steve and Ruth’s voice was heard because she felt they had an important message for our society. Special thanks to friend Leeza Gibbons who was the first National Talk Show Host to really support Steve and Ruth and their efforts to promote a colorblind society. Leeza has done more for racial harmony than most celebrities that are biracial or in interracial relationships. Ruth would frequently have appointments with Leeza in her private office when taking care of business on the Paramount Studio Lot. Steve and Ruth wrote the script for a PSA that Montel Williams and Leeza Gibbons did for the 1997 Multiracial Solidarity Rally. Steve and Ruth were consultants on Viacom’s movie for Showtime, called Mr. & Mrs. Lovings The Whites and their daughter La Vonda helped USA Network produce a PSA, which ran on the network for 4 years on being Colorblind. La Vonda also had a speaking part in it.

Thanks to former First Lady Barbara Bush for being the one who inspired the Whites to work hard on moving America towards a Colorblind Society, a society where people are judged by their character not the color of their skin. First Lady Barbara Bush also sent a letter of Thanks for them sending her a copy of the first edition the White’s Autobiography. Pastor Burt Hakkassan was the one who felt the Whites would do great things with the Vision God has given them and who certified them as Christian Counselors, and well as the one who performed their ordination as Non-Denominational Ministers. They specialize in race relations, and interracial relationships.

Ruth sends a very special thanks to the Class of 1973 Manual High School in Denver Colorado. She believes the year she graduated was the best in Colorado history. This class always has always taken time to remember those who are no longer with us whether they were popular or not. Ruth says I believe our class had more compassion for all of our Classmates than any other Class I’ve ever seen anywhere in the country. I think most of us have accomplished what we dreamed of and for some much more. My life has been the richer for it. Thank you for the memories!

002_a_blankaernest.jpg

RUTH’S STORY,

A MENOPAUSE BABY &

A little Family History:

I was born in Denver Colorado in 1955, by a mother who was 42 years old, born in 1913, in Dennison Texas. Grandfather was a widower who took care of his 3 children after Grandmother died. Grandmother died from Pneumonia a few weeks after mother was born. I was born an Aunt of people I have not met to this day! I was the last child born to my mom, and the only girl. The brother who was closest to me in age was my brother Lee Andrew, or better known by his nickname Buster. The others Richard, Moses, Leroy and J.C. were the oldest. They were so old they could have been my fathers, because mother had J.C. when she was 13 years. Mother had been raped by a man who knew my grandfather and mother told me later, she never said anything about it, but when she got pregnant and she saw him, she grabbed her rifle, and she was going to kill him unless he left. In the South you were a disgrace if you had a baby out of wedlock, and you were a disgrace if you had one of those homegrown abortions.

The man who raped mother wanted to marry her, but she did not want to marry him. Under the circumstances grandfather wouldn’t accept anything less. They got married to save the ridicule she would have faced. I can tell it was not the time of the century I was supposed to be born, because I’d rather be ridiculed than to be with a man who had done such a despicable thing. I guess that is why God chose another time for me to be born. They had another son, Leroy. Mother by this time was so aggravated, that she left this man. She moved her children to Marlin Texas and had to work hard and long hours. Mother did not want her children to be without her, like she would have to do from time to time. Mother was very close to her father, her only brother, Uncle Sammy Lee, and only sister Aunt Lela. Grandfather married a Ms. Lila who took care of her brother and sister for a while. Aunt Lela and Uncle Sammy Lee named after Grandfather returned the favor and took care of her until she died in Marlin, Texas, years after I was born.

Mother made a hard decision to give her children up for adoption. There were two well off families who loved the boys and would love to have the boys Leroy and J.C. These couples could not have children of their own. Mother agreed as long as she could come and visit them. They agreed and she did and I think she was happy over all to have left them in good hands.

Mother knew the people, and felt she could trust them to do her children right, and she would visit them. It seems mother did the right thing, because J.D. and Leroy, grew up to be well educated and respected. Leroy was a manager of a store in Dallas Texas, and the oldest ( J.C.) was a supervisor at a College. They were left lots of land after the deaths of their Adopted families. Back then there were no Social Services where you had to sign paper, in the Deep South as I call it. They were married men but players too! Women loved to be around them because I guess they thought they had a special charm of some sort.

Then there was Moses and Richard, who were a few years apart and kind of looked like twins.

Unlike J.C. & Leroy’s father, Moses and Richard knew their father, and carried his name. As I learned their father died recently but before his death their father asked to see them, and they spent two weeks with him before he died. They were born in Old Mexico, El Paso Texas right near the border of Mexico and Texas. Mother learned how to make Frijoles. It seems like she learned that from The Mexicans or the Indians. Mother was a hard worker and could pick over a 100lbs of cotton a day and from what I understand. Mother was a little heavier than she was during the years I grew up, which was good for her because she had a little meat on her to handle the hard work ahead. Mother told me how she had to have another life, because she got tired of going through the back doors of White peoples’ homes, as if she was a second class citizen.

Mama’s cousins told her to come to Denver and they would help her until she could get a place. Mother moved to Denver after traveling a lot from Texas to Denver, to see her enormous family there, The Boyd Family. They are a closely knit and religious family. Almost all of them had pianos in their homes, and their children took piano lessons. All through the years, if someone in the family were in need of something they would all do what they could to help. They were a family who lived in Middle Class neighborhoods in houses they bought, but when a family needed something they were there to help. I cannot say the same for the generations that followed.

Cousins Shirley, Elsie, Maggie, Faye, Cordelia and Uncle J, were always kind. They helped mother because of her being a Single Parent. Uncle J. was my Grandmother’s brother. Cousin Callie’s mother Aunt Shang was Grandmother’s Sister. She lived on or around the Reservation in Oklahoma until her death in the 90’s. Cousin Callie is Aunt Shang’s daughter and another of Mother’s first cousins. I loved Carl or Colonel, and of course Morris who was the eldest and a Music Promoter. Morris recorded Carl’s Music on his label. However Cousin Callie had two other children I could not stand, Paul and one of his sisters. Her name was Cousin Vivian. Have you ever seen Jennifer Lopez from the side, and have you seen the Turning Leaf Commercial, where the man is cooking for his girlfriend and she comes in with her sassy look with the loop earrings and the Boys Bobbin short hair cut? Well that’s what Cousin Vivian looked like. Of course, she was a beautician and her mother owned a Beauty Salon. She was very pretty, and she definitely had the Indian features like most of us (if not Indian features, then Irish features and green or light brown eye color). Cousin Vivian was very mean and she rarely smiled and when she did she was drunk. Depending of the degree of her drinking, she would be mad and be fighting her men friends every Friday and Saturday night.

The difference is Cousin Vivian was funny or mean depending on how far along she was in her drunkenness. She was kind of quiet but really mean when she was sober. She was a complete tyrant and meeting man after man when she was drunk. Priscilla would want me along with her because she knew her mother was going to be hanging out with God only knows who next.

Richard and Moses spent some time with Mother. As they got older, they attended Cole Jr. High. Being from the South, I remember my brother talking later to me saying he had never gone to school with white people before, until he came to Denver. My brother said they were never called outlandish names like Nigger and no riots broke out because they were there. I wonder why specials on Civil Rights never focus on the schools that had multiple races in them.

Richard and Moses let me into their lives and instead of always speaking of racial problems they gave me an adventure into how they would catch freight trains and sleep in boxcars like they were hobos. My brothers shared with me that because mother didn’t have the money to send for them, hopping a freight train was the only way they could travel. I know my brothers enough to know that they are proud, and I believe they had too much pride to let someone tell them they couldn’t sit on the train with everyone else because of their skin color. They would rather sleep in a Boxcar than to go off on someone and suffer the consequences. Richard was particularly smart. He could mimic anyone, whether a singer or an actor and he would have me cracking up when he wasn’t drinking.

Richard and Moses were faced with the same economic problem, but they handled it differently. I believe Richard became an alcoholic because he was so dark skinned he wasn’t able to get a job, and yet our brighter skinned cousins had jobs of prominence (many in the City of Denver). Also when he was young, mother left Richard with a stepmother who was the wicked witch of the South. She and the teachers of Texas beat him because he was left-handed. Every time he used his left hand they’d hit him, until he learned how to use his right hand, and that confused him. You know they believed in the old days that you were a devil if you were left-handed. To this day, Richard uses his right hand to write and do other things.

When Richard came to Denver in the 1940’s it must have been hard for him to be in a whole new world. This was the first place where he attended school with white kids on equal terms. In one sense, that was good for Richard, but for some reason he couldn’t keep up in school, so he dropped out in the 8th grade. Whenever Richard needed money or the city would give him a check like welfare he’d get a bottle. Although he was overcome most of his major problems it just kills my heart to know he went through things like this at all. Richard never was jealous of our cousins with green eyes and bright colored skin, and they never disrespected him. They knew he needed help, and tried to give it to him. They supported him, and race was never an issue with my mother’s family; if you were family, and you were just that. We did not get along over the years because he thought I thought I was better than he, and part of that was that I wanted him to be a better person than he was even at the young age I was. I did not respect him for not taking control of his life or at least trying, and at that time he wasn’t.

In contrast to Uncle Richard, Moses used his charisma to convince people to give him a try at different jobs. Eventually Moses had his own salvage business. Then he became Top Salesman in the Funeral Insurance business, and was featured many times in the newspapers in Dallas, Texas.

I’ve gotten ahead of myself, but the end result was that both Moses and Richard were successful. Moses had his business, and Richard retired from working for the City of Denver.

It shocks me to this day, that people don’t think that Denver Colorado has any Black people that live there. The truth is what people see on television is Aspen, Boulder, or Vail Colorado. All are nice places, but Denver in my opinion is just as nice. It’s a big city with a small city mentality. People there are of all ethnicities. They seem to be smart and seem to be in the cutting edge of things, if they want to be. It seems like the decision makers from Denver seem to have a clear since of direction.

Since I’ve been grown and left Denver, there is one thing that has disturbed me. Never when the city of Denver is shown or described in someone’s mind do they think people of influence can have Black Skin, like to fish, go snowmobiling or skiing or have condos in Vail, but they do and did.

I don’t know how mother met Lee Andrew’s father. They were married and she had Lee Andrew (known as Buster). Buster’s father was in the military, and mother told me when I asked what happened that he got killed after the war. Lee Andrew was born in 1949. Mother said she met my father named Volleny Bryant, because he worked on the Railroad.

Dad’s family moved to Denver from Wyoming. Mother who had been married several times then met my father who was the oldest of about 12 children. He also has an enormous family in Denver. As I understand it, Grandmother favored her boys more than her daughters, my Aunt Hildred and Aunt Florence. I believe my Aunt Florence dealt with that all of her life. I know my oldest sister Ardath and brother Volleny (named after Dad) confirmed that Grandmother was that way. I never knew Aunt Hildred, but I was told that she sang with Billie Holiday, and if the pictures are of any indication than that surely is true, she used to wear the flower in her hair and such. My Aunt Florence was so adorable and sweet. Aunt Florence, my Sister Violet, Uncle David, and I have either a slight stutter in the speech, or a hesitation stammer in the speech. They say Dad had that as well. I have it sometimes when I’m angry, but if I become angry that changes immediately and the words become oh so clear. I just couldn’t see how anyone couldn’t love Aunt Florence a lot, because I sure did. As I understand it, my grandmother didn’t like girls, and I could not understand why. Aunt Florence was the best Aunt anyone could have, and whatever my father lacked in affection she and all of my uncles that I knew in Denver more than made up for.

The Bryant’s are a dysfunctional family. They say Grandfather Bryant never talked. I don’t know how true it is, but they said it was because he and his brother killed a Slave master and they fled the South. I don’t know the circumstances, but before my grandfather’s brother passed in the 1990’s, we all got a chance to meet him. When we did, my Uncle David (the pillar of the community) started crying like a baby. I imagine that was because he missed his family and longed to have had more time with someone who could give him a little history about our family. This great uncle had never met any of us from Colorado until my First Cousin Joannie (Aunt Hildred’s daughter) got the family together for that year’s family reunion. It was the last family reunion that most of us attended before our great Uncle, Aunt Mabel, Uncle Andrew, and Uncle David went to be with Our Lord.

I tell you what: if it’s true that our Great Uncle and Grandfather killed someone, I don’t agree with it. Still, if it’s a difference of my grandfather and granduncle surviving or being killed, I guess I must say I probably would have done the same thing. I just would have stayed wherever in the South this was supposed to have taken place and suffered the killing I would have received, but then I wouldn’t be here today. As dysfunctional as the Bryant family is, I’m very proud to be a part of it. I feel that way about the Boyd family too, because they both bring strong heritage and sense of belonging to the family that the later generations don’t seem to have.

After my mother gave father the boot, he must have been in a lot of hot water, because Lenda, my sister told me later that daddy came up to her while she was playing in the yard and that was the last time she saw him. Mother said dad left the State with another woman, and as far as she knew he was living in Detroit Michigan. It didn’t seem she was worried or concerned. I’m sure I still have brothers and sisters I know nothing about, and that saddens me.

My Grandmother and Grandfather had property on 22nd and Lafayette, four houses in a row on the Ave. My uncle Albert owned them, and my Uncle Andrew and my brother Volleny stayed in them from time to time, and probably didn’t have to pay rent. One of the properties is owned today by a 3rd generation Bryant, who is the son of my favorite Aunt Florence. My Uncle Albert had his own construction company. His seal on the sidewalk and it reads A. Bryant. That is the history and Bryant legacy I like to talk about, but everything can’t be rosy. My father was not married to Mother.

Mama didn’t want to be bothered with father, because he lied to her and told her he wasn’t married. I was told Dad had two wives in Denver named Roberta, and they were the parents of my brother Volleny Bryant Junior, and my oldest sister Ardath, and Violet, Lorna and Lenda.

When I was born in Denver General Hospital and my father tried to visit Mother and me in the hospital. Mother ran him out, because she didn’t want to have anything to do with a liar. My mother is stubborn when she makes up her mind about something, she does not back away. Until the famous song by the Temptations Papa Was A Rolling Stone came out, I thought I was the only one who had a father who didn’t seem to care about his children. Mother wouldn’t even let him sign the Birth Certificate, so for a long time I was going to school under the name of Mother’s last husband (Smith). That is the name that my almost 90-year-old mother has to this day.

I was what you might term a Menopause Baby, because I was born around the time mother was going through the Change of Life. Mother was 43 years old when she had me on May 6th, 1955.

Because of Mama’s age, I was born with Clubfeet, where my feet were completely turned the opposite way. The doctors at the hospital discussed with Mama about the operation they wanted me to have to correct the disability. She told me later that she always went into prayer when it came to serious matters like that. This was no different.

I was told that I had a spirit of determination from the time I was born. While the cast was placed on my legs after the operation, I would scoot around up and down the stairs not wanting any help, just tending to my own business, asking for what I wanted and then going to the next thing.

The casts stayed on my legs until my legs had developed where they could take the casts off. Mother was concerned and was praying about when I would walk, and she heard a minister on the TV. Mama had a letter sent to him about my situation. He sent her a letter back with a prayer cloth for her to put on my legs. Mother said that within 2 days, I was taking my first steps. She attributes this to the well known Oral Roberts (Tent Evangelist) who sent the prayer cloth, and her strong belief in God, and the miracles he can perform, as well as God leading to good doctors. To this day, I have the marks on my feet where the Doctors had to cut the cast off.

It seems I was obviously a child on a mission. The Good Lord must of had a reason for me to survive some of the things I have, and be able to tell about them, and to inspire others that they too can get through some of these same tough times.

I had to get things done. To this day if I feel that someone is trying to keep something from me, unless it’s none of my business, I will pursue the matter until I get answers. I sometimes wait for the information to come to me. I do not like to start things and not complete them, even if the results are less than what I expected.

Almost all of the incidents that happened to me were in my discovery years of 3, 4 and 5. I remember one day when mother was washing white clothes on one of these Ringer Washers. She had a glass on the table (which I thought was water that she was keeping away from me). I had been playing and I was thirsty. I asked mother for a glass of water. Mama said, Wait a minute baby, and she turned around. The minute she did that, I grabbed the glass and drank all the liquid down. Mother told me later that I started screaming, I do not remember that, but I do remember Mama turned around quickly. She was horrified, and before I knew it she went into action as if she were a medical doctor.

Mama poured fried meat grease with Castor Oil down my throat, so I would vomit. Then she took me to the hospital. At the age of 3 or 4 years old, I should not of had any insides left after an episode like that. I should have been dead. That is what the doctors said. That goes back to what I said earlier. I thought Mama wasn’t acting fast enough to give me what I asked her for. I didn’t give her enough credit for only having two hands and trying to keep me clean, and the house too. To this day, Mama doesn’t even understand how I could remember this incident. The funny thing is, I don’t remember the pain.

Sometimes I liked being a clown. I had such a day when I paid the price for my actions. I was probably around 4 years old. Some neighborhood friends and I were coloring in a coloring book. I took a crayon and put straight up my nose, so far up I could not get it out and I thought I was going to suffocate. I was terrified, by Mama came to the rescue again. I know she was thinking, What am I going to do with my crazy baby? My mother must really have thought she had a space cadet on her hands, but she never gave me that impression. Mother loved me, and she would truthfully answer any question that I asked. The other children were inquisitive like I was, but they didn’t take it to that extreme.

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Ruth’s elementary School, Ruth’s home in the Arapahoe Projects, and Ruth’s Home after the Curtis Park Projects were changed to Town Houses

The First Interracial Relationship I Saw

I was only 3 or 4 years old, and there were always people around. Mother was known for helping people who needed a helping hand, even though she needed some herself. The first interracial encounter I really saw was when our cousin Paul and his girlfriend Lynn came to stay with us. She came from a wealthy white family. My mother loved Lynn. I don’t know why I even remember that she was white, except someone in the house must have said that. I do know that when I discussed Lynn with mother she spoke of how much she liked Lynn, and how she was a good person. One day Paul was arguing with Lynn while she was cooking corn bread. He started beating her up, and threw the skillet across the kitchen. Although I did not know the difference between races at the age of four, I did know that from a young age I did not like arguing or fighting. When I saw Lynn again, I remember looking at her strangely, because her mouth was wired shut. Mother made Bean Soup that Lynn was sucking through a straw. I didn’t know until I spoke to mother about it years later that the reason for that was that Paul broke Lynn’s jaw. I never liked my cousin after that and I could not stand to be around him or people who mistreated other people. I looked at him as someone who was very evil. My mother could not believe that I remembered what happened that day. The sad thing is this situation is indicative of the stereotype people have of a Black Man / White Woman relationship.

Although there are a lot of good black men in interracial relationships, it saddens me that I had a relative who was a woman abuser and he didn’t care what their skin color was. If Paul thought he was stronger then they were, he would show his so-called power by beating them into submission. It seemed to me now that I am older looking back he seemed to have a love/hate relationship with her, because he knew he would never be accepted into her family. Maybe Paul felt he was getting retribution for what happened in slavery times. It seemed to give him a cheap thrill or false power to treat women this way.

No woman should let any man abuse her, no matter the race, but people are especially looking to find blame against the Black Man / White Woman relationship. Since that is so, if you are in an interracial relationship, get your act together and treat a woman like a Woman. Treating a woman like trash only makes you trash, because a real man does not treat a women like a dog or door mat, then make up with her again, just to repeat the same thing at another time. I say check the reason for your action, if this applies to you. White men who mistreat Black women like not taking them around their friends or physically abusing them, the same thing applies to you. It seems like many white people do their dirty work behind closed doors and gated communities. Many blacks are very overt about their dirty work.

Of course, I’ve known women who abuse men, too. What I’ve said above applied to them too!

These things were just the beginning of similar situations I would hear about in the future. Maybe I was being prepared for things to come. Maybe it was training ground for what was to come.

Growing Up Normally

When I was close to going to Preschool, I was very creative and just before entering Kindergarten I loved to play outside. I would make mud pies, ride on homemade scooters, and little red wagons. I put my dolls in them taking them on a stroll through the neighborhood. One day Buster was burning something on the stove. He said: Give me your arm. I did. Buster was burning a fork on the stove, which he took and pressed very hard on my arm. I don’t know why he did it. I trusted him, but maybe he had gotten in trouble about something or maybe he was jealous about me being the baby. I’ll never know. To this day that mark is another one I carry. It’s on my right arm. The Lord had to have had mercy on Buster that day, because Mother tried to kill him.

I still loved Buster. He was smart in school, and brought home good grades. He was in the 6th grade when I started Kindergarten. I would go to school half a day, and he would walk me home. Buster was a Safety Guard at School. He would get us little ones across the street after school. Then I started going to school and coming home by myself. That was because Buster was in and out of Juvenile Hall for stealing. We were living in the Arapahoe projects and then moved across to the Curtis Park Projects.

I did not realize I was as poor as we were. I lived in the Arapahoe Projects, but the tenants and the property managers kept the area clean. These projects were like Military Housing and I never heard of or saw graffiti until the Hippie Movement (years later), and that was on their Volkswagen Vans. We had Welfare Cheese and Welfare canned Beef and Chicken. Mother would make some good meals with that. Mother would get my clothes from Good Will or some second hand stores. Mother would make the best with what she had, and there was always a family member that would take her where she needed to go. Although the clothes were 2nd hand, mother would iron everything from my cotton slips, dresses, sheets and our pillowcases. We didn’t get anything less than what she did for someone she ironed clothes or took in laundry for.

We were cultured. We lived across the street from the park, and every year the Indians from Pueblo Colorado would come and do an Indian Rain Dance, and Pow Wow.

Mrs. Bobbie and her daughter Delores would normally take me to things like that. Mrs. Bobbie was like a second mother to me. Buster and I would pass her house after I was in kindergarten and were on our way to school, and she didn’t want us to pass her house without getting lunch money! Ms. Bobbie was a Catholic and took Delores and me to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. We were the only blacks but mostly there were Latinos and Whites at her church. Mrs. Bobbie was so good to us and me. I recently heard that she had passed, and I was deeply hurt that I didn’t know anything about it. I hear that Delores always dates White men and has a very high power job in Denver.

We went back and forth to Texas especially if my sister’s in laws were going to have babies. Mama wasn’t a Mid Wife, but she took care of the house for them as if she was, because she wanted them to have the care they needed before and after the babies were born.

Getting a Glimpse of the Old South

One year we went to Texas, and I swear my mother knew Texas like the back of her hand, from Amarillo and Waco, to Dennison, El Paso, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Marlin. She had friends in all of those places, and I only heard good things about her there. In Denver there was always high praise for Mother! Maybe it was because of the way she handled hard situations. Mother and I did the traveling together because at these times Buster was incarcerated. Mother wanted me to see what life was like in the country; how they plucked chicken made Butter Milk, and Butter, how they had to go into outhouses instead of the clean bathrooms we had at home. They used kerosene lamps in the country at night.

My cousins Bee, Bubba and I would be outside at night looking at the Lightning bugs. Bee and Bubba were older than I and they would watch me and spoil me. It was fun going into the outhouses and mother would make brown paper bags so soft you’d think you were using toilet paper. I always said that I didn’t remember any signs that said colored only in drinking water fountains, or bathrooms, but I do remember when Bee and Bubba would take me to the show, they would buy the ticket in the front and we would go around the back. I would hear the people downstairs laughing or whatever, but I never saw them. As I look back on it now, I guess it was acceptable for them to live in a segregated state and it was a part of their lives. If I had an inkling that there was a problem with race, I surely would have asked questions. In Denver we would go in the front doors like anyone else, so it has taken me over 30 years to remember that. I think whoever had those separatist laws were stupid because the best seats are in the balcony close to the front.

I didn’t complain, I just observed and listened and had fun. Mother would always go to see her sister Aunt Lela, and her brother, Uncle Sammy Lee. We would have fresh Butter Milk straight from Mrs. Peach’s Dairy Cow. If you’ve never had fresh Buttermilk, chilled on a hot summer day, with chunks of real butter on the bottom, then you’ve missed something. I think every child should at least spend a summer down in the country, so they see what it’s like to have no running water, and having to haul water every day from the water pipes in order to have water to take baths to drink, heating water in pots to be poured into the bath. We went to the outhouse to use the restroom, and not having toilet paper, but using brown paper bag instead. We would sleep outside but mother would smoke the ticks off the mattresses every night, because these bugs would be in the mattresses and they suck your blood. We would see the lightning bugs. It was a lot of fun. It was like the childhood reading books we had studied about Dick, and Jane and their trips to the country farm.

Almost Losing My Leg

Any way, when we left the Deep South, we went back to Dallas where my brothers Moses, Leroy, and J.C. lived. I was playing outside and the biggest mosquitoes I have ever seen stung me. When I itch, I scratch. I kept scratching and pulling the scab, and by the time we got back to Denver. I had dug a hole into my leg. This was serious because I had almost reached the bone. Mother started crying. She was scared, but most of all she prayed before we went to the hospital. I must have had a big file by now. Anyway when we got to the doctor, the Intern that was assigned to us said for mother to put an ice pack on my leg. As we were leaving, mother said, Sister, I do not think that doctor knows what he is talking about, so I’m going to take you to the drug store and I am going to get you some medicated Salve for your bites. I will see how you’re doing in a couple of weeks and then we’ll go back to the doctor, and see what they say. Well, mother did just what she said, and my leg improved. When Mama took me back to the hospital the doctor had a talk with mother, and said: Ma’am if you would have put an ice pack on her leg, we would have had to amputate it." I don’t have to tell you how upset Mama was; she was so angry, she was talking very loud. She was not angry with the doctor who gave the bad news, but if the intern would have been around, I’m sure she would have demanded that he not work at the hospital.

I think mama was scared of how close I came to losing my leg; this being the second time a serious incident involved my legs. She didn’t care who heard what she had to say. When I think about it all, The Good Lord must of have a reason for me to have a mother with so much wisdom and a God that she listened to when he spoke to her.

CHILDHOOD FRIENDSHIPS

Days of Innocence

In the projects I felt my life was really no different than wealthy families except we had no money, but many times it sure did seem like it. However because so many books are written about the families who have so much horror in them, I wanted to give you a different picture of a Multiracial Black skinned poor family that had a lot of good things happen in them.

I was the baby, and even the babies of families may get things others in the family may not have had in their youth. I was so much younger than Buster, that I felt I was the only child.

We met lots of friends there, many who I ask about to this day. They were mostly from large families, who believed in education and they were smart families. The Grants older brother was Buster’s age and they were friends. I was friends with Vaneeta and Sister Barbara. Then there was the Davis family. Evelyn and Manual were the age of Buster, and I was the age of Myrtle, Sharon, Kim and Leodus who was a little older. Myrtle and I were in the some of the same classes. Then there was the Kelly family: Margaret, June, and Robert, and the Martin family, Mimi and Ernest. There was the Simmons family: Lori and Judy. Buster didn’t hang around their brother that much. Buster was known for his deeds, good and bad, but was liked and very popular. Buster had lots of charisma, but wasn’t phony; if he didn’t like you, you knew it. There was the Thomas family: Mrs. Gladys, Dorothy, Angie, Debbie, Tommy, and Ronnie, and of course The Ashley’s. Doris and Michael Ashley were kind of mean, but her other brother Larry was nice. Cynthia (Cindy) Ashley was our neighborhood bully and friend (when we did what she wanted us to).

With all of the good things that happened there were the bad things also. You learn how to fight and protect yourself. That problem I mainly had with Francine I hated that, because I’m a team player always have been, but there are those who tried to push over on me. Our Bully was named Cindy, and she had a lot of good qualities and she was very smart, but she could also turn the kids against you if you did not do what she wanted.

When she got that way I would just go into the house and when she ended up not having anyone to play with she came over to the house. My mother was concerned about her. Cindy would sometimes act respectful with older people around, but Mama could see around her. The one person I could not stand to be around, and she could not stand to be around me was Francine. She was cute and she was jealous of me, and I don’t know why. We would go round and round, and sometimes make up but she was another one mother did not trust. I would constantly have people say, You think you’re cute because your hair is long. To me with all the work mama had to put into making my hair neat. It was no big thing to me.

We listened to music by the Four Tops, The Righteous Brothers, Supremes and Temptations as well as listening to my older brother sing songs from Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr., Sam Cook, and The Drifters and all of the rest. Then The Beatles came along and we listened to them too after we got over the British look that came with the British Invasion.

Then there was Dobbie whose mother must have been in entertainment promotions, because she could get tickets for all kinds of events. I remember Dobbie’s mother had arranged for us to go to the Aretha Franklin Concert in The Red Rock Mountain. I know we went, but for some reason she didn’t show or something so people started throwing bottles and things at the stage, of course we were too young to know that there were other problems.

We always had something to do. On many weekends we would stay out late at night to watch scary movies like The Tree Monster, (my title) The 50 Foot Giant, and the Shrinking Man. No one had Color television to see the second part of the Wizard Of Oz, but it was a ritual every year for all of us to go where we could to see it. The first time I saw the Wizard of Oz and saw the color part, it really expanded my creativity, with all of that vivid color. It really opened up my imagination that there was a place that I could go that was beautiful and hassle free. It may take some hard times to get there, but it’s waiting for you, and it starts right where you are!

That was the one time no one would be outside playing, because the Wizard of Oz usually aired around Easter. The television would stop showing programs around Midnight or a little after. Then they’d play the Star Spangled Banner before the television went off. If we were not tired we’d look at that too. I had nothing to fear, because if my brother knew a boy bully was messing with me when I told him that was the end of that person.

I was too young to know what was happening, but we did good things when Buster was around. Buster and I attended Bible Time Boosters a Summer Bible School program. We sang songs like Jesus Loves the Little Children, All the Children of the World; Red and Yellow Black & White, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. This song was a song that would have more meaning to me later in life than I could have imagined. That song gave me equality to everyone, no matter how much money they had. Because you see, God validated me right then and there.

We learned that Jesus cares about us. We learned about the Bible, and we played games, as well as looked at films about treating everyone the same. The College Students who came to get us everyday on the bus were White. They had a contest for winning the Holy Bible as a prize, and Buster won it. I was so proud of him. At mother’s family’s churches where everyone was always jumping around, testifying, and living lives that I won’t discuss. The one thing I got out of mother’s church is the respect for elders, the mothers of the church, and any older person. That was lived inside of the church and outside. Steve and I were discussing the tradition of the Black Churches. He picked up on something I hadn’t. Many of the people in the early days were not literate and so they expressed their love for God in song and dance. That makes a lot of sense, but now that people are literate, what’s the reason? I like to get the meat of The Word of God, and although singing is inspirational, knowing how to live my life for Christ is important for and to me.

People in the neighborhoods had our parent’s permission to discipline us if they saw us getting out of hand, and that’s the same way I used to raise my children. If an older person was around, they were addressed as Mr. or Mrs., Aunt or Uncle, or Cousin. You never disrespected an older person by calling them by their first name. We are far from that today.

Mother did give me some heritage by having me listen to Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Thobb, and 5 Blind Boys. My Mother’s Cousins were always concerned about family being Saved, Sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s when we spent all day on Sunday’s in church with Cousin Shirley, Cousin Elsie, and their families. I really learned about as much as a much as a 5 or 6 year old could learn in surroundings like mother’s church. I felt more at home where I learned like in Bible Time Booster’s. I felt being in mother’s church was a waste of my time, because I learned nothing of substance except for morals and respect which all helps in the long run. It was the Bible Time Boosters that stayed in my heart, and made the biggest impact.

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