Reflections of Dallas Past: Growing up in Dallas during segregated times

(Special to The Dallas Examiner) – This month is a good time to reflect on growing up in segregated Dallas and the experiences I encountered during that time and now. Having recently celebrated Dr. Martian Luther King’s birthday also put me in the mood of thinking about how my happiness growing up in Dallas and what was said in Martin L King Jr. Day speeches this 2024 were so different from what I remember. I spent my early years in a little community named Booker T. Washington. It faced the two-lane highway 75 North. There were three streets; my family lived on two. The community consisted of professional Blacks, postal workers, housekeepers, service workers and homemakers. We had one church, Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which later relocated to Elm Thicket. Related Stories The Booker T. addition was full of life. My Aunt Janie Wilson was the neighborhood storekeeper and my grandfather, George McGowan Sr., lived in the rear of the store, across the street from Mt Zion. So, we were in the thick of things. Our house a duplex that faced the service road of Highway 75. I remember when the first improvements to Highway 75/Central Expressway started. It...