Omowale Lithuli-Allen was born in Amarillo in 1948, and grew up in Louisiana. He discusses growing up in the Jim Crow South and some of his early activism in high school. In 1966, he enrolled at the University of Houston, where he became involved in organizations such as COBER and Afro-Americans for Black Liberation (AABL). Following his activism at UH and Texas Southern University, he became involved in cross-racial coalitions, where he came together with Mexican American activists to address social, political, and economic inequalities in Houston. Mr. Lithuli-Allen also discusses the history of the role of SHAPE Center in the Third Ward, and his involvement with My Brother's Keeper, a youth outreach initiative by the Obama administration.

David H. O'Neal was born in 1948 in Galveston. He comes from a family of three people who traveled to the South to make a living. O'Neal grew-up in a few African-American housing projects on the island. He attended Central High, the first African-American high school in Texas, and his was the last class to graduate before the creation of the integrated Ball High. O'Neal relocated to Houston in 1966 to enroll in the University of Houston, where he would participate in student activism and the creation of an African-American fraternity (the Omega Theta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity). He returned to the island after graduating from college. In Galveston, O'Neal started a career as a post office worker, served on the Board of Trustees for Galveston Independent School District, and participated in the preservation of African-American history on the island. O'Neal talks about experiences with discrimination, how significant Central High was to African-Americans, his decision to attend college over enlisting to serve in the Vietnam War, the role of African-American fraternities, his involvement in Afro-Americans for Black Liberation and the Black Student Union, cross-racial student endeavors, African American Studies at UH, and his commitment to racial uplift. He …

Saenz discussed growing up in Robstown and his career as a political consultant.