Dr. Morris Baker was born in 1939 in Ranger, Texas, the son of a mechanic and a domestic worker. As a child in Ranger, Baker lived in a mixed neighborhood of Mexican Americans, poor whites, and African Americans. Although, Ranger had segregated black and brown neighborhoods as well. Baker attended a one-room, all-black school called Slaughter Ward Elementary up to 6th grade. From 6th to 10th grade, Baker had to be bused to Eastland, where education ended for African Americans before they could obtain a high school Diploma. Thus, when the Brown v. Board dissension came in, his parents simply signed him up for classes in the white Ranger High School. Baker was allowed to attend as long as he did not socialize with the white high school female students or attend many of the school’s social events. He graduated as the school’s first African American graduate in 1957. Other African Americans followed. Baker then graduated from Cisco College (A.A. 1959), McMurry University (B.A. in Biology 1963), Harvard University (M.Ed. 1970), The Ohio State University (Ph.D. in clinical psychology 1976). Baker has worked for the Peace Corps, public schools in Los Angeles, California and other cities, and has taught at …

Mrs. Jordan has worked as a community social worker mainly servicing the Hispanic/Latino population in mainly Houston and Montgomery County. Jordan has worked to ensure that the Hispanic/Latino population has access to resources. Jordan consistently collaborates with other organizations that fosters multiracial collaborations. Jordan discussed growing up in Houston and Aldine. Jordan's family left the Barrio in Houston and moved to the more rural Aldine when she was three. Jordan discussed the different cultural practices she learned by having Cuban and Mexican parents, visiting the Barrio and living in a predominantly white and rural area. Jordan witnessed violence between residents of the Barrio and law enforcement. Jordan also discussed her experience with school integration. Jordan describes the changes in racial demographics of Montgomery County and efforts to secure political representation through creating and sustaining a multiracial coalition.

Patricia A. Thomas was born in 1957 in Andrews, Texas, where she grew up. She entered elementary school in an integrated school where many of her classmates as well as some teachers physically and verbally abused the African American students. Thomas first attended Lincoln Elementary and then Jack and Jill Elementary. In junior high and high school, Thomas adapted many black nationalists or “radical” viewpoints, which led her to call for the teaching of African American history in her high school. She graduated from Andrews high school in 1976. After high school, Thomas moved to Dallas where she attended Bishop College. She subsequently lived in various communities that included Big Springs, Odessa, Amarillo, and Seminole, Texas.