Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree.

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, to accompany a news story.

Interview with Andrew Melontree, a retired lawyer from Marlin, Texas. Melontree discusses his upbringing, education, experiences with discrimination and Jim Crow, his military service in the Air Force in the Korean War, his work as a laboratory technician, and his civil rights activism in Tyler.

Interview with Al Saenz, a city councilman from Bryan, Texas. In the interview, Saenz discusses his family background, civil rights organizations and the Mexican-American community in Bryan. Saenz also discusses time living in Houston during his childhood.

Interview with Felipe Peralta, community activist from El Paso, Texas. In the interview, Peralta discusses his childhood and education, the Chamizal Treaty, student activism, community organizations, race relations, politics, the Chicano movement, and labor unions.

Opera performed at the UNT College of Music Lyric Theater.

Orchestra concert performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.

Orchestra concert performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall. This video is shot from the orchestra's perspective, showing the conductor.

Saxophone quartet concert performed at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall.

Ruby Rodgers Dorsey discussed growing up in rural Kendleton when it was an all-black community, her education, her views on what was gained and lost by integration, and her work as a teacher and school board member.

Mena discussed his family history, trajectory from Florida to New York to Beaumont, TX, and his rough upbringing (gangs, discrimination), and other topics.

Elwin Lee was born in Virgina and was raised in Third Ward, a historic African American neighborhood in Houston, TX. He talks about segregation in Houston, the vibrancy of Third Ward, and the Texas Southern University "riot." Lee also discusses how he went to Yale Law School and returned to Houston to become the first African American tenured at the University of Houston Law School. After serving as the director of African American Studies for a couple of years and reviving the program, Lee built upon the student and community relationships he developed at the time to serve as the Vice President of Student Affairs. He discusses how he is currently involved in efforts to bridge the university and Third Ward by figuring out how the school can assist education, health, and economic empowerment.

Priscilla Graham was born in Georgia in 1968. During her childhood, schools were integrated in Georgia, where she experiences protection from both Black and White teachers. Ms. Graham joined the military where she experiences sexism. She attends TSU where she received her degree in accounting. In Houston, Ms. Graham becomes involved at the YMCA across Harris County, working at several branches. She became the executive director of the Houston Texans YMCA in Sunnyside. Ms. Graham has also been involved in the preservation of African American history in Houston, in particularly Freedman's Town. She discusses the different efforts, past and present, to preserve one of the most historic African American neighborhoods in the city.

Jesse Shead was born in 1947 in East Austin, a segregated African American neighborhood with thriving businesses. He grew-up going to African American schools, such as Campbell Elementary and Kealing Junior High, and experienced a middle-class lifestyle in his ethnic enclave. Shead went to Anderson High School before its closure and and reopening as an integrate school in 1971. After attending Huston-Tillotson University in Austin for two years, he was employed for the Humble Oil and Refinery Company in Baytown as it was transitioning to Exxon. While in Baytown, Shead witnessed instances of discrimination where he was refused service at local businesses. He talks about how desegregation efforts in Austin lead to the drain of African American professionals in the schools and overall community of East Austin, the weak company union at Exxon, how he was one of the few African Americans to work in the Exxon's processing department, his inability to rent in certain areas of town due to his race, and racial discrimination at Lee High School during the time that his two sons were attending. Shead also describes his unsuccessful bid to serve on the board of regents for Lee College, organizing around the police brutality case …

Ms. Shaw was born and raised in Willis, Texas. Shaw described her experiences with racism and Jim Crow discrimination. Shaw discussed one surprising impact of racism in Willis, she was fearful of Halloween. During Halloween in Willis, white youth would throw things at Ms. Shaw's house. A great aunt of Shaw was able to live in the white part of Willis while a uncle of Shaw became the first Black person to vote in the Willis/Conroe area. The first time he was able to vote was when he was elderly in the mid-twentieth century. Shaw also discussed difficulties in the workplace in Conroe.

Mrs. Tolbert was born in 1943 in Cleveland. Tolbert grew up in Houston until she moved to Conroe in the 4th grade. Tolbert attended school in Bordersville while living in Houston. In Bordersville the neighborhood was integrated with a Mexican American and African American population. Tolbert graduated from Booker T. Washington in Conroe. She began working for law enforcement in 1984 after a few years of attempting. Tolbert experienced and witnessed explicit discrimination, racism, and sexism while working as a Deputy Sheriff in Montgomery County. Tolbert currently mentors young girls.

Iris Lawrence was born and raised in the North Heights neighborhood of Amarillo, Texas. She attended African American universities, including Howard University, and earned a master’s degree in English. While in college, Lawrence also participated in attempting to integrate Amarillo while on school breaks. Upon returning to Amarillo after living in various places like Austin, Texas, Lawrence worked for the state’s comptrollers office and served as the president of the NAACP.

Isabel Jimenez was born in 1953 in Slanton, Texas. Her family moved to Midland, Texas and she attended De Zavala Elementary (the “Mexican” school), Austin Junior High, and graduated from Midland High School in 1971. Jimenez attended Austin College in Sherman, Texas for one year, then Midland College, and the University of Texas—Permian Basin, which she eventually graduated from in 1987 with a degree in Spanish. Beginning in 1976, Jimenez worked for Southwest Bell. She joined LULAC in the 1970s due to police brutality against Mexican Americans, not wanting her own son to experience such brutality. Jimenez was part of LULAC single member districts at the county, city, school district, and community college levels. Jimenez also participated in the Southwest Voter Registration Project, taught as a bilingual education teacher, and is now a counselor at Midland College.

Alphonso Vaughn was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. He lived through the integration of local schools as a high school student. From Amarillo, he entered the military and then attending the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. Upon his return to Amarillo, Vaughn helped start the city’s Juneteenth Celebration along with various civil rights and cultural organizations. He served five, two year terms as president of Amarillo’s NAACP. Since then, he has served as a Potter County Commissioner.

Luis D. Sánchez was born in Midland, Texas in 1978. His parents originated from the Ojinaga area of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Sánchez grew up in majority-minority, south Midland. He attended Travis Elementary, Long Elementary, Alamo Junior High, and Midland High School. After high school, Sánchez obtained his associates degree, while working two jobs, in government from Midland College in 2000. In 2002 he obtained his bachelors in political since from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. After college, Sánchez worked for the Texas Secretary of State in Austin. When he moved back to Midland, he quickly became involved in local electoral politics, eventually running for office himself in 2003. He is now a city council member representing south Midland.

Claudia Stravato was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She attended a mostly Mexican American high school in Downtown Dallas and then graduate with a BA and MA in political science from West Texas A&M University (then West Texas State University). She has been a lifelong advocate for voting rights and women’s health rights. She served as CEO of the Amarillo Planned Parenthood from 1999 to 2009. She has worked in numerous political campaigns at the state and local levels and various government agencies.

Interview with Antonio Orendain, civil rights activist and founder of the Texas Farm Workers Union (TFWU), from McAllen, Texas. In the interview, Orendain discusses his childhood and family background, working with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta and the National Farm Workers Association in California, migrant farm workers, founding the TFWU, and his long career as a labor activist.

Video recording from The Black Academy of Arts and Letters recorded during the roundtable writers breakfast entitled "Sisters: An Open Dialogue Between Light and Dark Skin African Americans" held on May 22nd, 2010. The footage shows a dialogue that focuses on a multigenerational overview of the issues of colorism in race, gender, and media for black women.

Video recording from The Black Academy of Arts and Letters recorded during the roundtable writers breakfast entitled "Sisters: An Open Dialogue Between Light and Dark Skin African Americans" held on May 22nd, 2010. The footage shows the collective group talking about solutions to the challenges women have faced due to colorism and the lack of traditional rights of passage for racial identity. The dialogue focuses on a multigenerational overview of the issues of colorism in race, gender, and media for black women.