Cody Wheeler was born in Dalhart, Texas in 1985. He moved to Pasadena with his family in 1991. Wheeler developed a political consciousness as a young kid due to his father's union involvement. He attended schools in the Pasadena Independent School District and graduated from Deer Park High School. In 2003, he joined the Marines and did tours in Iraq. Upon his return from the war, he enrolled at the University of Houston. The persistent stark differences between North and South Pasadena pushed him to successfully run for city council member in 2013. During his campaign, he made an attempt to educate his constituents and get them out to vote. As a member of city council, he has been a witness to the voting rights violations resulting from the redistricting of Pasadena (which he describes in detail). Wheeler also described his unsuccessful run for state representative for district 144 in 2016.

Mrs. Wade attended an all-Black school in Houston and during freedom of choice the Black students collectively decided not to integrate because white school officials had sought to only allow the top Black students to integrate. Wade benefited from the land ownership of her family. By owning land, Wade's mother was able to take care of her two children following the early death of her husband. Wade attributed her father's early death to an injury that occurred during his military service. Wade also attributed her brother contracting polio and her mother's subsequent difficulty obtaining care for her brother to discrimination. Wade's mother initially worked in menial jobs despite having a degree because she could not be hired as an secretary. Wade's mother ultimately started in the 1960s and sustained her own in-home business for decades. Wade described her schooling experiences at Texas Woman's University and Texas Christian University. Wade received some negative feedback from her teacher's for deciding to not attend a historically Black college or university. Wade decided to attend a predominantly white university because she was curious about the level of education white people were receiving. Wade began a career in corporate America shortly after graduating from TCU …