This sign was hanging on the main street intersection of downtown, from the 1920s to the late 1960s, two blocks from where I lived. My hometown is Greenville, Texas. Greenville is known throughout the nation for two things: its unique slogan, "The Blackest Land - The Whitest People" and its famous 1908 lynching. The famous sign hung on the main street between our train station and our bus station. As soldiers and civilian passengers passed through our town, it provided a very conspicuous view. This book is about what it was like being black and growing up in Greenville, Texas. It is also in remembrance of all those before us who went through struggles to help people free themselves from undesirables which had previously enslaved us. Although we obtained certain rights, I give you a background and the history of why things were the way they were. Even a more valuable history is of why things are still the way they are, especially between blacks. Is it because of a single, powerful, twisted-minded genius 292 years ago, whose theory is still a powerful affront in the black race today? My hope is to help break this chain of enslavement of blacks against blacks in my hometown. History was not always pretty; but to say, "Forget the past," is saying Black History doesn't matter. Black history is American history, and it has been missing from the history books for a long time. My goal is not to keep bringing up the past. My goal is to include some of those that were there, and helped, endeared, molded, designed and build Greenville so that it is what it is today.....

This sign was hanging on the main street intersection of downtown, from the 1920s to the late 1960s, two blocks from where I lived. My hometown is Greenville, Texas. Greenville is known throughout the nation for two things: its unique slogan, "The Blackest Land - The Whitest People" and its famous 1908 lynching. The famous sign hung on the main street between our train station and our bus station. As soldiers and civilian passengers passed through our town, it provided a very conspicuous view. This book is about what it was like being black and growing up in Greenville, Texas. It is also in remembrance of all those before us who went through struggles to help people free themselves from undesirables which had previously enslaved us. Although we obtained certain rights, I give you a background and the history of why things were the way they were. Even a more valuable history is of why things are still the way they are, especially between blacks. Is it because of a single, powerful, twisted-minded genius 292 years ago, whose theory is still a powerful affront in the black race today? My hope is to help break this chain of enslavement of blacks against blacks in my hometown. History was not always pretty; but to say, "Forget the past," is saying Black History doesn't matter. Black history is American history, and it has been missing from the history books for a long time. My goal is not to keep bringing up the past. My goal is to include some of those that were there, and helped, endeared, molded, designed and build Greenville so that it is what it is today.....