(uplifting music) - Imagine driving across West Texas when suddenly, tall buildings come into view pictured against a skyline becoming what has come to be referred to as the Tall City.

This is Midland.

Our city, our stories.

Midland has experienced uncommon or some may say, unprecedented growth because of the riches below the ground.

Many people think that we are only oil industry workers, but we are so much more than that.

Our economy is as diverse as our community.

The people and their strength and focus are what drives Midland.

The sky is the limit for what can be accomplished here.

There is no better place to take a risk.

Entrepreneurs are not only welcome but encouraged and supported.

The world's eye is on Midland as the financial and trade center for the vast Permian Basin which has yielded growth in other areas, restaurants, shopping, parks, medical, live entertainment, the arts.

Making our wealth even stronger.

With growth, comes growing pains.

Change takes grit and tenacity, much of which this city has.

Let's listen.

- So actually, it was through the employment office that the police department in Midland were looking for a bilingual hispanic, because they needed a police officer.

They had about 22 police officers and they were all gringos, whites, whatever.

And they didn't have any blacks.

They had no Mexicans.

So that's when they went through the employment office, and from here, they went down the line in South Texas.

And I had a friend in the employment office, and we knew each other, he said "They're looking for a police officer "with experience, bilingual."

I said "Where?"

He said "In Midland, Texas."

I said "Where in the hell is Midland?"

And so he explained to me where Midland was and here I am.

(calm music) - There were some struggles, of course, being Hispanic and being disabled.

I was very lucky that I could speak both languages.

And I speak Espanol just like I speak English.

And I speak it at home and I'm very lucky that I can use it at work.

Clients will come in and they don't speak English, so who gets called on sometimes?

Me.

In the office that I'm in right now, we have four ladies that can actually speak Spanish as well, so I'm no longer the only one.

- Well, when I came back to Midland, I ended up teaching at an elementary school in Midland Washington Elementary.

And John and I, Johnny was at the high school and I was at the elementary school.

The superintendent called me in and asked me if I would like to go to Midland High School.

And my husband Johnny said "No, you don't wanna do that."

So the superintendent, he was very nice, he wanted to know how I felt about going and so I told him I would like to go.

And I was sent to Midland High School.

I stayed at Midland High School 19 years.

Now remember, this is a school that I could not attend when I was growing up, when I was in high school.

- We came to Midland because we were looking to find work.

And we were from East Texas and there were very little work there after the Harvest, and it was hard to manage with a family so big.

So even though we raised our own crops and we had live stock, it was still hard to survive.

And in Midland, we were told there were jobs, an abundance of jobs for people.

And so not only did they have a late Harvest, there were other jobs.

- My first experience at seeing discrimination against race, as opposed to gender, was when I was probably four or five years old, maybe six, and a African American couple kept the lawn at the neighbor's house.

And I would go over and talk to them, and they were lovely people.

They were just so much fun and we'd talk about things.

Bugs or whatever was on the ground, or whatever it was.

And they had a Model Ford, a Model T, I think it is, truck.

I wanted to ride in that truck so badly but they wouldn't do that.

And they said "No, we can't give you a ride."

I said "Why not?"

"Well, we just can't."

So I went home to my mother and I said, "They won't take me in that truck "and it's so cute, I wanna ride in that."

And she said "Well..." I said "And they won't do it and I don't know why."

My mother must have said something, I don't know, and I said "Well why not?"

- As things move forward in oil and gas, I spent oh, maybe three years or so on the oil service unit.

And I ended up being the supervisor on that unit and after about three years, I got transferred to Midland at the time, in 1979.

I started out in 76, and 79, I got started.

I was in Midland, I went to the Spraberry field as a lease operator.

- The very first people that I met when I first came to Midland were Celia and Felipe Morales.

They were the chairs of the Mexican dinner, so that's how our friendship began.

And from there, it just continued.

Felipe kept asking me, "You need to come and look "at this one organization that we just started.

"I know you'll be real interested in it."

And I was like, "Well, "I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."

So in the meantime, I became a girl scout leader, there for St. Anne's.

And from there, it was Midland Community Theater.

I volunteered there as a dresser.

And then after that, I thought "Well, let me try this group out."

And that was the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

I became so involved with it, being treasurer, being the first woman president of the group, to where I eventually became an executive director for the Hispanic Chamber.

- At that time, husband and wife couldn't teach in the same school system.

Not the same school, but in the same school system.

So we went up and got married in April, just before the end of the school year.

We met in September and we married in April before the school year ended.

So we were told that we both couldn't teach there, one of us had to leave.

So it was decided that I was gonna be the one to leave.

(calm music) - Yes, there were other African Americans employed in the laboratory.

One I remember, Annie Laura Johnson, she had already been here and worked in chemistry.

And when I started working, I was in hematology.

There were different sections of the laboratory, but there were one other laboratory, medical technologist, in the hospital.

The black doctors in Midland when I started here in 1965 was Dr. Viola Coleman and Dr. Cooper, and I can't remember his first name.

So there were two black doctors here.

My husband was working at Tom's Pharmacy on North Lee Street.

Infact, the address was 204 North Lee.

He was hired by John and Helen Crawford, who owned the pharmacy, and that's where he worked and he had started in November of 1963.

In July 1968, the Crawfords wanted to sell and my husband wanted to purchase the pharmacy, so that's what we did and it was official before the end of July of 1968.

- My father was a self-taught entrepreneur.

In Clarksville, he had many jobs.

He owned a candy shop at one time, a small candy shop.

He worked as an ice man from time to time.

He also worked at a pharmacy where even at times, he was able to fill prescriptions if there was somebody on lunch.

My dad also purchased books and learned how to build and to fix radios.

And right before we came to Midland, the television was born and he also taught himself to fix televisions, and he set up his first business called Pete's Fix It Shop.

- When we arrived, my father took a job as a janitor.

And he worked at the petroleum building, and he worked at some other buildings.

He also did yards and other odd jobs, so he had about three jobs at all times.

- That entrepreneur story really kind of expands.

So mom and dad built that restaurant.

Part of the restaurant, the main restaurant was the restaurant and then a part of it was their office, their insurance office, in the same building.

So they would literally close that door, lock it, and just walk over here and here's the restaurant, and open the restaurant.

Then at two o'clock, close that restaurant, and go back and open up the insurance business.

So they were working hand in hand in the same building for a little while, and then they built their insurance office on the same property on the same parking lot.

- The Black Advisory approached my mom and asked her would she start a senior center.

And this was in 1986 and she did, and it was started at Hollowell United Methodist Church.

So they met at Hollowell United Methodist Church, starting in 1986, until 1991, which at that time, she and the community and the men and women of that group, which they were called the Golden Guilders at that time, they got together and they fought for a place where they could come together, because they were outgrowing Hollowell United Methodist Church, and so that's when she went to the City Council, her and the community people in her group, the Golden Guilders and all went to the City Council and asked for a building.

And a lot of everything went on, but finally, they did get a building and that's what is now called the South East Senior Center here in Midland.

But that was the building, and it was built in March of 1991.

They entered the building in March of 1991.

I became the center director and becoming the center director, it was an honor and a privilege to carry on the programs and the things that she had started, and I looked back as to what she and the other persons there, the persons there had accomplished and all.

And being able to continue that and be a service to the community still was an honor.

And even now, to this day, people will come in and say, "Well, I knew your mom and she helped get us this," or "She helped get us food," or "She did this for us."

So it was an honor to be able to continue in that role to provide services for people that come in need or just needing a bit of direction, or just finding out information and all, so it has been an honor to carry on that what she did.

- Well, it began in 1995.

And it was just from a group of individuals or group of moms that wanted to preserve the culture of Matachines, which is a different type of dancing and it's different all over, because it's different in New Mexico than what it is here in Texas.

But they taught the children that and they performed, and from that performance came the love and the idea of creating an organization that can continue that part.

So they did, they went ahead and formed the Hispanic Cultural Center, and from there, our responsibility has been to go ahead and bring back the dance, and the dance that we do through Mexico is very traditional.

So it's something that the teacher itself will go ahead and not only teach the dance, not only teach what they're wearing or show what they're wearing and describe the costume, why they do the costume, but sometimes there's the faith part that you have to go ahead and explain as to why it was done this way, and what was the meaning of each step, and you'd be surprised at the way you move your hands, the way you move your skirt, the way you move your feet.

All is in conjunction with the actual history of the actual dance.

When we start to work on the trees, we realize that that's something special for them that's unique and different.

So that's the idea we came up with, coming up with the trees and having the students decorate the trees.

The other thing was having them create their own alters.

And the parents loved this part, because they were able to go ahead and show the students the food, the different kinds of flowers that are used, the different kinds of breads that are used for the alters, which no one really, really understood or realized that there were several special things and items you can put on that alter, that it's not just items that you think you wanna go ahead and put on there.

So it had to have meaning, it had to have cause, so when we realized that yeah, we hit something here, we realized that this is something the students really love, we decided to continue keeping it.

- I had gone to Austin to attend a convention of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and so they came back with this idea of sending, they got a group going here.

And actually, Felipe was one of the original members that attended that meeting.

And so I came on a little bit later.

And so yes, they were very instrumental.

Not only Felipe, but several other Hispanic business people in Midland.

- I think what we began to identify at that time was that the minorities, Hispanics and African Americans were now becoming business owners, or becoming very active in the business community, and saw a need for a Chamber of Commerce that would help the minority business owners or operators.

And so with that, that Hispanic Chamber of Commerce really took off serving the community- Even though it was meant for the whole community, you saw it serving a lot of the east side community, and it was very, again, engaging to see all these young entrepreneurs, 'cause they were really young, starting the Hispanic Chamber, coming to fruition again.

- Mm, yes.

- So after moving back, I was always interested in gardening.

And before I moved back, my brother had talked me into buying this two and a half acres that was near him.

He had two and a half acres, and the other two and a half was up for sale, and he asked me and my husband, said "Why don't you all buy the land?

"I would like for family to be close to me."

And we bought that two and a half acres while we were still in Chicago.

So after coming back, we'd go out there and look at it, and finally we decided that we would start a garden.

It took a lot of work, and my brother would plow the land up and we would invite family to come out and help.

And after doing that a couple of years, we decided to build a house out there, because we would just be out there for hours and we didn't have any, as they say, facilities out there.

And so we built the garden house.

And we made it a place that family could come and celebrate holidays, birthdays and also come and garden.

And we had family coming on Good Friday, we had family coming from Waco, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, Lubbock, Abilene, they come and help us plant.

And then in October, the weekend before Halloween, they come back for Harvest.

And so everybody helps digging sweet potatoes, picking peas, greens, digging carrots.

And they take whatever they want and whatever is left, we usually give it to people in the community.

- So when I went over to interview, they said "Well, you have to have license to sell.

"But what we're gonna do is, we'll work with you "until you get it, "so we'll hire you as a secretary "and we'll pay you weekly, "and when you study and take the test, "when you pass it, well then you can sell real estate."

And I studied for the test, I took it.

The first time, I missed a few questions in math and I thought "Well, you know, "how long do I have to wait to take it again?"

And they said "You don't have to wait very long."

I think it was two or three months.

So I went back over to Carver, and I told Mr. Taylor, I said "I need a math tutor "because there's some things that I missed on the test "and I need to study for that."

So there was a Mr. Nesby was there and he said "Well, let me talk with Mr.

Nesby."

So Mr. Nesby had me come to Carver after hours and we went over all of the math.

And then my memory came back, 'cause I'd been out of school maybe a couple of years, and when I took the test again, I don't think I missed anything on that test.

I passed it with flying colors.

And I became the first African American female to sell real estate in Midland, Texas as a saleswoman.

- I would like to share a story about one of my grandsons.

I got four grandsons.

I think that's right, four grandsons.

And two granddaughters.

And I love them to death, they my heart.

And one day, Braylon, one of my grandsons called me and said "Grandaddy, I need to make some money."

I said "Really?"

He said "Yeah, I need to make some money.

"What can I do?

Can I rake the yard?

"Can I do this or that?"

And I thought at that time, I said, I spent a lot of years, 46 years, in labor, working with my hands and stuff like that, and I thought about my parents and my grandparents, and I said "Braylon, I want you to do something.

"I want you to write an essay about your classes "in elementary school.

"Your teachers, what your classes are about "and just give us a little insight into each class "and what are you doing and so forth?"

He said "Is that all?"

I said "Yes, that's what I want you to do."

And I said "I want the spelling to be right."

I said "I want everything to be, paragraphs gotta be right."

I said "Not just one of those short one page deals."

He said "Okay, granddaddy."

So he goes and writes that and then when he brings it back to me, I said "Braylon, now what I'm trying to show you "that you can make money with your brain, "not only with your hands."

And I think that has to be passed on.

And I think it forced him to think about things in a different way.

We often, when I was raised, my dad was a World War II veteran.

Big Red One in the European campaign against Germany.

But he come off a farm, farm boy.

They learn to work with their hands, right?

And he passed that on to me.

"Get out there and get a job, work hard" and everything, you know.

And "Some of y'all will be teachers "and stuff like that one day."

But I wanted to pass on to Braylon, Braylon is a very brilliant kid, I wanted to pass on to him that Braylon, you can make money with thinking also.

I said "You have to be able to get in that category, "you gotta get in that area also," so I think he learned a lesson from that, that money and wealth is earned in different areas and different ways.

It's not just running up and down the field.

It's not just doing physical labor.

Even though all that's very important, we need every part of that in our economy, right?

But I tried to teach him that that was important.

That think and you can make money also.

- Yes, actually my disability has been a big benefit at work.

You know, I work with senior volunteers and my job is to recruit them, place them in different locations here in Midland.

The program I operate is called the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and t's in short, RSVP.

They will say "You know what?

"You're in a chair."

I say "Yes, I am."

"And you're in here asking me to help.

"How can I turn you down?"

And I'm like, "Not just because I'm in a..." "No, because you are doing a lot of work "for the community despite being disabled."

I said "Yeah, it doesn't effect my mind, "it doesn't effect my spirit.

"It may slow me down here and there, "but it doesn't dampen anything that I can do."

So it has brought in a little positive outlook to the work that I do.

And actually, it was somewhat because of my disability that I got this position.

- It's never easy.

There's a lot of hardship along the way.

There's a lot of times that you cry and cry hard, but we have a drive that we're just gonna keep working hard, we're gonna keep leaning on each other's shoulders.

And I hope that...

I hear a lot of my friends or a lot of people around the community say "Your dad was amazing, he had a great smile, "he was a hard worker.

"Your mom always supported him and backed him.

"It was great to see you kids always there with him."

And I hope that legacy can carry on with other families, newer generations coming up saying "We really envy the Morales family "sticking together and having those businesses "on the corner of Neely and Big Spring Street.

"Having a record shop, a barber shop, "a restaurant, a law office, an insurance office.

"It was amazing to see all grow and working together "and setting the example for our community.

"Not only did y'all take care of your business, "but you served on profits "and then you led in the community."

And so I hope that we can inspire other families, newer generations coming up, to do the same, because we will move on, as others have, and it takes that spirit to continue flowing so that we can keep Midland, Texas, as you say, Midland, America, strong for many generations to come.

- The legacy I would prefer to leave with my grandchildren and my great grandchildren, hopefully, that our family contributes to the society in this country in a positive way.

We gave back what we could.

Anything that we gave back, we hope it helped someone to continue.

We always wanna push people up, not pull them down.

And so that legacy for my grandchildren, I want them to know that this is what drives my family.

- One thing each person has in common is they didn't give up.

Midland is no stranger to feast or famine.

The economy here relies heavily on the natural resources of oil and gas.

There's a saying, boom to bust to boom again.

But with that, you need the mavericks, the unsung heroes driving innovation.

They are the risk takers that are invested in this community.

You have an idea, you take a chance and you go for it.

Perhaps you were drawn to Midland like many of our historians for work and there was just something about this community that caused you to put down roots here and call it home.

Well, that too is part of our stories.

We'd love to hear from you and know about your story.

I'm Michael Williams.

Thank you for joining us as we will continue this important conversation on diversity.

Midland.

Our city, our stories.

Good night.

(uplifting music) - The best thing that I've done in Midland, America, as Miss Roseberry says it, is June 10th.

June 10th is the pinnacle of what Midland really is.

It's a fun time, right?

But behind that fun, it's also an organization and people coming together on one accord and pushing out the best possible event for everyone to enjoy.

And really, June 10th, it symbolizes how effective and how efficient we are together when we're all thinking together and we all have that one goal.

So if we use that same energy like we do for June 10th for fun, if we put it in other aspects of our community, not only will we be excelling the youth, we'll be excelling each other.