Black History lesson from Austin, Texas by Anita C. Roberts
Did you know that in 1928 the city of Austin segregated the city by removing all Black residents from west of Interstate 35 and moved them to the the east side of town?
Here’s more about the plan.
The 1928 Austin city plan (also known as the 1928 Austin master plan) was commissioned in 1927 by the City Council of Austin, Texas. It was developed by consulting firm Koch & Fowler, which presented the final proposal early the next year. The major recommendations of this city plan related to Austin’s street plan, its zoning code, and the development of major industries and civic features, but it is most remembered for institutionalizing housing segregation by designating East Austin as the city’s negro district.
But Black Austinites didn’t revolt, they didn’t wallow in their plight — instead they built up the community. As Beyonce would say they made lemonade from the lemons they were given.
In 1950, J. Mason Brewer, a folklorist, and “energetic, talented, quick-thinking man with a genius for accomplishing extraordinary tasks”, authored the book, “A Pictorial and Historical Souvenir of Negro Life in Austin, Texas 1950–51, Who’s who and what’s what by J. Mason Brewer”. In it, he was able to capture a snapshot in time of what the Black Austin community looked like in 1950.
In 2011, Anita C. Roberts, a journalist, and retired, military Public Affairs and Marketing officer whose last duty station was Fort Hood, saw too many headlines about the decline of the Black population in Austin. She, like Brewer, was a “pioneer in the area of dignification of American Negro culture”. She decided to add to the cultivation of Black stories by developing a marketing and brand campaign by creating an ecosystem of Black business and community leaders. Taking from the Dallas Black model in Dallas, Texas she coined phrase and the brand “Black Austin”. Roberts continued to build the Black Austin business and community ecosystem by creating a Black Austin Facebook that has grown to more than 19,000+ members in the Austin metropolitan area.
Since then she built and grew her business and used proceeds to create a community of Black businesses. She authored two books, Achievements in Black Austin Vol I (2017), and Vol II (2019). Her nonprofit Made Media Group aka Black Austin® has provided more than $250k in grants to Black and women owned businesses in Central Texas since 2020.
In 2022, Roberts reprinted Brewer’s book which can be purchased HERE.
The book, A Pictorial and Historical Souvenir of Negro Life in Austin, Texas 1950 Who’s who and what’s what by J Mason Brewer. A 2022 reprint by AMC Publishing.
