My Juneteenth Walk

Last year, I could not walk on Juneteenth, as I was still recovering from my emergency room visit due to my bronchiectasis, but this year I was able to go on a fantastic walk. Juneteenth is a great celebration in my view. While I couldn't go for a walk last year, I did write about it, wishing readers a happy Juneteenth and thanking the person who brought the holiday to Texas in 1980.

This walk was not a new walk for me. Rather, I started off heading for a place that I have visited often, the post office on Almeda and Cleburne. As I wrote here on the 2025 Easter, the story of 4110 Almeda is quite interesting. Here is the sign in front of the post office:

That is where I was headed, but I went by another place I have visited before and written about here too: Beth Israel's prior location, which is now part of Houston City College (HCC). Here is a sign in front of the building, which is now a theater on Austin and Holman, the Heinen Theatre:

I started my walk just before 10:00 and reached my destination 80 minutes after I started:

Braes Bayou at Almeda

I knew this area well from my bicycling days. There are lanes along the bayou on both sides, and I used to ride them frequently. I used this halfway spot to grab a bite to eat, returning to Shawarma Stop, where I had eaten previously. Located almost four miles from my house, the place did the trick! I had baba ghanouj and hummus with pita bread.

On the way back, I returned home a bit differently, turning off of Almeda at Rosedale and then walking to Caroline Street to walk by the Houston Museum of African American Culture, which is near Blodgett. I have never been there before, and decided not to go in because I was hot and sweaty and because I needed to get home to meet a repair person. I do care about HMAAC, and was very saddened to read an article in the NY Times about some vandalism there. I made a post on LInkedIn about this injustice.

Heading out, I had walked on Westheimer, and heading back, I walked along Wheeler, which changes into Richmond. I know Wheeler well! On May 24th, I visited Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church and had a fantastic visit. I had never been there before, but I had certainly known about its founder, Bill Lawson. He was one of The Three Amigos, which included one of my favorite people I have ever known, Rabbi Sam Karff. The Three Amigos will be honored by Center for Healing of Racism today, an event that will be held at St. Paul's United Methodist Church.

When I visited Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church for a service on May 24th, I learned a lot. Just like Rabbi Karff, Lawson had a wife who played a very big role in his career. That march to the Weingarten's grocery store in 1962 where the post office is above was supported by both Bill Lawson and Audrey Ann Hoffman Lawson. I had always wondered who these TSU students were, and I had not heard about the Lawson involvement. She died in 2015 at the age of 83, married to Bill for 61 years. They had four children, one of which is the the former news anchor, Melanie Lawson. Bill Lawson died in 2024 at the age of 95. The church is a beautiful building in an important and good location, the Third Ward:

Gandy² Lighting Design - G2LD

The WABC, which opened in its current location by the University of Houston near TSU in 1985, was started in the Lawson home in 1962. Audrey Lawson's obituary discusses their involvement in the civil rights movement in the 1950s. The Lawsons hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in their home in 1963. WABC played an instrumental role in desegregation, as discussed in this video of the Lawson daughters.

I learned that the pastor that I was listening to was only the second senior pastor in over 60 years. Reverend Dr. Marcus D. Cosby was awesome. He became Senior Pastor in 2004 after joining the church in 1998 as Associate Pastor.

I have been trying to learn more about that Weingarten's protest in 1962, ahead of my birth. My friend who works at the Beth Israel Cemetery that I visit often on Sundays, the only day it is open, told me that his father worked at that store then! Well, in researching for this article this morning, I found out exactly how involved the Lawson's were in a video (6 1/2 minutes in) hosted by Melanie Lawson in 2021. Reverend Lawson wanted to discourage them, but they did it! It actually led to the creation of WABC, and his wife explained to him why they needed to not only preach and sing, but to build community. This video is amazing, by the way.

Back to my walk, I made it home at 1:00 PM, and the repair person was there just a few minutes later. I had a fantastic walk that kept alive my own desire to learn more about the racism in Houston's past. Things are better now, but we all need to work on wiping out the racism that remains.