Bill Text: TX HR97 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of Dr. Njoki McElroy of Dallas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-11-02 - Reported enrolled [HR97 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR97-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 97 |
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WHEREAS, The city of Dallas lost an esteemed professor, | ||
author, storyteller, and entrepreneur with the passing of Dr. Njoki | ||
McElroy on October 16, 2023; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Sherman in 1925, Njoki McElroy grew up in the | ||
Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas; she attended segregated, | ||
under-resourced public schools, but credited her supportive Black | ||
teachers with enabling her to enroll in Xavier University in New | ||
Orleans at the age of 16; after beginning her career as a public | ||
school teacher, she earned her master's and doctoral degrees in | ||
performance studies from Northwestern University; she went on to | ||
teach there for over three decades, creating groundbreaking courses | ||
in the performance of Black literature; in 1987, she joined the | ||
Master of Liberal Studies program at Southern Methodist University; | ||
adoring students nicknamed her "Queen Professor," and many of them | ||
went on to become leaders in the entertainment world and other | ||
fields; and | ||
WHEREAS, Dr. McElroy was a prolific writer, and The Dallas | ||
Morning News hailed in particular her autobiographical 1012 | ||
Natchez: A Memoir of Grace, Hardship and Love; her short story was | ||
anthologized in the critically acclaimed From Daughters to Mothers: | ||
I've Always Meant to Tell You, and her plays were produced on | ||
university and professional stages alike; a master storyteller, she | ||
performed and conducted workshops throughout the U.S., Europe, and | ||
the Caribbean, training educators in ways to engage students by | ||
incorporating storytelling in their instruction; she directed | ||
several productions centered on overcoming the legacy of racism in | ||
Dallas, most notably 2019's From Freedman's Town to Botham Jean: | ||
Stories of Racial Healing; as founder of the annual Back Home with | ||
the Folks Festival, she provided a platform for artists in | ||
marginalized neighborhoods, and she was a generous mentor to | ||
countless people and raised money to support their creative | ||
endeavors; and | ||
WHEREAS, Abundantly talented, Dr. McElroy was also a | ||
photographer and a television producer, and she and her husband | ||
launched Black Fox Enterprises, a beauty company with major-market | ||
distribution; following his death in 1978, she took over as | ||
president/CEO; among myriad accolades, she received the | ||
President's Council on Youth Opportunity Award, the NAACP Living | ||
Legend Award, and a Ford Foundation Fellowship; moreover, she was | ||
the treasured matriarch of a fine family that included six children | ||
and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and | ||
great-great-grandchildren; and | ||
WHEREAS, Njoki McElroy led a rich and purposeful life, and | ||
her legacy as a champion of Black culture will continue to resonate | ||
for years to come; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the memory | ||
of Dr. Njoki McElroy and extend sincere sympathy to all who mourn | ||
her passing; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Njoki | ||
McElroy. | ||
Davis | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 97 was unanimously adopted by a rising | ||
vote of the House on November 1, 2023. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||