{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://saaacam.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/ng4gm8374m/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Mayor David Allen Interview"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/571/original/full-color_2x.png?1735841768","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["The African American Network TV (TAAN TV)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eDavid Allen is the Mayor of Prairie View, Texas who discusses how he came from San Antonio to Prairie View as a student of Prairie View A\u0026amp;M University. He elaborates on how he came to public service through working with the NAACP, the personal impact of the death of Sandra Bland in police custody, and how he’s worked to change the culture of community policing in Prairie View. 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He elaborates on how he came to public service through working with the NAACP, the personal impact of the death of Sandra Bland in police custody, and how he’s worked to change the culture of community policing in Prairie View. He closes out by stating the need for HBCUs.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eAll materials are for noncommercial educational or research uses only. 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I'm your host, Tyrone Darden, and this is TAAN TV, the African American Network. We have one of our 300 Voices here today, Mr. David Allen. There are so many titles: mayor, leader, just- just, I can keep going on and on. But I'll let him give us a brief, brief, brief bio, maybe the first thirty minutes- thirty minutes, the first thirty seconds, and then we'll just kick off the interview from there. So thank you for coming on with us and sharing with our audience. So just tell us a little bit about yourself.\r\n \r\nDavid Allen  0:34  \r\nWell, then- first, thank you for having me. It's just a pleasure to be here, and I'm impressed that you all are doing this in San Antonio. But basically, you know, hit San Antonio, like many of us, through the military with my father, and then went through John J. Pershing for a couple of years, matriculated over the Ralph Waldo Emerson on Pine Street, and then finished up at Fox Tech in 1973, and then went on to Prairie View A\u0026M University from there.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  1:00  \r\nExcellent. So are- do- do you currently live in Prairie View, or in- commute? Or I mean, do you live in San Antonio and commute to Prairie View? \r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  1:08  \r\nNo, I actually live in–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  1:09\r\n Okay, you live there.\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  1:09\r\n–Prairie View. It’s- it’s a requirement for elected office.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  1:12  \r\nExactly, exactly. And that- that really– it’s not even my next point, but it's interesting that most people don't know that Prairie View is a city, if you've never been there. All you- all you do is associate it with- is to the- the school. And so, you know, if you're familiar with politics, residency is a very big qualification. So that does make sense that you have to be there. So tell us a little bit about the city of Prairie View, we'll get to the school–because you're also alumni of the college, of the university–but tell us a little bit about the city. Let, you know- if I didn't know anything about Prairie View, how would- how would you describe the city for me to understand it, to know it?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  1:48  \r\nI'll tell you, just an incredibly nice, rural situation away from the hustle and bustle, but we're working rapidly to change that. Just closed a deal on some land with somebody who's bringing in a grocery store. Wrapping up with the state, with TxDOT [Texas Department of Transportation] on another gro- gas store, convenience store situation. Quite a bit of development coming from student housing–we're extremely short down there, which, again, is just a great situation to be in. So yeah, just a- a great, relaxed, laid-back place. It’s kind of a retired community, and then with a couple thousand students who live in the city renting while they attend the university.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  2:33  \r\nOkay. And so it's- it’s- like I said, if you don't know- if you don't know Prairie View is a city, is- it might take a second to understand that. But now that the second has passed, let's- let's move on to some- some more points within that. So how many- what is the population roughly for Prairie View?\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  2:56  \r\nRoughly, right now, just a little over 6,000. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  2:59  \r\nOkay. So- so when you say rural, it’s a- a very small town.\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  3:03  \r\nYes. Now, that's not counting the college population, since you separated that out, but that's probably another 4,500 on campus. And again, all that's within the city limits. University has about 2,600 employees that come in and out of the city on a regular basis.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  3:21  \r\nSo 15-16,000 on a college day, you know, Monday through Friday, you’ll catch those people in and out.\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  3:28\r\nRight.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  3:29\r\nThat's- that's, you know, that's a pretty- pretty decent sized town. You look at the Converses and the, you know, the different little cities we have here in San Antonio. I mean, that's- that's pretty big. That's pretty big. So- so transitioning to the college: so you did go to Prairie View A\u0026M. I think it's important to share how you got there today in 2017. There's integration, although we dea- still deal with racism, and things of that nature. For the most part, African Americans are welcomed to the non-HBCU [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] opportunities. How did you specifically get to Prairie View from Fox Tech High School?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  4:16  \r\nActually my homeroom teacher in eighth grade, Miss Faye Best. She mentioned something to me about college being the best years of your life if you select the right school and apply yourself. I had two older brothers and an older sister, and neither them nor my two parents had- had the benefit, at that time, of a college education. So I was a potential first generation college graduate. And so I just took a look at her school. You know, I had an opportunity and scholarship to UT [University of Texas] in Austin and- and did a site visit, and actually selected Prairie View sight unseen and have just- one of the- one of the best decisions of my life. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  4:59  \r\nHopefully everyone caught what he just said. He had a scholarship to go to UT Austin, actually visited UT Austin, but his eighth grade teacher was- was so– I don't know what the speech was, I don't know what the- what the- the stump speech that she gave you–since we're talking political talk–took to get there. But without even seeing it, just off her word, and I'm sure, the passion that she gave, and just probably looking at her and saying, “Hey, you know, this is what success looks like, and I want to be successful.” You took her word for it and Prairie View may not have beaten UT on the football field, but they definitely beat ‘em in- in being an inspiration to your success. And I think that's something worth- worth commending and- and highlighting. I have a brother and a sister that actually graduated from Prairie View–a little bit after you–and they took different routes. My brother was just a traditional student. And my sister took part in the ROTC program, which I would say is one of the better programs in the nation, just based on the- the officer that they produced in my sister. And- and so that's another thing that I would salute Prairie View on, doing a great thing. But let's get back to the city. So for- we- I don't know if we said this or not, but Mr. David Allen is the mayor of the city of Prairie View, correct? \r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  6:19\r\nCorrect.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  6:20\r\nAnd before you were the mayor, you were a council person? \r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  6:24\r\nNo. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  6:25\r\nYou wasn't? So you went straight into being the mayor?\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  6:27  \r\nI actually ran for council once and I didn't win. And then I went after being mayor when I felt that that would be the position where I could make the most difference. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  6:37  \r\nOkay, so how long have you been the mayor?\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  6:40  \r\nA year ago, May made a year. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  6:42\r\nSo you’ve been–\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  6:43\r\nSo a year and about four or five months. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  6:45  \r\nYeah, four or five months. And so what was that journey? You know, you're an African American man coming from San Antonio. At the time, it probably was the twentieth largest city in America, but now it's the seventh largest city in America. You know, you went down to college, got your education, life went on. And then did you just wake up one day and say, “I want to serve in political office at the highest level, at the mu- at the highest municipal level?” How did that happen?\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  7:11  \r\nWell, actually, I had lived in Los Angeles prior to that and was first vice president of the Los Angeles NAACP, and ran that out there. So- but actually, I was visiting Prairie View. My wife– I'm a veteran, she was still in service at the time–we had just finished three years over in Europe, and she got stationed while we were at Killeen, Fort Hood, in Afghanistan. And I decided– I was doing some business in Prairie View, visiting people I knew, and then I said, “Well, she's gone,” so I got a little apartment up there and started enjoying waking up, you know, with the birds and the- the fresh country air and that sort of thing. And then when she came back, I said, you know, “Wife, you know I like this Prairie View thing.” So- so we decided to move up that way. And then went on and just- you know, in looking around the city, the former mayor, basically, was busy–you know, full time university administrator and in and out of Austin quite a bit. And I- I knew him well, from when I was an accountant in the early ‘80s, we both worked at the university. And I decided that, you know, rather than talk about what's wrong, I was taught to, you know, roll up your sleeves and get in there and do something about it or be quiet. \r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  8:31  \r\nAnd- and that's- that's- don't talk about it, be about it. I mean, if more people had that- that mantra, and more people moved to that, you know, to that- the beat of that drum, I think our world would be a better place. With that being said, you did say, you know, I felt like there were some gaps. I'm saying this, but this is what I'm hearing you say, “I felt like there were some gaps, but instead of complaining about those gaps, I want to be in a position to- to make those decisions to close them”. Social justice is- is real big. It's always been big, but- but right now, it's a hot button topic in our communities. You have Black Lives Matter. Here locally, you have SATX. You’d mentioned one of the traditional organizations, or historical or- organizations, I should say, wi–  through N-Double A– N-A-A-C-P [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]. If our president, Mr. Hill, is listening and I said N-Double-A-C-P, he’ll come in here and give me a tongue lashing, so the NAACP. But it's real, and it's going on, and a lot of times we hear about these things on the internet, on the news, but, you know, right near PV [Prairie View]. PV was a part of that story, the city, the school, the county that it sits in–Walton County, I believe?–\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  9:46\r\nYes.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  9:46\r\n–was a part of that- of that social injustices, I should say. I- if you as a resident and now as a leader, if you could just talk about- just to our viewers that- the situation with Sandra Bland and- and not necessarily, you know, from a legal standpoint, but just from a person there and- and how it hit home. Share with our audience how that- how- how that whole feeling was.\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  10:20  \r\nWell, it was actually a little personal for me because I was leaving my barber shop and heading to the Los Angeles alumni convention. And when I stepped outside, I saw the trooper go from his door to her door. And all of those epithets and discussions and yelling, and, you know, “I’ll light you up,” and- and all that, but I thought it was over. As matter of fact, if you watch the video, you'll see– after they calm down, he had taken her to the sidewalk between the two vehicles, she was handcuffed, but he had walked away from her–and you'll see my gray Jeep, gray and black Jeep make a right turn. I left. Tuesday, I was watching YouTube, and I was just, you know, trying to figure out what it was I was watching. And then the background looked familiar. And then I realized it was that lady, ‘cause I didn't know her, and all I could ask myself was, “How did she get on the ground?” And I felt bad because I had left. And I cried.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  11:34  \r\nSo a lot of times we– again, like I say, the word has gotten so big, you know, you- we- we experience things from a distance, but they're still impactful. They're still- we can still empathize or sympathize depending on the situation, but to actually have been in that vicinity and- and to have to think about what I could have done. If I was there, if I would have stayed, what could have happened? I- that- that there– and I hope we're connecting to this moment right now because that right there, that- that's profound to me. So many times, we see things and we try to make it make sense. And I'm- I’m looking at it from a standpoint of, you know, you live there, and you serve there and you shop there. But you were literally there, and you don't have to say “What if?” because you were- you were there. And I don't, you know- I want to- I had no idea. Just- just audience, this is not something that we planned for, but hopefully you guys are paying attention, and hopefully this is a moment where we can really, really, really connect to it. But going back to what you said as far as identifying some problems. Now, again, you- I mean, your response to this can be however you need it to be, not necessarily want it to be–or it can be how you want it to be–but now you are in a position of authority to impact the quality of life of the people in your city. Where has that placed you in your role of leadership in regards to what the municipal, I guess, motto or- or the vision or the mission for a municipality is public safety. Where's that pushed you as a leader? \r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  13:46  \r\nWell, I'm real big on– and having been a victim of racial profiling a few times, that's why I stopped and watched. But again, I assumed it was over, she was handcuffed, everybody was calmed down. Figured he was, at best, he was just gonna take her to the station. But in- in light of that, and in- in light of just so many things, you know, that have been– Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, just so many of them nationwide, and even the countless ones before… I was out there in Los Angeles with the NAACP with Rodney King, we went through that. And I went down to Crenshaw Boulevard and saw so much of what was going on there. And the sad part is, there was a part of me that almost understood, because I was with a civil rights law firm in Los Angeles and, you know, I- people didn't have to tell me what- what happened or even the calls I manned through the NAACP. I'd lived it, and I lived it through so many people vicariously, as well. So the community police– and we got an incredible new police chief, been there maybe six, seven months now. And we're real big on community policing, and he's doing an incredible job bringing on new officers. We've got a few officers who used to be there who are- who are no longer with us, and we got an event on Thursday that's being put on by our police department. It's a community event, encouraging folks to come out, students, adults, vendors, you know, individuals from the university. So it's- it’s really about– and I've had meetings that I organize with all of the law enforcement agencies in Waller County. The sheriff was there, Sheriff Smith, he was there, Chief Hartley in Hempstead, Chief Williams and Chief Rehak before him in Waller, Chief Stevens, who was the university police chief at the time, and police John- Chief Johnson, who was our city police chief, at the time. I had them all in the same room, several of their officers and a lot of residents, because I realized and found out subsequently, they had never, ever come together before. And I'm sure, you know, everybody's doing their thing, running their area and their responsibilities. But I knew that we needed to work together. So once I became mayor a little over a year ago, it was easy for me to go back to these folks and say, “Hey, let's set up a meeting, want you to- want to introduce you to my new chief.” You know, on- again, you guys work together, so if something's going on, you know, I can call the sheriff and- and the neighboring police chiefs, you know, when we need additional support: football games, homecomings. Or, again, our chief Solomon is able to work with them as well to– because again, it's- it's a county problem, you can't handle yo- your backyard and think, you know, they’re not gonna eventually come over from your neighbors, if that's not taken care of. So we’re working together and making some things happen, making the students feel safe and we’re on and off the campus a lot more. And, again, really bringing the university and the- and the city together. The university is buying property, I'm working with them, they actually bought in excess of fifty acres. So they're doing some developing in the city that's gonna benefit the city, the university, its residents, students, and things like that. So, a lot of- a lot of collaboration and working together on grants and other things. So, you know, we're- we’re excited about what's coming down the pipe.\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  17:28  \r\nAnd that's a great thing. I think a lot of times we assume that everyone is collaborating, that all these agencies or- or- have inter-agency relationships, when the reality of it is that most operate in their own silos. And- and so if you have a chief, you're the chief of- of this department, and the sheriff of that department and the mayor of this department and the county judge of this department. And like you said, no one's really talking. But it takes that- it takes that- that leader that- that transformational-type leader to bring everybody together, see that gap and close it. You did mention the campus and- and Prairie View within that, and involving them into the fold when it comes to that growth and- and that sustainment of that growth and just being safe. Another piece of that is HBCUs. And so you're the mayor of a city that basically, the majority of it is known for the school, which is a historically black college and university. And a lot of peop- you also alumni of that- of that same university. What is your take on the need…[pauses] and I want to choose my words carefully–we’ll say the need and maybe the relevance– like I stated earlier, your path to an HBCU may have been a little bit different than my sister’s, who was thirty-three, maybe, and my brother who was twenty-nine, maybe. The world was different, the world is different now. Today, there's a lot of opportunity. But you would know firsthand as a graduate, and you would know firsthand as someone who's still in that community supporting that university in some capacity what the need and the relevance was. So share with our viewers your stance on HBCUs and- and why or why not, maybe–I don't know–we need them.\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  19:37  \r\nWell, in- in my situation, for example, the- the support, the infrastructure to help you be successful. Our classes weren't– with a couple of exceptions–they weren't in auditoriums, they were in classrooms. So we were able to really hear, see, understand, get what we needed from an instructor. And even if that was additional support, you know. The instructors knew our names. Back in my day, you miss a class, they'll call your dorm room, you know, [imitating an instructor] “Who are you to miss my class?” or “Your parents didn't send you down here to be missing school,” you know. So it was like a home away from home because you're- you know, I was a seventeen year old kid. So you’re talking about seventeen, eighteen, maybe nineteen and their first time away from home, really, on your own. And that's also an opportunity for failure, if it's not checked. And in that environment, the- the HBCU network, the support network, the encouragement that- that you need– especially for those of us who this is our first–  not just our first time away from home, but no one else has any information from that collegiate experience to share with us. So we don't know what we're up for. So, we need those folks on the other end. And right now I- I eat on the campus, sometimes two, three days a week with the students. And I'm talking to the students–and this was long before I decided to run for mayor–because I love my school. Matter of fact, in 1998, the Provost Office created an award because I was bringing 100 to 200 students a year on a black college tour around the country, either flying in D.C. and finishing up in Houston or flying in Houston, starting at PV and finishing up in D.C. and Howard. And most of them I convinced, you know, “You can go where you- I’mma let you see the rest, but if you're smart, you know, you'll go to the best.” And most of them went to Prairie View, so they recruit- they created an award as the number one recruiter of students to the university. And since, it's my understanding, they haven't given out that award to anybody else since 1998. I'm still the king of that hill. So–\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  21:58  \r\nYeah, that’s almost twenty years. I know that because I graduated in 1998 from high school.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDavid Allen  22:02  \r\nSo I love the students, and I understand them, almost as I did when I showed up in June of 1973. So being able to talk to ‘em, encourage ‘em, “Where you from? What's your major? High school?” You know, just letting them know somebody away from home cares. And again, this is- this was as an alumni. You know, I used to run the Los Angeles alumni chapter, and I was on our National Alumni Board. So I'm- I’m what you call vested in my university, I've given back and I'm still doing that. Don't write checks like I used to, but being married now, you can't. But, you know, it's just been interesting. But the need for them? Well, is there a need for UT? There a need for Texas A\u0026M? Because you've got the same demographics. When I went to UT, they said it was high thirty-eight, 39,000 students and about 400 African Americans at the time. So if you reverse that, what's the difference? I mean, those schools have grown and thrived. Prairie View is the second oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Texas. So, you know, you've got history there, as well, and what it has been doing for the state of Texas and the country in those 140 years, and those of us that it has graduated– from military officers, to corporate executives, to lawyers, doctors, you know, engineers, educators, you know–we cover the gamut, you know. Our nursing program, bar none and, you know, on a statewide, if not a nationwide basis. So, is there a need for them? As- as long as it's producing the caliber of people that it’s producing, and the other institutions can't stand up to the caliber, to the numbers, the need speaks for itself. It's- it's working, and like UT or A\u0026M or any of the other majority institutions, if they're not broken, why are we trying to fix it?\r\n\r\n\r\nTyrone Darden  24:07   \r\nThat's a good word, and we gon’ end on that word. I- I’d like to thank you for- for joining us today, being one of our 300 Voices for this- this project that we're doing. And we really, really feel like the people should- should hear from these different voices that have come out of our community, that support our community, that are African Americans, and that can share success. With that being said, I want to thank you guys, once again, for tuning in. And remember, as long as there's a Texas A\u0026M and a Texas Tech and a UT, there should always be a PV. With that being said, thank you for watching. I'm Tyrone Darden. This is 300 Voices in 300 Days. We've had a great guest in Mayor David Allen of Prairie View, Texas. And tune in next time.\r\n\r\n\r\nTranscribed by https://otter.ai","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://saaacam.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2808/collection_resources/127834/file/239694#t=0.0,1503.95733"}]}]}]}