I have been highlighting dance because music and dance connect me to my culture. Today, I am deviating to highlight my dark brown woman in American History.

I choose my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Ruby J. Hughes; to her daughter, Toni Hughes Johnson your mother is my Heroine in American History.

I could not immediately find a picture, but, I want you to know that she is my second Shero. She taught me to love myself even when I was only six years old. She was and is instrumental in my success. She is real, kind, and a model for dark brown girls.

She was young but wise. I knew I wanted to be like her.

She may not even remember now; but I will never forget, we were in class and the message came over the intercom, at Madison Street Elementary that the President of the United States had just been shot and school was being dismissed early. She kept us calm and safe. I remember seeing teachers huddle together with us until our parents came, and I remember her and some others crying.

Something that is never talked about is how dark brown students were discriminated against by our own race. There were light brown and what was referred to by people of color as “high yellow people”, who discriminated indirectly in public school.

I remember that light brown students, especially girls were placed in Mrs. Potts and Mrs. Smith’s class while dark brown students were in Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Burns’s class. I thank God that I had Mrs. HUGHES. She was the best teacher ever.

I remember when we competed against the other classes in spelling and math bees, she made sure we were ready. Guess what, we dark brown students often exceeded the light brown students.

I just remember winning. I always kept in my mind that I was not light enough, so I had to be smart enough. Thank you for building my self-esteem, Mrs Hughes.

It was not until I was older that I realized that they were not really discriminating against dark brown girls, they were simply choosing girls that they thought could survive in a pink-skinned culture.

I thank God that I had a teacher in my first grade year that I could look up to. She is my role model in American History. As a little girl, I thought if she could be a teacher so could I. I thank God because in my second-grade year, because of the school being overcrowded and where I lived the line was drawn. All dark brown children who lived on the right side of Highway 40 locally known as Broadway back to Highway 200 had to go to Dr. N. H. Jones Elementary. That included me. That was my first interaction with pink-skinned people. However, that story is for another day.

Who knew that my first-grade teacher would again show up for me when we were pushed across town to the East Side of town?

I held on to her, and she kept me moving forward. She selected me as one of her squad leaders and helped me to be comfortable as a dark brown student in the midst of mostly pink-skinned people.

Because of her mentoring and teaching, I have my Ph.D.

I salute you, Mrs. Ruby Hughes.

I honor you forever, my Shero in Brown American History.

Toni, please let her know for me that I love her.