- Collection:
- Civil Rights in Black and Brown
- Title:
- Oral History Interview with Mike Wilson on July 12, 2018.
- Creator:
- Enriquez, Sandra
Rodriguez, Samantha
Wilson, Mike - Date of Original:
- 2016-07-12
- Subject:
- Persons
Ethnic groups
Civil rights - People:
- Wilson, Mike
- Location:
- United States, Texas, Harris County, Baytown, 29.7355, -94.97743
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
biographies (literary works)
interviews - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Mike Wilson was born in Dayton, Ohio, in the 1960s, where he witnessed white flight and urban decay. He grew up in all-Black spaces and was surrounded by a community of Black progressives. When he was in second grade, his parents divorced, subsequently moving him to Louisiana. Upon his arrival to the South, he faced a culture shock, as he believed African Americans were more “submissive” and “knew their place.” Two years later, his parents got back together and moved to Baytown. Wilson attended Robert E. Lee High School in the 1980s, where he still experienced the remnants of segregation. As a young adult, Wilson witnessed the lack of mentorship for African American men in Baytown, which drove him to get involved in efforts to create programing to prevent gang activity and juvenile delinquency amongst Blacks and Latinos. He became the executive director for a pilot project funded by the Texas General Attorney’s Office called Gang Activity Prevention (GAP). Most recently, Wilson founded and directs Upgrade 2 the Next Level, a self-funded program for the youth in Baytown that serves as an outlet for discipline and self-expression.
- Metadata URL:
- https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth987528/
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- 6 video recordings (1 hr., 23 min., 16 sec.) : sd., col.
- Original Collection:
- https://crbb.tcu.edu/interviews/interview-with-mike-wilson
- Contributing Institution:
- University of North Texas. Libraries
- Rights:
-