THE RISE OF A PHOENIX: DRUSILLA DUNJEE-HOUSTON In this seventh edition of The Black Fist: Best & Brightest Everyday Black History Series, We will pay honor to a Supreme Queen, a black woman of great literary intellect -- our beloved sister Drusilla Dunjee-Houston. Sister Drusilla was born at a time when women, especially the 'black woman' where not seen and NEVER heard. This powerful sister broke down the barriers and not only did she exposed the wickedness of the whiteman here in america, but exposed the fact that "we" came from something bigger than chattel slavery, we, the black people of the earth had a great African past that she documented in her published work, The Wonderful Ethopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire. So Sit back and read about an extraordinary black woman who is worthy to be honored in our best & brightest black history series. General Nikki X likes to call this one....The Rise Of A Phoenix. DRUSILLA DUNJEE-HOUSTON (1876-1941) Drusilla Dunjee-Houston was born June 20, 1876 in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Her father was John William Dunjee, a minister with the Baptist Home Missionary Society. Houston was the eldest of five children and lived in many locations in the South and later in Oklahoha, where her father moved to establish Baptist churches for blacks in rural areas. By early 19th century standards, the family was middle to upper class enjoying many opportunies and benefits of "first family" in the 10 different churches founded by John Williams. As Drusilla described their status "My father very early on owned a libruary of 3,000 choice volumes. On the wall of our home hung fine oil paintings and other things in the home surprising to one who a few years before had escaped from slavery to Canada. A few years after arriving in Oklahoma, Drusilla eloped and married Price Houston in 1898, a wealthy businessman who was 20 years her senior. The couple settled in McAlester Seminary for girls. Twelve years later she returned to Oklahoma City where she continued teaching. In 1915 she became a contributing editor with the Black Dispatch, a local black newspaper began by her brother Roscoe Dunjee. A school teacher, newspaper columnist, community activist, church leader, and historian, Drusilla Dunjee-Houston ranked history as the highest level of intellectual pursuits. It became her primary means of individuation providing a measure of security and assurance about her own heritage - a mixture of African-America, Native American, and White. Her interest in ancient African and historical research was triggered by the 1915 publication of The Negro authored by W.E.B. DuBois. Her life-long pursuit of Africa's past and her devotion to her race places Dunsilla Dunjee-Houston in the foremost ranks of Pan-Africanist historians. Houston moved to Sapulpa, Oklahoma and started a private school for women and girls called the Oklahoma Training School for Women and Girls. The name was later changed to the Oklahoma Baptist College. While in Sapulpa, she included another column for her readers entitled Training School Notes to keep them updated on the activities at Sapulpa and sustained the financial support links that she had established for the school. Drusilla remained in Sapulpa for five years before returning to Oklahoma City in 1923. Many societal and family demands filled Houston's life. She managed to raise her only child by herself after Price's death, write weekly for the Black Dispatch to which she contributed nealy 2,000 editorials, and taught public school on a full time basis. In addition to these accomplishments, Drusilla managed to amass an impressive amount of documentation of the ancient African past - culminating in her only published work, The Wonderful Ethopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire. Houston's last place of residence was Phoenix, Arizona where she went to live close to her sister Blanche and her children. Even though she retired to Phoenix due to illness, she began immediately to write columns for the Arizona Journal and Guide. Drusilla Dunjee-Houston died from tuberculosis on February 2, 1941. Her daughter Florence was at her bedside. Well there you have it folks! The life of another extraordinary black woman ahead of her time, Sister Drusilla Dunjee-Houston. Sadly, at the time of her death in 1941, she was working on another book of African history. Who knows how that book would've turned out and what truths Drusilla Dunjee-Houston would've uncovered in her journeys. The Wonderful Ethopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire is a piece of literary work, General Nikki X has read 5 times and on her way to a 6th. It is to be studied and re-studied. General Nikki X has always believed that the way to educate oneself is to "re-educate" oneself. Drusilla Dunjee-Houston is a class study in dignity, fortitude and mastering the science of delving deeper into not whats on the surface but what's right beneath the surface. She gave us one of the greatest documents ever written about our dignified & glorious past. And today we, The Black Fist Organization give Drusilla Dunjee-Houston a big "Black Power Salute" and our deepest gratitude for showing us -- "Black WAS Beautiful" -- before -- there ever was a black power shout of..... "Black IS beautiful!" STAY TUNED TO OUR EIGHTH INSTALLMENT COMIN' BLACK ATCHA SOON. RIGHT HERE ON THE "ONLY OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE BLACK FIST,"...THE BLACK FIST BLOG! BLACK FIST, BLACK POWER, BLACK NATION!!!