grace and peace

Wow, what a sad week. Volma Overton, former president of the Austin NAACP passed away overnight. Volma was responsible for the integration of the AISD -- he filed the desegregation lawsuit in his daughter's name.

It's been my great privilege these past few years to attend church with Volma. He was an incredible person who has seen the worst that people can do to one another, and yet who chose to respond with love. He also was a gifted ballroom dancer. At our 2004 Creative Arts Camp for kids, we had a dance component and Volma helped teach the kids. I will never forget the site of him foxtrotting with the second and third graders, encouraging them when they made mistakes and giggling along with them as they figured it out.

It's a sad, sad day, but how lucky we are to have had someone who challenged our city to be better, and who taught us to dance.