Where were you born and raised?
Waxahachie, Texas
What is your occupation?
Lead Pastor at United Believers Community Church
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Simply being raised in a loving and caring black neighborhood where everyone knew and looked out for each other.
What does Black History Month mean to you?
Black history is a reflection of Black achievement and should point us in a direction of renewed possibility.
What do you believe is the most important issue currently facing the Black community?
The most important issue currently facing the Black community is a revival of hope. Hope is simply an expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Hope has played a significant role in the lives of the early abolitionists to the contemporary voices of today. Sadly, the hopeful voices are beginning to fade due to seemingly insurmountable challenges of a brighter and better day.
When did you realize you were Black in America and what has that meant for your life?
I didn't know I was BLACK until a WHITE person told me that I was BLACK. It was 1975, I never will forget the moment. At 5-years-old, I got displaced from my mom. My mom went up the stairs to shop and I stayed on the main floor. While looking for my mom, I was shocked by how orderly and nice the clothes and accessories were on the main floor. It was at that time a white male approached me and told me that he believed my mom must be upstairs because BLACKS don't shop on this floor. I responded in a quizzical tone, Who's Black? The red-flushed white male then took me by the hand to a white woman who escorted me upstairs to my mom. My first question to my mom was an honest inquisition: Why did that man call me BLACK? My name is Darron.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration to push for change?
My biggest inspiration to push for change are the people that I am privileged to serve as pastor and those I know in the communities that I live and work. Each of them have unique challenges but they also understand the solutions to the problems they face. It is my responsibility as a pastor to amplify their causes and concerns while I have a seat at the table of power.
How have you supported or contributed to the local Black community?
I don't want to sound grand but my contributions exceed the Black community. Contribution has no color. Contribution has impact. The impact that I have been afforded to make has impacted every city I have lived, every church I have preached, every person I have touched.
