VAIL, Ariz. (KGUN) — As Juneteenth remembers an important day in African American history, a community in Vail has put up reminders people who live there can see every day. The Rocking K community remembers African American pioneers through a neighborhood’s street signs.
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Juneteenth celebrates the day in 1865 that enslaved African Americans, isolated in Texas, learned they had been freed. Some of the streets in Rocking K celebrate what came after. They are named after some of the African Americans who helped build the Arizona we have today.
Charles Young and Daisy Moore may not have met in life, but they meet at an intersection in the Mountain View neighborhood of the fast growing Rocking K development.
Dorothy Moore fought court battles to secure the right to teach in integrated classrooms.
Charles Young was the third Black man to enter West Point and the first to rise to Brigadier General. Fort Huachuca was among his commands.
One of the streets honors Fred Fox Snowden who built a winning program for University of Arizona basketball as the first African American Coach of a Major University Basketball program.
Larry Doby Way remembers the baseball player who moved from Arizona’s Cactus League to become the first African American in the American League and the second in the Majors after Jackie Robinson.
His street intersects with Curly Neal Drive. Neal went from a scout for the Army to a successful businessman who developed Oracle’s Mountain View Hotel.
We talked with Vail Chamber of Commerce CEO Dr Denise Bowls about how seeing names on the street where you live might just lead you to learn more about them.
KGUN9 reporter Craig Smith said, “...and the people here represent folks who were real achievers in a culture where maybe it wasn't so easy to achieve at the time.”
Dr. Bowls: “They are overcomers, and they have worked hard, worked hard to to make a pathway as a coach, teachers, military, soldiers.”
Rocking K will celebrate those achievers more with a special event on Saturday from 9 to 12.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
