Author Jamila Pamoja-Thomas recently returned to her native Dallas to share readings from her book, ‘The Evolution of Me: A Poetic Memoir.’
Born in Dallas, Pamoja-Thomas grew up in Oak Cliff, graduating from A. Maceo Smith High School in 1997. Duane Thomas and her mother, Imani Pamoja, who died of a stroke in 2018, separated when Pamoja-Thomas was 6, a divorce she deems crushing, given her closeness to both.
Pamoja-Thomas says she benefited “enormously” from having birth parents who demonstrated how to be activists. Her mother was involved in what her daughter calls “the Dallas. Her activist perspective meant doing it entirely through the arts.” Pamoja-Thomas lists her literary influences as Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and her mother’s “prestigious writing.”
Author Jamila Pamoja-Thomas poses with her famous father, former Dallas Cowboys running back Duane Thomas, who helped the team to its first Super Bowl championship at the end of the 1971 season. Pamoja-Thomas has published poetry and prose and recently appeared at Pan-African Connection in South Oak Cliff.
What his daughter most remembers is her father “pawning his Super Bowl ring to provide for his family. And for that,” she says tearfully, “he has always been my hero.”Harry Edwards, professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, speaking toin 2003, said professional football players — Black players in particular — owe Thomas a debt of gratitude for having fought so valiantly for economic parity and power.
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