DARRYL GAYLOR EZELL BRADDIX

Mr. Braddix was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on June 1,1946. He is tolerant, responsible, honest, articulate, positive and courteous.

He is the father of one son, Jeanel O. Baker, and four daughters, Tracy Williams, Michelle Williams, Darrielle Braddix and Gayle Braddix. Darrielle is performing at the Muny Opera in dance and is a dancer and works with Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop and does some acting.

"My greatest personal achievement is to represent Dr. Katherine Dunham as a dancer and spokesman and to direct the Katherine Dunham Children's Workshop. It is a joy to see the children learn to use their bodies to create beauty in the way Dr. Dunham professes and teaches.

"One adversity in my life occurred when I was a student at EHE. That was the Experiment In Higher Education of Southern Illinois University. But I was disenchanted with the program to say the least and with society in general. During this time, Dr. Dunham was invited to the university to give a talk and a demonstration of her method of teaching dancing. I was in the audience and was rather laid back. She called me up on the stage to demonstrate a particular movement which was rather simple for me. I did what was requested and later she asked me and a couple of others to dinner and told us she wanted to see East St. Louis. We went to Pudgey's and a few other places, and she was with me. At this time, there were a number of Black power groups in East St. Louis. The police were in the process of rounding up certain members, and I was considered one of the group. The police would pick you up with no search warrant or anything; if they said "Go", you had to move or suffer the consequences. So when the police made their move to pick me up, she questioned them. The police picked her up, booked her and jailed her along with us. The event made national news because of the outstanding authority of Dr. Dunham all over the country. When she subsequently came to East St. Louis by way of Southern Illinois University, I became a student of hers and did become proficient in her method of dance expression.

"Another adversity occurred to me in 1974 when I took 4260 volts of electricity while fighting a fire as a fireman. One hundred ten volts can kill a person. This electrocution put me in a bad shape physically, for it dried up my body fluids, and my left side was damaged severely. I never lost consciousness, but as surges of electricity went through my body, I could feel it. I was hospitalized for seven days. Physical therapists worked with me for a month or two. But I wanted to get well, so after they worked with me and I saw what the therapists did, I did the same exercises only twice as often as I was told. The current had come out through my legs and left burn holes in my ankles. This accident slowed my performance. My last performance as a dancer, was July 1, 1976 for SIU, and I retired in 1978.

"My occupation is serving as an East St. Louis fireman and director of the Katherine Dunham Museum and Children's Workshop. As a fireman, I like the fulfillment you feel when you save someone's life or home. in the dance and theatre, I enjoy trying to help a few East St. Louis underprivileged and talented children. We finished our fifth year in August 1986."

"My hobbies are working, viewing live theatre and plays and video recording.

"My favorite TV programs are the Bryant Gumble TODAY SHOW, DONAHUE and SIXTY MINUTES.

"My favorite book is "The Slave Trade" which is about the Haitian slave trade through the Catholic Church and "Message to the Grass Roots In America", by Malcolm X.

An instance of discrimination was this: "I was the third Black student to be enrolled at St. Joseph's School in East St. Louis. I played football, basketball and ran track. I wanted to be on the swimming team, but they swam and practiced at the Knights of Columbus building which did not allow Blacks to use their pool or building. This prepared me for the 60s, CORE and the marches.

"I received whippings and punishment as a child. I was often punished for staying out too late. I couldn't explain these things that I did, and I really felt persecuted as a child. I think I was on punishment half of my life as a child. I'd get out of one thing and into something else. I had some good punishments, but what can I say?

"An amusing incident my family constantly refers to happened at Forest Park during a family picnic. My mother told me - 'Don't go near the water.' I did, of course, and was the only one to fall in.