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Biography

Sister Milli Dawson is a mother of the church, a musician, and a previous Director for the Linn County Veteran’s Affair’s Office. She is dedicated to her church, her family and her community. In her interview by Living Waters History Makers Youth Group, she speaks with pride in her accomplishments as well as the difficulties she faced as a black child in a predominately white community.

Transcript

Date of Interview:  29 April 2009

Shavar Diaz: Hi, I’m Shavar Diaz. I spell it S-h-a-v-a-r, and I’m here interviewing Sister Milli Dawson. So, let’s get started. Where were you born?

Milli Dawson: Fort Madison, Iowa.

Shavar Diaz: How long have you, did you live there?

Milli Dawson: For two and a half years and then my parents moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

Shavar Diaz: What type of education have you gotten?

Milli Dawson: I graduated from high school in Mount Pleasant and also I have attended
Kirkwood Community College.

Shavar Diaz: When you were there, what did you major in or what activities did you participate in?

Milli Dawson: Human Relations.

Shavar Diaz: What church do you attend?

Milli Dawson: Living Waters Community Church.

Shavar Diaz: And what roles do you play at that church?

Milli Dawson: I’m a musician for the children’s choir and also for the mothers of the church.

Shavar Diaz: And what is it to be a mother in a church?

Milli Dawson: Well, with me being a little bit on the elderly side, I think it’s giving spiritual wisdom and also mentoring the younger women of the church.

Shavar Diaz: And you’re married to Deacon Leo Dawson?

Milli Dawson: Yes.

Shavar Diaz: And what is it like to be his wife, as like, what is it like to be a Deacon’s wife?

Milli Dawson: There are a lot of things that are more or less expected from being the wife of a deacon. In other words, to live a Christian life, to assist him in what requirements that he has being a deacon, and just being the best wife that I can be.

Shavar Diaz: Does it seem like you have to hold yourself to higher standards since he is in the more higher of a power in the church?

Milli Dawson: Let’s say that I do that anyway with being a Christian first of all and being a Deacon’s wife, they do expect higher standards.

Shavar Diaz: There’s not a lot of segregation now a days but when you were younger, did you feel a lot of segregation?

Milli Dawson: Not as much as if, I feel, if I had grown up in the South. I did have several incidents within, when I went to school. One, for instance, the sixth grade teacher in front of all of the class said the reason why black people have kinky hair is because they had a forest fire in Africa and all of the people got down in the hole and when the fire came by it singed their hair off and that’s why black people have kinky hair. I really didn’t appreciate her response but I guess that’s what she believed. And also when I was in eighth grade I took my report card home and I got a D in spelling and I was afraid to take it home because I knew I was going to be in trouble with my mom. But, when my mother approached the teacher and asked why I got a D, the teacher said she knew I was getting the words right but I had to cheat because black people were not that smart. And then also in high school there were a couple of boys that would take, especially in the winter time, they would take my gloves and my hat and throw them up on top a lady’s house and I would have to go home in the snow and in the cold without my hat or my gloves because they would take those things away from me and they would say that you know, we did that to you because you were black and you weren’t supposed to have those kind of things.

Shavar Diaz: Some black people, or just people in general, when some things happen like that to them, some people let it build them up, and some let it tear them down, how did you take it?

Milli Dawson: I was always told from my parents that I would probably have a lot of things said and a lot of things done to me, but if they didn’t actually put their hands on me, I was not to fight back.

Shavar Diaz: Can you tell me any stories, any like, big moments that have happened in your life?

Milli Dawson: In reference to?

Shavar Diaz: Just life in general, childhood, school, hanging out with your friends, parents?

Milli Dawson: I think one of the highlights of my life was being the director of the Linn County Veteran Affairs and I worked in the office for…

Shavar Diaz: What is that exactly?

Milli Dawson: It’s assisting veterans that returned from war and also giving them the advice that they need and filling out forms to get assistance in referring them to a veterans home in Marshalltown and also the VA hospital in Iowa City and also it was very comforting to me to be able to work with the veterans and to help them because a lot of times they would come into the office and just sit and they would not want to talk to their families and they would come to the office and not say anything and I would do my work and a lot of times they would say thank you for your time and then they would leave and they wouldn’t talk to me or tell me anything but just to be able to be there for them, that meant a lot to me and I was able to help them and to help their families. And also, I started playing for the church when I was 12 years old and I’m almost 72 so I’ve been playing for the church for over 60 years.

Shavar Diaz: Do you feel like you’ve lived up to what you thought you could be or did you think you could be more?

Milli Dawson: I think in a lot of ways I feel that I have and in some ways I have not. My siblings all have college degrees; I wanted to finish at Kirkwood and go on to college and finish. I have a daughter that has her doctor’s degree and is a professor at a college in Winnsboro, and I have another daughter that will graduate with her Bachelor’s Degree next month. And then I have 4 grandchildren in college so that was one of the goals I wanted to reach and I didn’t do that. But I feel that with having my children and my grandchildren, that kind of fills in that spot for me.

Shavar Diaz: What do you do for entertainment?

Milli Dawson: Spend a lot of time with my 2 great-granddaughters that live here. And for entertainment I love going to church, being involved with church, being involved with children and being involved with older people. I guess one of the things are my hobbies, which is entertainment to me, which is putting jigsaw puzzles together. I just finished the 500 piece puzzle and now I‘ve got a thousand piece puzzle that I’m going to start on that’s the Barrack Obama set and that’s going to be my next project and that’s entertainment to me.

Shavar Diaz: I know very well that you are a very good cook. What types of, what do you think you cook the best? What do you enjoy cooking the most?

Milli Dawson: Cookies.

Shavar Diaz: You have to give us some more.

Milli Dawson: Oh, some more? I love cooking, period. I like cooking different types of food. I like soul food, greens and cabbage, candied sweet potatoes, fried chicken, homemade biscuits.

Shavar Diaz: A lot of people have things that center them, or calm them, or make them feel like peace. Is that something, does cooking help you do that?

Milli Dawson: Yes, and also the music is very calming for me and the puzzles.

Shavar Diaz: You’re a musician; how did you get involved with music?

Milli Dawson: I came from a musical family. My grandmother was part of a group that used to sing in prison in Fort Madison. She played the piano. She sang. That’s when I started with the music. I also accompanied the mixed chorus and the women’s choir. When I was going to high school, I was in competition, piano, individual competition, in a state contest. So I’ve really been involved with music. My husband sings and I have been playing for him for several years and also my family, my five children used to travel to different churches and also to prison in Fort Madison and we followed in my grandmother’s footsteps with doing things like that and all of the children are involved with music.

Shavar Diaz: What is one of your happiest and one of your saddest memories?

Milli Dawson: One of my happiest memories was say, really, the birth of my first child, getting married and just the whole family thing. I enjoy my family. I think the saddest was losing my son. He’s been deceased now for almost eight years. That had to have been one of the hardest things that I had to go through. I still have days when it’s hard.

Shavar Diaz: What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment?

Milli Dawson: One of my biggest accomplishments, I would say, because of a lot of health problems, being alive for 71 years.

Shavar Diaz: With your health problems do you feel like it empowers you to keep going?

Milli Dawson: Just knowing that God is by my side, that’s what empowers me to keep going.

Shavar Diaz: If you could change anything in your life in the past, what would it be?

Milli Dawson: A bigger house.

Shavar Diaz: What drew you to kids, like, how did you, what made you want to teach kids and help families?

Milli Dawson: I think just the fact of being involved at church and going on vacations with my parents, when I was at home, and having my younger sister tag along with me every place that I went was more or less like I was a second mom to her. I love kids.

Shavar Diaz: Is there any questions I missed or anything you want to tell us before we wrap it up?

Milli Dawson: I enjoy life and I enjoy what I’m doing. One of the things I would really like to do a little more is travel and visit some friends I haven’t seen for a long time.

Shavar Diaz: That’s all the questions I have, guess that’s it, and thank you for your time.

Milli Dawson: Thank you for having me.