By Ana C. Parker and A’Viyon Robinson
From its founding in 1926, Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas, has seen thousands of students enter its doors and walk its storied halls, going on to graduate in pursuit of vastly varied lives and careers. Of these graduates, many have gone on to be notable figures, while a host of other Yates alumni have distinguished themselves across the fields of entertainment, education, law, broadcasting, and civic activism, to name a few. The people listed here, and those who appear in other articles throughout this issue, are but a small sample of the distinguished Yates Lions.
Hobart Taylor Jr. (1920-1981) graduated from Yates in 1936 and went on to earn BA and MA degrees before receiving his JD from the University of Michigan in 1943. He and his father supported Lyndon Johnson, and in 1961, President Kennedy appointed Taylor special counsel to the President’s Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, where he is credited with coining the phrase, “affirmative action.” Photo courtesy of Texas History Collection, Portal to Texas History, ark:/67531/metapth17411
Jewel Brown (1937-2024) began singing at age nine, and by twelve years old was singing at Eldorado Ballroom in Third Ward, and soon after that with her brother’s band in Galveston. Brown toured the world performing with Louis Armstrong throughout the 1960s and returned to performing in the 2000s. Here she sings “en spectacle avec Louis Armstrong à la Place des Nations,” on September 8, 1968. Photo by Gordon Beck, courtesy of Archives de la Ville de Montreal and Flickr.
Third Ward native Carroll Parrott Blue (1943-2019) graduated from Yates in 1960, feeling the full effects of the new school leadership and desegregation. Blue became a noted documentary filmmaker giving voice to people of color and joining the L.A. Rebellion film movement calling for an end to discrimination in the industry. Her book, The Dawn at My Back: A Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing, chronicles life in Third Ward under Jim Crow and the challenges of breaking away from its legacy. Photo courtesy of the University of Houston.
Majorettes and sisters Phylicia (now Rashad) and Debbie Allen “The Java.” during a halftime show in 1965. Both sisters went on to award-winning careers in television, stage, and film. Both have also been actively engaged in education. Photo courtesy of The Lion yearbook, 1966.
Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, E.D., graduated from Yates in 1972. A third generation educator, she earned degrees from Spellman and Texas Southern University and served as teacher and Lead Evaluation Specialist with HISD until she retired in 2009. An active member of the NAACP, she became the first African American woman to head the Houston Community College board, where she worked to make education more accessible. Since 2020, she has served as the Houston City Council Member for District D, where she prioritizes education, quality of life, and providing resources and information to community members. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Evans-Shabazz.
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Click to listen to Jewel Brown perform!
Join Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz and others at Rice University for the Black Houston(s) Symposium, March 27, 2026.
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