Tiana

"My full name is Tiana Esther Helen Pyles. I say my middle names with pride because they are the names of both of my grandmothers. I grew up in Massachusetts, but my parents sent me to the South every summer for the southern experience. My grandmother, Queen Esther, who lives in Orange Mound, would take me around and talk to me about the history of Orange Mound: what is was, what it had become, what was still there. She had a lot of pride in her community.

"About ten years ago, she called and said she needed us (our family) to move to Memphis to help take care of her because she was getting older.  When we moved here and said, 'OK, Granny, we're here now; how can we help you?', she said, 'Baby, I don't need any help. Just live here in one of my houses and pay me rent.' So basically, she tricked us to get us here (*laughs*). Now our family lives in Orange Mound, I work in Orange Mound, and I love my community. Since we moved to the South, my boys have been able to see other black men who own their own businesses or who hold positions in government, and those people are role models for them. We didn't have that where we lived before, and it's really important. My children have done well here. In fact, my oldest was just accepted to MIT."

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