Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd, 10/6/1960-11/12/2018

Family Genealogy 

Her Hand

by Maggie Pittman

Her hands held me gently from the day I took my first breath,
Her hands help to guide me as I took my first step,
Her hands held me close when tears would start to fall,
Her hands were quick to show me that she would take care of all.

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A Family Tribute to Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd

 by Dorothy Charles Banks

Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd

Laura Jean Ockletree was the first daughter born to Marie Ockletree. The special bond between mother and child commenced the day Laura came into the world one early morning October 6, 1960. Marie recalls her joy at becoming a mother. The tiny baby that she held in her arms was her precious pride and joy. 

Marie recalls that her baby girl taught her how to be a mother; how to be responsible at 18. She had the hands and love filled heart to guide and push her child through her teenage years, through womanhood; eventually watching her experience marriage and motherhood. 

When Laura and J.D. Floyd got married two children were born from that union: Jonathan and Whitney, her first born daughter.

It goes without saying that first born sons and daughters are stealers of their parents’ hearts. No other child in the world is cuter or smarter. Even though Laura gave birth to a daughter, when she adopted her six months old niece, it was like giving birth to another daughter. That’s how tightly she embraced 

the baby girl born to her sister Everea. 

Sharita Ockletree was born with multiple problems, but Laura did not see a baby that was less than a perfect. Love ruled. Laura’s love was not going to let this fragile baby girl get entangled in a state system that would have stifled her life, and her growth. The bond between these two was unbreakable. They were each other’s world.

The Bible tells us that our days are numbered. They are few and full of trouble. We enter the world like a flower and then fade away, says the Bible. Those numbered days begin at conception. Death is the dreaded enemy that stepped forward when Laura’s number was posted on God’s bulletin board. Death, despite being a part of life, has the power to snatch all joy and happiness in the blink of an eye. 

Just like Marie vividly remembers the day Laura was born, she remembers the day Laura was taken from her, a mere 37 days after her 58^th birthday. Marie’s protecting hands could not grab Laura out of death’s jaws. Whether it was intuition or God preparing for a death in the family, Marie began having dreams about Laura. Her self-analysis of the dreams were troubling. She prayed and talked to God, asking him to take her, “not my child.” As a mother she was ready to exchange her number for Laura’s. Parents tend to reason that their children should bury them, not the other way around. After Laura’s death Marie’s dreams stopped.

“On the day I learned of her death, all I could say is, ‘No! No! No, not my baby!’ When I saw her lying on the floor, not moving and cold, I had a feeling of disbelief. When the coroner put her on the gurney, they let us say our last good-bye. I couldn’t accept her death. I still haven’t.”

Following the usual holiday routine, Laura planned on going to Marie’s house for Thanksgiving. Because Marie is the better cook everyone gathered to her house. Together,

Laura

mother and daughter were going to cook a Thanksgiving feast. Laura had already decided that she was going to make potato salad. 

Sadly, Laura had another unforeseen date that she had to keep; a date that was planned in advance long, long ago. On November 12, 2018 she departed this earth, sealing her predetermined destiny. 

Although Laura has traveled “up yonder” to meet her Lord, memories of her spirit will live on through family and friends, many of whom spoke glowingly of her at the funeral. Her sons recalled memories of their mother, paying emotional tributes; acquaintances recalled the friend who was always ready to help them when they needed it. Laura's former pastor recalled her determination and drive to increase the church’s membership, which she did. Her mother Marie is already missing the daily phone calls and conversations. Despite of her physical loss she still have years of memories to hang onto.

Laura (right) with son and daughter Whitney and Quincy

Oldest daughter Whitney and Laura

Laura's youngest daughter ShaRita

Chris, Laura's son

Jonathan, Laura's son

Replica of funeral program

___________________________________________________

In Loving Memory of

Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd

Sunrise   October 6, 1960                  Sunset  November 12, 2018

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Sot then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Romans 14:8

Saturday, November 17, 2018                                       12:00 PM

King Tears Mortuary Chapel                          1300 East 12th Street    
Austin, Texas 78702

Officiant                                        Rev. Robert Paul Jacks

Obituray Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd was born October 6, 1960 to Marie Ockletree and Dave Ockletree, Austin, Texas. Laura passed away on November 12, 2018. Laura had a heart of gold and was loved by everyone. Her grandsons adored their "Mamaw" immensely. She touched many lives  and will be sorely missed. Laura leaves to cherish her memory three sons, Christopher Ockletree, Quincy Ockletree and Jonathan Floyd; two daughters, Whitney Floyd (Clinton Kerr) and Sharita Ockletree,  all of whom resides in Austin, Texas; mother, Marie Ockletree of Austin, Texas; father Dave Ockletree, Jr. (Billie) of Temple, Texas; two sisters, Everea Wilkins of Temple, Texas and Sandra Elaine Ockletree of Round Rock, Texas; two brothers Dave A. Ockletree (Latoya) of Vidalia, Georgia and Erick Adams (Khasi) of Temple, Texas; grandsons, Caleb Kerr, Clinton Kerr, Jr., Aniyah Ockletree, Masiah Ockletree; nieces Shanna Castelan and Shametra Ockletree-Horton (Allen) and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

Order of Service

Processional                                                             Clergy, Casket, Bearers and Family

Scripture Reading                                                                        Rev. Robert Paul Jacks

Prayer                                                                                         Rev. Robert Paul Jacks

A Family Tribute                                                                                  Quincy Ockletree

Remarks                                                                                  Please limit to 2 minutes

Musical Selection                                                                  "His Eye is on the Sparrow"

Eulogy                                                                                        Rev. Robert Paul Jacks

Recessional

"Goin' Up Yonder"

Casket Bearers

Christopher Ockletree                                                                  Quincy Ockletree

               Drailand Bell                                                                        Jose Castelan

 A.G. Green                                                                                      Fontae Ockletree

Honorary Casket Bearers

Caleb Kerr                                                         Clinton "C.J." Kerr

Eric Moran                                                        Clinton Kerr

Family Acknowledge

Our family extends our sincere appreciation for the heartfelt condolences and prayers extended to us. Our hearts have been warmed by your expressions of love and concern.

Internment

Cooks-Walden Capital Parks
14501 N IH-35
  Pflugerville, Texas

Obituray

Laura Jean Ockletree Floyd was born October 6, 1960 to Marie Ockletree and Dave Ockletree, Austin, Texas. Laura passed away on November 12, 2018. Laura had a heart of gold and was loved by everyone. Her grandsons adored their "Mamaw" immensely. She touched many lives  and will be sorely missed.

Laura leaves to cherish her memory three sons, Christopher Ockletree, Quincy Ockletree and Jonathan Floyd; two daughters, Whitney Floyd (Clinton Kerr) and Sharita Ockletree,  all of whom resides in Austin, Texas; mother, Marie Ockletree of Austin, Texas; father Dave Ockletree, Jr. (Billie) of Temple, Texas; two sisters, Everea Wilkins of Temple, Texas and Sandra Elaine Ockletree of Round Rock, Texas; two brothers Dave A. Ockletree (Latoya) of Vidalia, Georgia and Erick Adams (Khasi) of Temple, Texas; grandsons, Caleb Kerr, Clinton Kerr, Jr., Aniyah Ockletree, Masiah Ockletree; nieces Shanna Castelan and Shametra Ockletree-Horton (Allen) and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

Salute the flag, sing the national anthem, stop complaining, and appreciate our kindness

The American flag

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say, can you see by the dawns early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

A path was chosen for White folks by White males who controlled all seats of power in the 

U. S. government. From the start, Africans did not choose their path in life. It was chosen for them by a White dominated government, and local KKK terrorists, especially in southern states. Blacks are expected to follow the rules, and not deviate from their designated path without permission from White people.

Whenever African Americans depart from their chosen path, rightfully protesting against injustices and discrimination piled on their backs like sacks of cotton 24/7, White folks tend to write them off as a societal nuance. Collectively. They have no reason to complain or be angry, they say. Black folks cannot conceal who they are. They have to prepare for whatever troubles that comes their way. They are easy targets. Their skin tones greatly depreciates their value, their right to respect, and their humanness.

Nat Turner, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Black Lives Matter, Congressman John Lewis, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, Rev. Al Sharpton, and thousands more civil rights activists carry on their backs cotton sacks filled with mistreatment of African Americans. The desire for basic human rights goes all the way back to slavery, a time when helpless Africans in a strange land could not protest the inhospitable environment they were thrown into.

Black insurrectionists like Nat Turner understood this unnatural ownership of another human being. Called the “Nat Turner Rebellion” by historians and writers, Nat Turner was a slave, who in 1831, led a short insurrection against slave owners in South Hampton County, Virginia. Supposedly he and a number of slaves killed over 50 Whites in the county. Turner’s co-conspirators were caught and hanged. Turner managed to escape, but was caught and hanged. Turner’s deadly rebellion began with him killing his slave master and his wife. Turner deviated from his assigned path in a society that did not want him; would not accept him.

Now is not the right time

White folks have always talked with twisted tongues in reference to African Americans. Politicians said of the civil rights movement, “Now is not the right time.” Civil right activists were told that Black folks need to wait. They need to be patient. They would get their freedom at the right time. Had King listened to this bullshit Black folks would still be patiently waiting for freedom to wander into their neighborhoods, inviting them to register and vote. Civil rights would have remained packaged, sealed, and undelivered.

Jesse Jackson was told when he decided to run for president, “Now is not the right time”. He asked: “If not now, when”? Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988.  White folks rejected him because of his skin color and marching for civil rights. They called him a race baiter and a race hustler. They said even worse things about Al Sharpton when he ran for president.

Black and White politicians told Senator Barack Obama “now is not the right time” for a Black man to run for president of the United States. They felt he did not have a chance to win. It was best that he step aside and let one of his White opponents claim the prize. On the other hands, the time was certainly right for African Americans to get shot to death, harassed, stopped and frisked, and beat by White cops.

Martin Luther King said: “The daily life of the Negro is still lived in the basement of the Great Society. He is still at the bottom despite the few who have penetrated to slightly higher levels. Even where the door has been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted. There is often no bottom at which to start, and when there is, there is almost always no room at the top”.

Attempted banning of freed slaves

With the election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S., racism, and white supremacy have been repopularized. Calling cops on Black men, women and children is also common again, like during the era of “Black Codes”, created to keep newly emancipated slaves in their place.

Today, African Americans who have greatly veered from their designated path, can live in any section of town they can afford. But Whites cannot accept them invading “their” segregated, peaceful suburbs, no matter how famous or wealthy. Blacks moving into these upscale neighborhoods destroys all of those perpetrated myths. For instance: Black folks are on welfare, their children are fatherless, they are drug addicts and thieves, lazy, irresponsible, uneducated, and unemployed by choice.  They have no ambition to achieve.

Noted race baiter Republican Pat Buchanan says Black folks are not grateful enough to White folks. He wrote in 2008: “First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. . . 600,000 black people brought here from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 10 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

“Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold millions have been spent since the ‘60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits, and poverty programs designed to bring the African American community into the mainstream. We hear the grievance. Where is the gratitude”?

Centuries earlier the newly elected governor of California, Peter Burnett, was more profound that Buchanan. The state’s first governor wanted California to be an all-White state. He did not want free Blacks coming to California, messing up his dream, colorizing his state. 

He said, addressing legislators: “It could be no favor and no kindness, to permit [free blacks] to settle in the state; while it would be a most serious injury to us.  . . . Had they been born here, and had acquired rights in consequence, I should not recommend any measures to expel them 

. . . the object is to keep them out”.

According to the History Channel, Burnett was not alone in “his vision of a California that banned Black people. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, California citizens and legislators fought to insure that free Black people would be prohibited from immigrating to or living in California. And though their efforts eventually failed, they reflected this fear and racism faced by Black people in the American West”.

Newly emancipated slaves had to carry on their backs the burdens of rejection and isolation. They had no other point of reference, or no instructional how-to-books.

Donald Trump wants to ban all immigrants that are not of European descent. “Others” are deemed life’s scum crawling out of Central America, the Middle East and African countries for the sole purpose of destroying America. He called African countries “shitholes”. Trump said he preferred that people from Norway immigrate to America.

Stand for the flag and national anthem 

and be grateful to White Americans

White folks want all Black folks to stand, look patriotic, salute the flag, sing or mumble the Star Spangled Banner, because they do not have the right not to. Blacks should be grateful, catapulting fear and bigotry to a respected place in society. African Americans should not complain if they do not get a clear shot at achieving the American Dream.  

And when they are shouted down and told by White folks: “America is ours! We built it! Go back where you belong!” Black folks should not get angry at these God loving, country loving, flag waving, anthem singing folks. Their Christianity may be temporary out of order. You know . . .  like toilets. They get a little cranky when God is slow answering their calls. They want Him to tell Black folks to stop protesting, taking a knee and disrespecting the flag and America. Bless their patriotic hearts.

Accused by Fox talking heads of not being grateful to America for allowing him to earn millions of dollars playing football, Colin Kaepernick explains his reason for taking a knee rather than salute the flag, or stand for the national anthem. He made the decision in 2016.  His knees and heart were weighed down by a cotton sack filled with inequality, police brutality and discrimination. He dared not follow the long ago designated path for Black folks.

Kaepernick said, “I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color. To me this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street, and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder”.

Kaepernick related a story that tells of his a personal run-in with police. “One of my roommates was moving out of a house in college, and because we were the only Black people in the neighborhood, the cops got called, and all of us had guns drawn on us. I mean come in the house without knocking, guns drawn on one of my roommates. So I have experienced [mistreatment]. People close to me have experienced this”. (Slate magazine, 2016) 

The late 1960s civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer is noted for saying: “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired”. Hamer was burdened with carrying on her back the enslavement of Black slaves who never realized human or political power. They dreamed of freedom but had no way of acquiring it.

Ninety-nine years after Abe Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Hamer dug her fingernails into the flesh of a Texas President Lyndon Baines Johnson. He did not want Black folks to be seated as delegates alongside the segregated delegation at the Democratic National Convention in 1964. Johnson did not want to buck White southerners who could hurt him politically.

Hamer and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee were in no mood for governmental rejection. A White flag saluting, national anthem mumbling president and a state of southern White folks were telling Black folks now is not your time to be recognized as citizens of the United States. We will give you permission when the time is right. Do not deviate from your designated path.