[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 33 (Friday, February 22, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E196-E197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO ROY DOUGLAS AND SHIRLEY ANN MALONSON OF HOUSTON, TEXAS
ENTREPRENEURS, PHILANTHROPISTS, COMMUNITY LEADERS WHOSE LIFETIME OF
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT HAS ENRICHED OUR NATION
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HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE
of texas
in the house of representatives
Friday, February 22, 2019
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Roy Douglas
and Shirley Ann Malonson, two great Americans in the City of Houston
and Harris County, Texas, whose entrepreneurial talents and zeal over
the past three decades has raised the consciousness of Houston's
African American community to the life-changing potential of the free
enterprise system and created thousands of jobs in the Acres Home
Community located in my congressional district and Houston Metroplex.
Acres Homes, once considered the South's largest unincorporated black
community, is south of Aldine and ten miles northwest of downtown
Houston in Harris County. It developed around the time of World War I,
when landholders began selling off home sites in plots big enough to
allow small gardens and maintain chickens or farm animals. The town
derived its name from the fact that land was sold by the acre and not
by the lot. The first settlers came from rural areas, attracted by the
community's inexpensive land, low taxes, and the absence of city
building standards. Residents dug wells and built sanitary facilities,
but conditions in the settlement subsequently declined. When the city
of Houston approved a plan to annex the area and install water and
sewer lines, Acres Homes was a 12\1/2\-square-mile, heavily wooded, and
dispersed slum settlement lacking transportation and educational
facilities. Although 90 percent of the residents were homeowners, the
majority of the housing stock was substandard.
In 1950, Roy Malonson was afflicted with polio that left him with
physical limitations, but it had no effect on his vision and drive. His
late father, John Curley Malonson, Sr., challenged him by saying,
``something is wrong with your leg, but there is nothing wrong with
your mind, so work with what you have.'' At age 7, Roy Malonson was
shining shoes in his father's barber shop and by age 13 had opened a
woodworking shop. The woodworking company grew to become Roy's Custom
Cabinets which later became the Malonson Construction Company which
became Malonson Custom Homes and is now the Malonson Company, Inc., one
of the largest and best African American custom homebuilders in
Houston.
In the early 1990s, Roy Malonson developed new health problems,
struck by what has come to be called the ``Post-Polio Syndrome.'' Once
again using mind over physical limitation, Roy Malonson overcame and
adapted. He retired from his 27-year old building business, reduced his
workday, and devoted more time to community service and businesses he
could manage. This enabled him to devote and donate more time and
financial support to the many educational and community organizations
he helped establish, including the Acres Home War on Drugs, the first
community war on drugs in the nation.
Roy and Shirley Malonson also founded the Acres Home Citizen Chamber
of Commerce, focusing on business, community, and education; the Acres
Home Community Development Corp, focusing on housing; the Acres Home
Coalition Administrative School, the first charter school in Texas; and
in 1994 the Acres Home Center for Business & Economic Development, a
non-profit 501(c)(3) which has become recognized as a cornerstone
providing leadership, as well as personal and professional development
opportunities to small businesses and entrepreneurs in the community.
The Malonsons were the driving force behind Aldine Independent School
District Montessori-Magnet Programs, the Lone Star Community College
System Victory Center, the Acres Home Multiservice Center, and the
Acres Home Police Station.
Roy and Shirley Malonson invested in and uplifted the Acres Home
Community by establishing in 1992 Shirley Ann's Black Art &
Kollectibles Showroom, the largest Black Art & Kollectibles Showroom in
Texas and one of the largest in the nation. In 1996 they established
African American News & Issues, the largest African American newspaper
in Texas and one of the largest in the nation. And in 1998, with one
mission in mind, to offer and deliver pizza in the African American
community, they purchased two Domino's Pizza stores, the South Victory
and Ella locations, and had controlling interest in a total of ten
locations throughout Houston.
Roy and Shirley Ann Malonson continued their entrepreneurial zeal and
commitment to the Acres Home community by establishing in
[[Page E197]]
1998 the Malonson RS Ranch in Harris County; the RS Deer Ranch in
Waller County in 2004, one of two African American Whitetail Deer
Breeders in the nation; Shirley Ann's Flower Shop in 2013; the RS Deer
& Cattle Ranch in Waller County; and Shirley Ann's Black Kollectibles &
Flowers in 2014. Shirley Ann Malonson is now President and CEO of the
Malonson Company.
Roy Douglas Malonson and Shirley Ann Malonson are the proud parents
of a daughter, Melanie Nicole Malonson, and the grandparents of Tayler
and Caleb.
Madam Speaker, I am proud to honor two legendary Texas heroes, my
constituents, Roy Douglas and Shirley Ann Malonson, who have devoted
their lifetimes to creating economic opportunity and development for
their beloved Acres Homes community. These two great American
trailblazers have made a difference in the lives of thousands of men,
women, children and businesses. Their work has brought our nation
closer to fulfilling its founding ideals. And it is that work that
truly makes America great.
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