We may not have a cent to pay the rent but we’re gonna make it I know we will Dorothy Turner Everett said "I thought that I would never earn more than $2.00 dollars an hour. With nine children I always believed that God would make a way for us. I had a dream. I wanted to build something that my children could fall back on. He answered my prayers." Check out our upcoming 50th anniversary exhibit at oacc.cc/event/everettjones/ Growing up this song by Little Milton was on repeat in our house. By then my mom was a single parent. My dad and mom divorced and Dad moved to Albany, New York. She played this song to encourage herself that everything would be alright. We’re Gonna Make It Sung By Little Milton - May 19, 1965 Written By: Billy Davis, Carl Smith, Gene Barge, Raynard Miner We may have to eat beans every day but we’re gonna make it, I know we will. And if a job is hard to find And we have to stand in the welfare line I’ve got your love and you got mine So we’re gonna make it, I know we will. We may not have a home to call our own But we’re gonna make it, I know we will We may have to fight hardships alone But we’re gonna make it, I know we will Cause togetherness brings peace of mind We can’t stay down all the time I’ve got your love and you know you got mine So we’re gonna make it, I know we will Our car may be old, our two rooms cold But we’re gonna make it, I know we will We may not can spare a roach a crumb But we’re gonna make it, I know we will And if I have to carry around a sign Sayin help the deaf, the dumb, and the blind I got your love and you know you got mine So we’re gonna make it, I know we will We’re gonna make it We’re gonna make it, baby It might seem hard sometime But don’t worry, darlin baby We’re gonna keep on tryin My mother was born Dorothy Turner on July 28, 1932, in rural Choctaw County, Alabama. She was the oldest daughter of eight children from her mother Maybelle Everett. Her father Leslie Turner and her mother Maybelle were never married. Dorothy worked at a domestic cleaning house in Alabama until, as part of the wave of African Americans leaving the segregated south looking for a better life. She migrated to Oakland, California in 1952, with her husband the late Reverend Cleveland A. Everett, and three young daughters.
Dorothy’s first job in California was cleaning houses in the city of San Leandro. Dorothy later worked at Wolf’s Records in West Oakland on the historic 7th Street selling popular black records- they were called "race records" back then to the growing Black population in West Oakland. Dorothy also worked as a waitress at the Continental Club on 12th Street in West Oakland, where she saw legendary Blues performers live, and later as a cook at the Original Jenkins Bar-B-Que on 7th Street in West Oakland. Two natural forces were born in 1973, Hip Hop and Everett & Jones Barbeque, both will celebrate 50 years in 2023. Five decades of Everett and Jones Barbeque, which continues to succeed and inspires the third generation of family pitmasters and BBQueens. My late mother and five deceased siblings' legacy will live on! Black Girl Magic! To read more about West Oakland's famous and historic 7th Street BBQ and Blues Legacy, click on the link 7th Street Barbeque Legacy
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