MANY REMEMBER RUCHARD MAYS
AS A TALENTED AND POPULAR
SINGER BUT FOR A FAMILY IN
MINNEAPOLIS, HE WAS A LOVING
FATHER THROUGH IN THE 1950s AND
60s, MAYS ENTERTAINED AUDIENCES
AT TWIN CITIES CLUBS WITH A
SMOOTH, SILKY VOICE.
WAS IT SMOOTH?
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE IT?
OH, IT WAS CARAMEL.
[LAUGHTER]
IT WAS TOTALLY CARAMEL.
HIS STAGE NAME WAS DICKEY
MAYS AND HE HAD QUITE THE
FOLLOWING WITH FANS ACROSS THE
TWIN CITIES.
AS ANGELA DAVIS DISCOVERED, HE
TURNED HEADS IN HIS PERSONAL
LIFE BECAUSE OF WHO HE CHOSE TO
MARRY.
EVEN IN HIS 80s, DICKEY MAYS
LOVED TO SING AND HIS FAMILY
AND FRIENDS LOVED TO LISTEN.
HE HAD SPECIAL SONGS THAT HE
SANG.
I LOVED OUR SONG AND THE OTHER
ONE HE WOULD SING TO ME ALL THE
TIME WAS "THE MORE I SEE YOU,
THE MORE I WANT YOU."
Reporter: NYLA MAYS WAS
DICKEY'S WIFE FOR MORE THAN 60
YEARS AND SAID HE WAS QUITE THE
ENTERTAINER AND REGULARLY
PERFORMED AT HOTELS LIKE THE
OLD SHERATON IN MINNEAPOLIS AND
WEDDINGS, FASHION SHOWS, AND
WEDDING PARTIES.
I WOULD ALWAYS SAY I MARRIED
THE MAN THAT I LOVE.
HE JUST HAPPENED TO BE BLACK.
IT WAS DIFFICULT.
Reporter: NYLA SAID THAT
INTERRACIAL DATING IN THE 1950s
WAS RARE IN MINNESOTA.
WE WERE NOT WELCOME IN
RESTAURANTS OR CLUBS.
WE COULD GO IN AND THEY WOULD
SERVE ME BUT THEY WOULDN'T
SERVE HIM.
Reporter: BLACKS AND WHITES
WERE OFTEN TREATED DIFFERENTLY.
I RECALL VERY WELL HE
COULDN'T TRY ON A HAT.
IF HE TRIED ON A HAT, HE HAD TO
BUY IT.
Reporter: THEY RAISED 4
SONS.
AS PARENTHOOD WAS A PRIORITY,
DICKEY'S SINGING CAREER TOOK A
BACK SEAT AND HE WENT TO BEAUTY
SCHOOL AND BECAME A
HAIRSTYLIST.
HIS FAVORITE CLIENT WAS HIS
WIFE.
HE PUT ROLLERS IN MY HAIR
EVERY NIGHT OR WHEN I GOT UP IN
THE MORNING, HE GAVE ME A COMB
OUT.
Reporter: THE COUPLE'S
YOUNGEST SON SAID THAT HIS
FATHER LEFT A LASTING
IMPRESSION ON HIM.
BEING A TREATMENT AND
TREATING A LADY IN A CERTAIN
WAY WHICH WASN'T HARD TO DO
BECAUSE I WITNESSED IT.
Reporter: ANGELA DAVIS,WCCC
4.
