Thomas Cole, PhD, recently published an essay in the Houston Chronicle about Eldrewey Stearns. Dr. Cole recounts his first meeting with Stearns, during which Stearns referred to himself as the “original Texas integration leader.” Cole would become close with Stearns, forming a relationship that culminated in the publication of No Color Is My Kind: Eldrewey Stearns and the Desegregation of Houston in 1997. Stearns, who passed away on December 23, 2020, would not get to see the new edition released in 2021. Cole ends the essay by sharing, “trying to understand Houston’s original integration leader in all his complexity – his triumphs and his long illness, his boldness and his complex views on race – will help our city come closer to the ideals we espouse.”