Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III
A new Dallas ISD secondary school is coming to our city, and it will be named in honor of Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes, III, a community leader, social justice advocate and senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Oak Cliff. The school, which opens this fall, will be located on the campus of Paul Quinn College and will serve students in grades 6-12 with plans to become an International Baccalaureate program.
“Educational inequity leads to poverty and poverty leads to violence. What you’re seeing here today is the school board addressing inequities in Dallas,” said DISD trustee and Oak Cliff resident Maxie Johnson during the press conference announcement Wednesday. “Our kids who once thought they couldn’t go to college will be able to earn up to 40 credit hours and transition right into Paul Quinn College or any college of their choice. We will name this school after Dr. Frederick Haynes, III. When you look at the work of Dr. Haynes and all that he is doing in the city of Dallas and the nation, he is deserving of this honor.”
Haynes, who graduated from Bishop College, which was formerly located on Paul Quinn’s campus, has served the DFW communities for nearly four decades and has modeled his ministry like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the intersection of faith and justice. He is known nationally as “the drum major for justice” and through Friendship-West Baptist Church has led protests and demonstrations, registered thousands of voters, hosted a voting super center, helped decrease crime and provided food for the community.
“What I have accomplished in life has everything to do with great teachers,” said Haynes. “Paul Quinn College has experienced a revival and ushered in a renaissance of [historically black colleges and universities] education. I thank God that DISD has partnered with this HBCU and I pray for continued renaissance of education here on the Southside of Dallas.”
Haynes has received numerous honors and awards for his ministry and activism. He was named to Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 list of most influential African Americans in 2012, inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame and selected to give remarks at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. In 2016, he was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.
