Interviewer: (inaudible) Littleton: I’ve told y’all a lot! (laughs) Interviewer: Do you have any words that you’d like to end with or anything we left out that’s important to include? Littleton: You know, when adversity comes in people’s lives, we tend to lose sight of who we are, what we stand for, and we go along to get along. About ten years ago, we were getting ready for our Juneteenth celebration and on our Juneteenth celebration, that Saturday morning, we have barbecue. They would give away free barbecue. We had prepared for twenty-five hundred people. The committee that cooked—and we’re getting ready for a picnic for the people and the health department came. If you have a booth in the park, you have to get a health permit and the health department, she came, and she said, “Joann, where’s the permit for y’all to cook this meat?” I said, “Devina, no one told us we were supposed to have a permit.” She said, “Oh yes, Joann, you have to get a permit.” I said, “Well, why didn’t you communicate with me and tell me because had you told me we would have got the permit.” She said, “No, you have to have a permit.” I said, “Okay, so, sorry. What are we going to do?” She said, “Well, you’re not going to be able to serve this barbecue because you didn’t get a permit.” I said, “Okay, you’ve got to be joking. In about thirty minutes, there’s probably going to be about five hundred people here for free barbecue and you think I’m going to tell them they’re not going to get free barbecue?” “Joann, you’re not going to be able to serve this. We’re going to empty it. We’re going to empty all this out.” I said, “Over my dead body. You’re not emptying this meat out.” She said, “Oh, yes we are.” I said, “Try it.” So, she called the police. Oh, wow. She goes, “We need the police at the Woodson Park.” She’s waiting around. She goes, “We’re going to empty this meat.” So, I mean, everybody knows me. So, I get my phone, “Dispatch? This is Joann Davenport and I’m at Woodson Park and the Ector County Health Department is here and they’re talking about pouring out our barbecue. Y’all better send the whole police force here right now because somebody fixing to die.” So, I hang up. In about ten—I mean, they’re over here. We’re over here. In about ten minutes, I bet, it was police from everywhere. They’re running. What’s wrong? What’s wrong? I said, “I’m going to tell you what the problem is. I’m not going to run. Here I am. I called y’all. She didn’t tell us we had to have a permit. We prepared all this food and in about twenty minutes, all these people are going to come here and eat and she’s telling me we’re going to pour it out.” So, they talk to her, they come, they say, “Mrs. Davenport. We’re sorry. You’re not going to be able to serve this barbecue.” I said, “Oh yes we are.” Goes—well, by this time, people are coming. They’re looking. There’s about forty to fifty people. What’s going to happen? What’s going to happen? I said, “Let me tell you something. If I have to go to jail, I have no problem going to jail. I keep a lawyer and a bondsman because of the kind of life I live. So, if you got to take me to jail, take me to jail. Look at these people. They all coming here to eat. You think I’m going to deny these people barbecue over a fifteen-dollar health permit? I don’t think so.” So, he says—this was a—he was like a rookie police. He goes, “Well, I can tell you this. If you serve that barbecue, you’re going to jail.” I just stepped up in his face and said, “I can tell you this, you might as well handcuff me right now because we’re serving the barbecue.” So, about this time, here come all this like the NAACP, the Black Chamber. See, they’re all men. What’s going on? They’re telling them—I’m just standing there and they’re telling them what’s going on. They look at me. Well, Joann, you got to do what they say do. You can’t serve the barbecue. I said, “I can’t believe y’all. Y’all don’t have a backbone. What happened to true leadership? This is not—I don’t even—barbecue—this is for the people. If I got to die for the people. I’ll die. If I got to go to jail—what is jail? It’s for the people. True leaders stand up. When things get tough, that’s when you see who the leaders are. How y’all going to sit here and tell me we’re not going to serve these people and they all sitting here looking? Are y’all stupid? Hey, officer, you can put the handcuffs on me. Do whatever y’all got to do, but we’re serving this barbecue today. So, if I’m going to jail, hey come on. I’m ready to go.” They were like oh Mrs. Joann fixing to go to jail. Oh, Mrs. Joann fixing to go to jail. The police are looking and they’re looking. I said, “Come on, because y’all need to go on and take me to jail because these people got to eat the barbecue. My people. Look. These my people. They eating the barbecue so take me to jail.” So, all the police go over there, and they huddle, huddle. Said we got a call from downtown, whatever we do, do not take Joann to jail. We take Joann to jail, we fixing to have the biggest—don’t do it. Don’t do it. The police were looking at me like, you know—then, the people that we were there were like, “See, that’s what I’m talking about. We know Mrs. Joann believes in us and she has our back.” I’ve had a lot of instances like that while I’ve been in Odessa where if you’re going to lead, you lead. Lead in the good times. Lead in the bad times. Even if it means going to jail. Who cares about jail? Oh, those officers, they were like—then a lot of the older officers, they saw me, and they said, “Joann were you really going to go to jail?” I said, “I know y’all wasn’t going to take me to jail because y’all want y’all’s job.” They said, “We got the call downtown. Do not take her to jail, but you know she’s not going to shut up. Let’s just work with her.” That was something. If I had to do it today, I’d do it again. Just treat people right. I was upset, and I said, “Does everybody at Fourth of July have to get health permit.” She says no. I said, “Okay, does everybody at Cinco de Mayo have to get a health permit?” No. “And what makes you think we’re going to get—” Girl. That sums up the reputation that I have, not in Odessa, but period. You want a fight? You’ve got a good fight with Joann when it comes to treating people fairly.