• Julian Cavazos •
• Originally published July 20, 2009 at 5:12 p.m., updated July 21, 2009 at 11:42 a.m.

• 
  Video: Brenda Sorrell, the owner of Ebony Fashions

• EBONY FASHIONS

  Owner: Brenda Sorrell

  She sells: African blouses, dresses, shoes, quilted crowns, scarves, hats, shawls, mud cloths, jewelry and fabrics.

  Contact: 361-576-2298

Brenda Sorrell stands out when she wears her brightly-colored, free-flowing African dresses.

From quilted crowns, to safari-print dresses, Sorrell sells all kinds of African clothing and jewelry at her local business, Ebony Fashions.

Sorrell, 58, loves dressing in and selling clothing that demonstrates her African heritage, she said.

"This is something that's part of me, something I can identify with," said Sorrell, who wore a purple African dress and matching head scarf that displays prints of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. "I feel good. I feel like a black queen."

Sorrell hopes to open her own store front but, in the meantime, sells the items from her home. She also travels to different area events such as Market Days.

"I try to have different things," Sorrell said. "People who have come to me have been of different races. Some of them men, as well as female. Some have been to Africa before. Some want to go and have something to wear when they get there."

Frances Collier of Corpus Christi bought fabric from Sorrell.

"It's very nice material and elegant," Collier said. "I really adore all of her clothing. I haven't purchased a lot of her clothing, but I've seen what she has. It's real nice."

Silvia Simmons of Victoria has visited Sorrell for many years after first meeting her at a show. Simmons likes to buy African hair pieces and churchwear, she said.

The bright-colored dresses contain symbolism, Simmons said.

"Usually in villages, each color is symbolic and coordinates with nature or has the religious aspect to it," Simmons, 54, said. "Some mean peace, harmony and love. We also love color and the freedom to move. It's like a happy feeling. You're not restrained like in tight-fitting clothes. They allow the freedom of movement."

Sorrell, who grew up in Edna, looks forward to celebrating Juneteenth every year, she said. She does family research to learn as much of the African culture as she can.

"Some of the people in my family are older and deceased, so it's hard for me to find more information," she said. "My goal one day is to go to Africa. I have a cousin doing missionary work there."

Sorrell admires the struggles blacks endured historically.

"I like the togetherness they had in helping each other out," she said. "I'm proud of Harriet Tubman. She never gave up. She went back to help others do the same thing. Martin Luther King had a dream, too, and it included everybody. He wasn't selfish. He wanted things to be better for everybody."

She is also open to learning about other cultures. Doing so draws people together, she said.

"We learn from each other," Sorrell said.

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