OL Reign Legend: Dr. Dolores Silas

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between OL Reign and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to our June 26 match against NJ/NY Gotham FC, OL Reign recognized Dr. Dolores Silas, longtime Tacoma resident, for her inspiring impact in the community.

Dr. Silas, a change-maker and trailblazer in the community, was the first Black woman to serve as an administrator for Tacoma Public Schools after becoming principal of DeLong Elementary. She also became the first Black woman to serve on Tacoma City Council in 1991 and was elected as President of the Tacoma NAACP in 1978. She was recognized by the city of Tacoma with a Lifetime Service Award in 2019, as well as receiving the Tacoma Historical Society’s Star of Destiny City Award

Just this year, the Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors approved a change in the name of a local high school. Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma will now be named Dr. Dolores Silas High School. The new name will be effective on July 1, 2021.

You don’t need to know a lot about Dr. Silas to be inspired by her outlook on life. Growing up an only child, Dr. Silas joked that after having her, her mother quickly said, “no more!” Her mother influenced the way she looks at life and accepts even the toughest of challenges head on. “When I came to her as a child and cried ‘I can’t do this’ she would say ‘well have you tried?’ That was my motivation – she would not take no for an answer. She would always say, ‘don’t tell me can’t do it unless you’ve tried.’”

Dr. Silas made an impact on the world from a young age, carrying her mother’s philosophy of not taking no for an answer and then further developing her own take on that idea. “You can do anything you want to do, the question is how badly do you want to do it,” Dr. Silas shared. “It won’t be easy, it will take a long time, but the opportunity is always there.”

Dr. Silas recalls one of her hardest jobs – working as a principal at DeLong Elementary School. “I was the first African American principal at a school with an all-white staff. They just looked at me and I looked at them and I was wondering how we can communicate to educate kids together. That was absolutely my toughest job.”

“The first staff meeting they thought I was crazy,” she chuckled. “I had to work slowly and build confidence. My goal was to teach kids and get them what they needed to succeed. Gradually, the staff built some confidence in me. I had to work to build their confidence in me because I’m a woman of color. In that job, not only was I working with kids, I was working with parents, families, teachers, and the whole community. The community was not always receptive to me, but you have to sometimes say to people what they do not want to hear.”

Dr. Silas has influenced many changes throughout her life, but it was no easy feat. She had to hold on to her beliefs and challenge the boundaries of her own comfort zone to accomplish these changes. “It is important to be grounded and believe in things, then you’re in a position to make changes. I found that when I was president of the NACCP in Tacoma, that I was standing on the wrong side of the microphone – I was complaining and not doing things myself. It dawned on me that I should be on the other side of the microphone, where decisions are being made and so that was my reason for being on city council,” revealed Dr. Silas.

When asked what accomplishment that she is most proud of, Dr. Silas had to pause for a moment. After considering the question, she asserted that she is most proud of her own commitment to causes she believes in. “I’m most proud of being committed to things that should be right. There’s a reason for all of us on earth being here and that is mine.”

She continued, her humble nature guiding the conversation. “I put being recognized at a low level. I did not do anything to be recognized and so when I received the call regarding Wilson, I was shocked. I was numb. I had no idea that was going to happen.”

As someone who has driven change in the Tacoma community for decades, Dr. Silas offered some advice to those wishing to make a change. “Remain grounded and take one step at a time. People have to believe in you; You can’t be anti-everything. I’m not anti-everything, I’m just tired of singing ‘We shall overcome someday.’ I’ve been singing that for 95 years and it is time that someone do something to make changes. Someday needs to be now.”

“That was my goal – not to be recognized and claim the glory, but to make change. I say that if a blind man can climb Mount Everest, what is our excuse? If we can go to the moon but we can’t take care of the homeless, what’s our excuse? We have none, in my opinion.”

As a lifelong educator and mentor to many, Dr. Silas offered a bit of advice to those looking to make change. “Listen up. I’m going and you are coming in this world. If I can do it, you can do it. But you have to be committed. You have to know where you are going, and you have to know good from bad. What is good and what is bad doesn’t change, so you have to work to change people’s opinions.”

Dr. Silas wanted to elaborate on her message and offer a clarifying point. “In order to be the change, you have to want to do. You have to want to do it very badly. You have to be willing to be ignored, talked about and lose friendships in order to accomplish change.”

An important thing to note about Dr. Silas is that she doesn’t want to be recognized without acknowledging that she is not the only one that deserves this because she did not get to where she is now without the support of others in her life. “You have to have friends that believe in you. You cannot do anything alone,” said Dr. Silas. “That’s why I don’t want recognition basically. I did not do this alone. There was always somebody there with me. So, while I’m looking at this glory, I didn’t do it by myself. There were others who believed in me and believed in the cause, and you have to have that to make change.”

As Dr. Silas closed out the conversation, she wanted to make one last point. While she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be honored at the OL Reign match, as a Legend in our community, she did not set out for any type of glory. “To do things for recognition is to miss the point. I’m not looking for the pedestal, I’m looking for changes. I’m looking to drive changes that you are going to make now, not me.”