Passing It On: Moving Stories of Activists—1960 to 2000

By Bev Jenai-Myers

Passing It On: Moving Stories of Activists--1960 to 2000 gathers in one volume the accounts of individuals from government, education, business, publishing, the arts, law, community groups, and activists organizations whose stories span the decades from the days of the civil rights movement to the turn of the millennium. The editor and curator of this collection, Bev Jenai-Myers, recruited and encouraged this assembly of people, encompassing various ethnicities, cultures, philosophies, and economic standings, to reflect upon their personal experiences. Included in this listing are Dorothy Pitman-Hughes, the co-founder with Gloria Steinem of Ms. Magazine, Iris Gordy, the former VP of Motown, and International sculptor, John Soderberg, PhD.

As diverse as the individuals contributing to this collection, the chapters reveal the many facets of the work accomplished in the four decades beginning in 1960, work that advanced civil rights, womens rights, the peace movement, equal rights, senior concerns, LGBT acceptance, and mentoring. Touching upon both the personal and communal aspects of these efforts, the reflections, taken together, comprise a mosaic that illustrates the strides made in the period.

You may feel tempted to succumb to frustration over the difficulties facing the movements to advance civil rights and to foster better human relations. The look back that Passing It On offers will give you hope by reminding you of the pervasive presence and the power of many acts, both small and large, to change the course of a culture, given time and individuals courage to contribute their efforts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781480822870

Bev Jenai-Myers

Bev Jenai-Myers, retired from administrative social work, writes poetry and prose, paints in oils and sculpts. A native of Detroit, Michigan, she retired to Sedona, Arizona after 30 plus years in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In the past she was honored and chosen to be a part of two major artistic and poetic anthologies honoring Oprah Winfrey and the 1st Lady Michelle Obama. She’s the author of Kin’lin for the Soul and the recent exhibitor of A Tribute to Cowboys of Color, a series of history related oil paintings. Earlier works included an oil series entitled Ghana’s Tiny Eyes which also became calendars.

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Copyright © 2015 Bev Jenai-Myers.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2286-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2287-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015916348

Archway Publishing rev. date: 10/26/2015

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Index of Authors

Forty Years in Service Work in Civil and Human Rights

– John M. Soderberg, PhD

Two Dreams Rising: Motown and the Movement

– Iris Gordy

We Have Mountains to Climb

– Deborah Meier

Off the Porch and into the Action

– Dorothy Pitman-Hughes

Shifting Gears in the Middle of the Revolution

– Miriam DeCosta-Willis

Convicted for Love

– Rey Nichols

I Pledge Allegiance

– Evelyn Albu

Truth’s in the Bones

– Rudolph Lewis

Too Black to Turn Back

– John Milton Wesley

The Path of Most Resistance: Diversity in the Care of Elders

– Marian Last

Tidewater Manners

– Jeannette Drake

Fighting for Young Women Athletes’ Rights

– C. Jessie Jones

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

– Angel Reyes, III

A Whisper of AIDS: An Address to the Republican National Convention

– Mary Fisher

Instrumenting Peace: Archetypical Sound Therapy

– Eileen Ain

Together: Remembering Life’s Music

– Christella and Charles Moody, PhD

Black Power: The Struggle Continues

– Akinyele K. Umoja

To the Struggle Born

– Efia Nwangaza

Women Lawyers: Changing American Society

– Monika Sacks

Human Rights: Civil, Religious, Sexual Orientation

– Myrna Goldstein

The Awakening: Mentoring Leaders of Tomorrow

– Ernesto Mejia

Often I Feel as if I Have Failed!

– Melony McGant

Equal Rights

– Victoria Norton

My Civil Rights Journey

– Patricia Churchill

Do Wrong to None

– Anne Monterio

Sacrifices in the Civil Rights Movement of 1964 and Beyond

– Larry J. Rosenberg, PhD

Living with Mental Disability: A Daughter’s Story

– Robin Toussant

An Activist for Peace

– Andrea Smith

Embracing Expectations

– Lynn Morrow

The Perils of Being a Liberated Woman

– Bev Jenai-Myers

Meet the Ultimate Activists: A Tribute to the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

– Bev Jenai-Myers

A Tribute to Chokwe Lumumba

– Bev Jenai-Myers

What Chokwe Lumumba Taught Me

– Tom Head

Contributing Author Biographies

Bio – Bev Jenai – Myers

Preface

(in poetic form)

By Bev Jenai-Myers - © 5/14

The purpose of this book

is to celebrate—inform—to teach

to help unify our common bonds

its about having the courage

to simply care

to share one’s internal wealth of goodness gifted when born

while all along encouraging us all to listen… to listen

for our sincere hope is that you’ll hear

the heaviness of masses unlocking human hearts

listen to the impassioned words that speak between these pages

hear the many diversities and views

while honoring the inherent goodness deeply sown within us all

those who give gratitude empathize—care for one another

who daily erase the blackboards of greed—conceit—even hidden deceit

we present to you the optimists—nurturers—protectors—educators

those who attempt to preserve this earth

for without prejudices WE ultimately stand united

and united—the forces that be… are not strong enough to knock us down.

Listen… listen to those of such

varying hues and views

listen!

Hear them speak

feel their impassioned words even their blues

they speak for the multitudes in our world not the 6 pm news

for the concerned, scared tired sometimes mentally frazzled and worn

because it’s within our undying natures as humans

to care passionately for one another

especially when a baby cries out in thirst

or the silence of a wide eyed child can no longer be denied

between these pages are those who’ve seen and see

the imprisonments of their minds—their fears their tears

while never closing their eyes to blinding prisms that abide

Listen… listen!

to the voices of

such varying hues

and let us embrace the needs of others through our actions

while erasing suffering scenes of impoverishment

for you may not understand my journey nor the journeys of others

but know the need for empathetic ears is what endears

while you register the screeching of tires beneath high—ways

the underpasses of our world’s closed minds

and know that it’s through our differences

that we ultimately come to understand our inherent human wealth

no longer allowing ourselves to justify forces of abuse

nor should we wear the heaviness of cloaks

designed to drown our minds

or rusted barnyard shackles of history—serving as ongoing deceit upon our feet

these are imprisonments from historical times

let us eliminate greed those false senses of society’s weak

for these things can never feed your soul

nor the sorrows of this world

our strength will live within our alignments

like in the universe ...like in the sky… like those twinkling stars you so admire

earthly examples for humans to learn

luminous in presentation—harmoniously resigned to shine

for heavenly masses above and on this earth

always find ways to glow

Listen! Listen!

to all earthly whispers and matters of the heart

for it’s simple

the universe evolves—so that we may all survive

and all that’s asked is that we in turn—humanely do the same

A dear friend, Rev. Melony McGant states in her submission in this book

in life I work to be patient, sincere, kind, and responsible. I believe in listening and in providing support or encouragement to every individual. I enjoy people of all cultures. They inspire me, and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with them. Most importantly I have a passion to serve to assist in the healing of hearts, so that more individuals can grow and flourish as productive members of our society.

As the editor of Passing It On, I could not have said it better… for that’s primarily what this book is about.

A special Thank You for dedication goes to

Copy Editor, Nicole Dean

And the Support of

Myna Goldstein and Larry Rosenberg

Introduction

Passing It On

Moving Stories of Activists, 1960s - 2000

The Crossings

by Bev Jenai-Myers

How important is it…that the flame in our country…

be passed on, that the torches of our past

our pessimistic thoughts mumblings and apathies

be digitally recorded instead

that we give way

to a more enlightened generation taking over our country.

If I were to add more lines… they would now be

a less pessimistic generation –

a generation that embraces hope and activism.

The above quote is an excerpt from my poetic submission The Crossings, which was published in the anthology Go, Tell Michelle in 2009. My thoughts and my sentiments since I wrote this narrative poem have not changed. Thus, over the years since ‘09, I’ve had this nagging desire to historically acknowledge acquaintances and friends whom I knew had made profound differences in the lives of sometimes hundreds of others. The authors chosen are not necessarily activists who’ve been placed on our bookshelves yet or visually celebrated or recorded by the press/media. Nor have they necessarily braved the marches as the foot soldiers, the protest marchers, especially during the 60s and 70s. They’re mainly activists who chose to work towards their goals (and many still do) in sometimes very persistent, individual, determined, and humble ways, rarely seeking recognition.

In the summer of 2014, inquiries were mailed to a select grouping of accomplished people of all ethnic backgrounds, cultures, philosophies, and economic standings, most of whom I knew or knew of personally or were referred. The goal for the anthology was to recruit thirty contributing authors. We asked prospective authors to tell their stories about their trials, tribulations, and involvements in the historical movements over a forty year period of time – as they related to Civil Rights, Human Rights, Women’s Rights, the Peace Movement, Equal Rights, Senior Rights, LGBT, etc. primarily from the 60s – 2000, and to submit their memories. As a result, the stories enclosed between these pages are passionate, obviously historical, informative, poignant, and, for many, very personal stories that several told me were sometimes painful for them to recall. The intent was to make the recruited authors truly representative (at least partially) of the diversity and ethnic mix now present in the 21st century in the U.S., as well many political and religious perspectives. The stories range from being very simple to complex, here again reflecting who we are as a society. For the most part, the authors in this book are individuals who’ve made sacrifices to make sure that the rights of others, especially minorities, are respected and that the often defined racial hierarchy dispelled. That the rights of the underrepresented or deprived in our country (and sometimes beyond our borders) be upheld and not abused. Most of the authors have managed for many years to bring about major changes, usually in humble and quiet ways as activists, professionally and as social activists. Most of our authors are now among our highly respected elderly, age sixty and over.

What continually is called to mind when I think of the authors represented in this book is the quote from the Dalai Lama: If you think you’re too small to make a difference… try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.

The authors included in Passing It On, are individuals who I felt could bring enlightenment about why it is relevant to be an activist and how it often impacts one’s life. Certainly our authors are an eclectic group, most, highly accomplished in their areas of work or respective fields of study. Most are not professional writers.

Between these pages, you’ll find teachers and professors who’ve fought for reformative educational systems, lawyers who have filed endless briefs, representatives of the literary world, board members, artists, and composers who with their important artistic expressions, especially during the times of the Viet Nam war, helped to heal a country by bringing us a little closer together by embracing us with compelling images and lyrics. When compiling the stories in this book, it became apparent that this was/is a very humbled grouping of authors who thought nothing of letting others take credit for much that they personally might have suggested or did over the years, especially if that meant accomplishing the goals that needed to be accomplished.

I must warn you, it’s doubtful that you’ll be able to get through the first 100 pages of Passing It On without reflecting back on some of the times they speak of, and without shedding a tear.

It is my opinion that those authors chosen for Passing it On, can serve as examples for others who hopefully are thinking about what they personally can do in the years to come to maintain and promote the freedoms of others based upon the actions of so many others, especially over the last fifty years. Apathy needs to be set aside! Especially now because of our rapid technological advances, social media, and information highways racing full speed ahead and carrying a continual bombardment of positives, but also so many negative influences that ultimately can lead to tearing us apart as a country. It’s going to require that those in this country all unite, and in unity prevail and prevail with optimism. Also, due to rapid technological advances, we are now a highly informed educated grouping of individuals. Accepting ignorance, even from our apparent leaders, should no longer be an option or tolerated.

Many of the stories in the book reflect that we as humans carry implicit biases often formed from our own neighborhoods or upbringings. In today’s world, we’re also taking in daily doses of information from social media that aren’t always easy to understand. But, if we can rally as a country, defy the odds, and elect a Black president, who symbolically so many who defined themselves as separatists/racist in our country found unacceptable and still do, certainly we as the majority in this country, based on this past presidential election, can bring about the paradigm changes that are now needed to establish unity and true significance to we the people.

To capitalize on the accomplishments of the past fifty years, I believe we must dare to dream new dreams and be unafraid to implement new actions, new attitudes. Symbolically, I see the authors in this book, through their stories, passing on the baton, for far beyond the determined diligent work of activists, there’s much more to be protected and guarded, and there’s a continuum of work to be done to secure human and civil rights and to maintain justice and peace for all.

According to the U.S. Census, approximately 1/3 of our population in the U.S., as of 2013, presently is comprised of supposed minorities, especially African Americans and Hispanics. This doesn’t even include all the other ethnic representations defined as minorities. We must learn to flourish and live together, because our ethnic differences won’t be going away, and slavery in any form is not acceptable, nor will it be allowed to return.

I’ve taken the liberty of listing some of my personal opinions as a senior citizen who’s worked in the social sciences field for many years. I was privy to growing up and surviving in Detroit’s inner city, being among the elites in the world of academia for another thirty years, and now living among some of the most creative/talented minds in the world in the Southwest amid the red mountains of the U.S. My opinion is that prejudices prevail in all communities, and that a sense of entitlement, if one is not a minority, is prevalent. The question I hear unilaterally posed by so many is,So, what do you suggest? How do we bring about greater understanding and peace? Where do we go from here? Below I’ve listed some thoughts that hopefully some of our future activists reading this book will consider.

We have now seen enough scientific reports and been educated enough to understand that there’s nothing on this planet, in this universe, in the solar system that can survive alone. Everything living on this earth is interdependent upon variables or, in our case, people acting in unity, regardless of what our personal comfort levels may be. To blindly believe otherwise is simply foolish. Utopias with just the environments we want, with just the kind of like-minded people we want in it is of course preferable to most people. Familiarity, does indeed breed comfort. But the reality is that in the United States we’re a gumbo of sorts, comprised of human beings, and we as a society are only going to get spicier. Economically, I personally believe there will always be gaps, we probably will not come together under the umbrella of wealth. Common sense must prevail in knowing that as separate and different as our races may always seem, we must always encourage cooperative unity in our actions for the preservation of us all as a whole.. As the saying goes, if there’s a hole in the boat, we’re all going down, we’re all going to sink, unless together we all attempt to plug those holes up.

We have tendencies to close our eyes a lot in the United States to the simplicities of how things truly work versus how we want them to work, which is beginning monetarily to cost us a tremendous amount. Examples would be the Band-Aid solution of locking folks up (putting them away – outta sight, outta minds) in our prison systems versus spending time determining how to permanently keep them out. Allowing poverty to prevail through welfare systems, providing inferior educations without thinking about the results, breeding poor health by feeding people inferior foods because a billion dollar conglomerate or monopoly will profit… these are just simple examples of systems that ultimately will destroy our inner fiber as a nation within time because we’re just not thinking things through. It reminds me of what I hear folks saying a lot lately: I did it… I finished it… what more could you want. There are no short cuts.

Hopefully, the stories in Passing It On will give you the courage to know that your opinion, your voice, your intellect—on whatever level matters—is relevant and important and can and should be heard. Money, wealth, economic standing, and degrees do not necessarily breed intelligence, especially not common sense. Your voice matters, your volunteering and helping, supporting and mentoring will mean a lot when thinking of activist strategies that need to be implemented. Learning how to gather, organize, and relate information through blogs, information systems, computers, etc., will be priceless.

The role of activist often begins with simply being an active concerned parent or guardian and recognizing that racism and segregation can ultimately begin in our school systems. As a parent-activist, I suggest you double check your child’s standardized tests, and the scores that are given to your students regularly, and question everything. Keep track of their year to year testing scores to see if there’s been a sudden change or drop. Personally, early on in elementary school, there were attempts to label two of my children as having learning disabilities, and another child was refused accelerated classes in advanced math in high school. I’m proud to say, one of my sons refused to be accused of committing plagiarism and removed his paper out of the waste paper basket where his science teacher had placed it. He took it to the principal’s office and complained. Today, my children (three sons and one daughter) are doctors, PhD’s, and all have degrees. But, that was not necessarily by design of the school system, which overall was and is considered to be one of the best in the U.S. Parents and guardians, consider your first roles as an activist to monitor your child in school, and watch the teachers and administrators very carefully because structural incubators for racism breed and they breed in places you’d never imagine them to take up space. If they, the teachers and administrators, are doing a great job, believe me, they won’t mind you being a mosquito in their space, in other words, being an irritant.

For me, years later, I was fortunate career wise to personally spend over a decade coordinating, developing, implementing, and writing Youth Mentoring Programs for junior and high school students who the school system I was working with categorized as at risk (which meant that there was concern for these students who were often tested or seen as very bright) reach their full potentials. Each student was slated to spend four years with this program. We spent a lot of time (especially the first 3 months), initially teaching the students soft skills. All accepted students were required to enter what was titled The Summer Enrichment Programs. Here the students concentrated on learning self-esteem and leadership skills, cognitive problem solving, and learning more about themselves and how they learn as individuals. In this case, besides giving hundreds of students one-on-one mentors, we were exposing them to health care careers, which ultimately we hoped they’d pursue after they completed high school. I will forever remember my conversation with one of the parents, a single mother. She had upset me based on something she said about her daughter, an exceedingly smart young lady, when I apologized to her for being upset. She said, "No, please don’t apologize. I don’t know any better, I’m still learning; teach me." I never forgot how emotional she was. What seemingly was a simple comment really is a comment that carries an important life lesson. Don’t assume that everyone has all the utensils needed for survival and success in life.

This book Passing It On is in part about sharing moving stories and teaching others what they might not have known before. Maybe we should require all of those whom we feel have the potential or seek to serve as our senators or congressman, etc., to take crash courses on healing societal wounds, and perhaps we should provide avenues of study for those who’ve never been exposed to minorities or even our immigrant population before. Actually, I believe it would be beneficial to all if an intensive course entitled Diversity in the USA was a requirement freshmen year in all American High Schools, especially since we profess to welcome diversity upon our shores with the inscription on the Statue of Liberty poetically stating in the first couple of lines Give us your tired, your poor/ your huddled masses - yearning to breath free…

Fear of the unknown can sometimes easily become one’s enemy in our society. Are we seeing this among many of our law enforcement officers today? Is fear of the unknown gripping many in the U.S.? I believe it’s definitely becoming more prevalent, especially with the statistical reports stating a rapid increase in minority populations. I believe acquainting people with the diversity in our population and properly training our public servants is very important, not only for the sake of and comfort of our public servants, but obviously for the sake of the public they’re serving.

After watching the Academy Awards this year, I was left thinking… why are we supporting this billion dollar industry and not asking for returns for our generous support? This goes for the recording industry, also. For instance, how hard would it be for the motion picture industry to donate yearly, based on the success of their movies due to attendance, or CD/album sales, for example 5% of their intake could be used for the expansion of food programs, temporary housing, shelters, etc. Wouldn’t this be a tax write-off? If we support you, why can’t they support us? Yes, I am indeed an optimist. I do believe that we as humans have it within our power to eradicate poverty and hunger, the least of which would be within our neighborhoods. I urge our philanthropic organizations to not only be generous in giving and contributing to our much needed medical/scientific research in order to eradicate our medical illnesses/diseases, but also to consider generously giving and establishing major programs and grants to eradicate our social ills. Hopefully in the future, this book, and these wonderful sharing authors, will help give birth to activists who can bring this into reality. For I believe it’s time, time to move beyond the marches in the streets and with confidence move into the board rooms of those who control our destinies.

Index of Authors

We are here to speak your names because of the way you made for us. Pearl Cleage

John Soderberg, PhD