What’s Going On
We’re refreshing the website; there will be new storytellers and stories. We’re going to start publishing the newsletter content on the Blog.
And we’ll start offering Stories Matter Workshops again.
I shared my Celebration of Women story from last week at Innsbrook Toastmasters this morning. We are running hybrid meetings and besides our local Richmond members we have folks from Texas, Pennsylvania and Australia tuning in. It’s after midnight in Australia when they join us. I’m flattered.
Today’s story is an important piece of American history. Barbara Johns and the fight to end segregation.
“I love short stories because I believe they are the way we live. They are what our friends tell us, in their pain and joy, their passion and rage, their yearning and their cry against injustice.” – Ann Lamott
Shirley T. Burke
Mrs. Burke was a force of nature. Her generosity, care and compassion for others was summed up in the question she asked herself and others every day. “Have you been to Selma today?”
Check out her story about Viola Liuzzo, the only white woman to be killed during the civil rights era.
Shirley T. was taken from us way too early. We miss her, but her memory comforts all who knew her.
A Quiet Voice
In 1951, the schools in Virginia were segregated. They operated under the concept of Separate, but Equal. Except the schools were not equally funded. The schools black children attended were pathetic. They were poorly maintained, and ill-equipped. Still, the teachers, and parents strove to educate their children, all the while praying that eventually the American dream of all men (read people) being equal would one day become reality. Prince Edward County’s black schools were some of the worst in the state.
On April 23, 1951 Barbara Johns, a quiet 16 year-old, led a student strike for equal education. The officials said they were truant. There were truancy laws on the books in those days that would have allowed the police to arrest them. Barbara and her fellow strikers wrote to Oliver Hill, a black attorney 60 miles away, up in Richmond asking for his help. Mr. Hill later said that when he and his partner drove down to Farmville, they intended telling the children to go back to school. But after meeting with Barbara and her fellow students and becoming convinced they had the support of their parents they took the case, and filed Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County. This was one of the five cases that were combined to become Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka. The case that ended racial segregation in American public schools. Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County was the only court case brought by students.
This was an extremely brave action. The KKK burnt a cross on Barbara’s family’s lawn and her parents sent her to live with her uncle, Reverend Vernon Johns, in Montgomery, AL. She graduated high school, went on to college, and became a librarian.
Not a lot of attention has been paid to the courage of these children. Few people talk about the children when they talk about Brown v Board. But that’s being rectified. Every state has two statues in the U.S. Capitol Building’s The National Statuary Hall Collection.
From 1909 until December of 2020 one of Virginia’s contributions was a sculpture of Robert E. Lee. The plans are to replace it with a statue of Barbara Johns.
A quiet young woman whose courage will inspire generations of Americans to come.
Listen, Sister! Finding Hope in the Freakshow of Life is a hilarious collection of short personal stories that turn awkward memories into much needed encouragement. Each tale of real-life shenanigans points out glimpses of God in the everyday and directs women to the source of true joy in their stress-filled lives.
Listen, Sister! Finding Hope in the Freakshow of Life is launching June 14, 2022.
You can pre-order it here: Listen, Sister!: Finding Hope in the Freakshow of Life by Tess Scott, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
I Want to Hear from You
His-story or her-story, the point is if we lose our stories we lose ourselves.
Share your stories with your family, your community, and your colleagues.
Tell me a story at [email protected]
Til next time,
Gayle Turner
Executive Producer.