Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Anne Braden (1924-2006): A tireless crusader
Who will fill her shoes? Nobody can . . .
In the next few days, editorials will possibly read: "Who will fill Anne Braden's shoes?" The writers can save their time, their script and their ink. Anne Braden's shoes can't be filled. Her passing is the passing of an era.
Who else is going to commit her total lifetime up to the minute of her death fighting for justice and equality for all, especially African Americans and persons of color?
Who else will sleep (by accident) two or three hours in a 24-hour period because she wants to finish the draft for a proposal to fund a program for the Kentucky Alliance Against Racism?
Who else can you find on the phone talking strategies at 2 or 3 in the morning, trying to bring about a change from the status quo?
Who else would abandon a quality, high-paying career in journalism to dedicate her life to making a change in the system?
This lady could and would work with anybody and everybody who was willing to make life better for others.
Who can you find who will make the weekly drive up to Northern Kentucky University, at 45 miles per hour, to teach students ways to improve human relations? Who else is willing at age 80 -- or under 80 -- to walk in political rallies for sometimes over an hour, in the rain or snow, the hot or cold?
Who else will stand and challenge conservatives' mindsets in the community and say, "All whites have some form of bias"?
Who else can you find who will vacate her comfortable home to stay at the Braden Center, day and night, drafting papers and proposals to make changes, to make life better for others?
Who else will ride with me in a crowded van, heading for a protest in Kenova, W.Va., asking only that I stop for four smoke breaks?
These are shoes that cannot be filled, a position that cannot be replaced. The strength for her struggling and her suffering had to come from God, a God who knew her well and could care for her more than any of us could.
Those of us who are in the struggle have memories of Anne that will never be erased or forgotten. She never mastered the art of using the bullhorn, but she didn't need one. Like E.F. Hutton, people stopped talking when she shared her words of wisdom. Even in her last few moments of disagreement with us in the struggles, she would say, "Louis, I refuse to let you and Mattie Jones put me on a guilt trip." And it wouldn't be long before she would call and say, "Let's try this discussion again."
Just a few nights ago, she called, as usual around midnight, concerned with the latest issue and worried that I might not word things just right in a letter we were trying to get out. The call went on into the wee hours of the morning. That's why I was taken by surprise when I got the call that she was in the hospital.
Anne would sometimes fill the answering machine up until she got things just right. But that was Anne's way of doing things -- do it right, and do your best. She could have retired long ago and lived the comfortable life, which would have put her out of the aim of so many problems and so much confusion. So many never understood her, and many never will.
For three decades, Anne was a trusted friend of the Justice Resource Center, and to me personally. Through hundreds of protests, and even going to jail, Anne was there standing with me, never batting an eyelash, just wanting a cigarette. She was known throughout the South for her dedication to the struggle.
When I got the call, it worried me that she was alone in the hospital for a while, but after reflecting on her life, I realized that the same great God who was there to give her courage to take up the mantle to fight injustices and prejudices in the South and later in Louisville, the same God who gave her the strength and will to finish the job she and her husband started years before, the same god who kept her safe in the midst of all that went on -- the same God who cared for her, gave comfort in times of joy and sadness, was right there with her in her last few hours on earth.
So save the "fill the shoes" rhetoric. Anne Braden was one of a kind. No one can fill her shoes. Had the news writers taken time to really get to know her, they would realize that.
We will greatly miss her, miss her calls, miss her presence and miss her contributions to the struggle for equality for all. Metro Louisville will miss her. She well deserves having her picture placed not only in the African-American Heritage Center, but also in the Kentucky History Museum in Frankfort, with signs over them saying, "Job well done."
The Rev. Louis Coleman is a veteran local civil rights leader and director of the Justice Resource Center.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/OPINION04/603080407/1054/OPINION
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