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Straight Out of “The 400th”
By John Burl Smith
I dedicated this post “Straight Out of ‘The 400th’” to my wife Dot, and other black women, who were and are continually on the frontline, as unsung heroines of our love story, which is as older as time itself. Recently there has been lots of buzz regarding Mrs. Michelle Obama’s recent statement, “I’m experiencing “low-grade depression.” Then she followed that with, “The idea that what this country is going through shouldn’t have any effect on us-that we all should just feel OK all the time-that just doesn't feel real to me. So I hope you all are allowing yourselves to feel whatever it is you’re feeling.” It is called empathy. For me her response is consistent with the nurturant role enslaved African women have always filled from slave pens until today. The powerful thing to me is that she felt that urge and openly expressed that matriarchal tendency to relate and comfort the community.
While struggling to learn how best to express my thoughts in writing, when telling a story, Dot always admonished, “It has to be a love story!” So this is an “ode to black women and a love story in her honor.” Black women began expressing this concept most profoundly, during the story I learned and tell in my narrative “The 400th” From Slavery to Hip Hop. Believe it or not, I did not set out to structure “The 400th” as I did, but in telling of it, black women and their role, very subtly at first, but conditions kept dictated their survival strategy. The circumstances enslaved Africans endured forced black women to step into the void, whenever one existed. The following passages exemplify black women’s role “Straight out of “The 400th”.
First and foremost, in terms of survival for enslaved Africans, black women seemed to have decided back in slavery to throw babies at the problem, until black men came up with a better strategy. Their decision to keep bearing children, in the face of total uncertainty, pain and loss, as well as degradation and exploitation, while beginning forced to nurse masters’ children, at the expense of her child; Black they took on the burden of caring for others. They were the foundation of the next crucial decisions for former enslaved Africans after emancipation, which was to make families and build communities; black women became the center of community survival.
Black women were the ones most likely to be able to read and write, so that put them in control of the family’s business. Those families that followed this strategy prospered, but those that did not, didn’t fare as well. This result is reflected by the fact that black women with children survived without men, but men without families, mostly did poorly. Some family structures former slaves developed defy textbook descriptions. Families joined together; sometimes two or three women shared one man. Some arrangements were like confederations, formed based on mutual survival needs and agreements.
Just the same, whatever structure former slaves came up with, proved to be resilient enough that small groups of families became communities, aiding contrabands survival. Their decision to build communities allowed what they learned, as individuals surviving in slave pens, to become group knowledge, underpinning their common experiences, made all their other experiences part of their communal strategies. Deciding to make families and build communities, rather than dispersing among others or existing as individuals, I believe, was enslaved Africans saving grace.
Although keeping the family together was their primary responsibility, black women lead all kinds of civic/social movements and activities. Their most powerful weapon was “Colored Women Clubs, which united them in the efforts to find and care for orphans. Slavery and Civil War produced millions of children who had no idea of who or the whereabouts of their parents. While simultaneously, men formed groups among themselves—ministers, lodges, and fraternal organizations—which championed and established traditions of self-help and communal support, however, women’s groups were far more effective. Identical to white men, but for different reasons, black men were very chauvinistic about leadership. Most of these groups excluded women, and those that admitted women, relegated them to second class status, at best secretaries.
Today, I felt compelled to offer this ode to black women to honor their determination, strength, intelligence, resolve and refusal to yield, as Maya Angelou penned so eloquently, “Still I Rise.” I refuse to attend any “pity party” where black women are looked upon as deficient in any respect or there are questions about black women regarding anything, except being overly generous to white women, who know the truth of their prowess, because they stand on black women’s shoulders. But to get their big chance, white women align with white men to get their slice of white privilege.
This ode to black women is an appeal for them to stand strong in their tradition, you have nothing which to apologize. You have earned your bona fides, competing against white privilege, so never take a step back against yourself. When you do, you will be conceding ground you have fought tremendous battles to gain. Lives were lost by black women like you to preserve gains for the next generation. Then again because you are so magnanimous, today you stand before the world based on everyone—white men, black men and white women—readily moved up over your backs to stand on your shoulders, denying you your rightful place because you are black women.
Today you have earned your rightful place at the highest levels of leadership. But, I have a final question, “If not now, what was it all for?” You, black woman, asked for this, and deservedly so it is before each of you. Each time you stepped, you passed a black man, who was comfortable, hanging out with the white boys in the backroom. On such nights, you were up late, burning the midnight oil, so you could be so incredibly stunning the next morning. “If not now, what was the struggle for?”
You would have never made it to where you are if being a pretty party girl was what you dreamed of and pined. Feeding your fire, after being born in darkness without real hope, you reached for that which burned brightest, as your guide toward the light that shines upon you today. Your brilliance is yours by right, not anyone’s stolen joy; you deserve everything that is before. So reach out and possess it, as your prize, for all your battles won. The best needs to show young eyes what a powerful black woman looks like and behave like, by being the example you never had. What will young eyes see if you do not provide such images? “If not this time then when?”
Read about MWJDS Head of School Brian M. Cohen on the front page of The Jewish Advocate this week! Still wondering about September? MWJDS is ready with full-day, live online instruction with teachers and peers, small class sizes, face-to-face social opportunities, and a proactive timeline for integrating hybrid in-person learning. Our community is still welcoming students for the fall. Call 508-868-9833 to learn more.
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Jewish Advocate
August 7, 2020
Cohen joins MWJDS as head of school
FRAMINGHAM – The board of directors of MetroWest Jewish Day School announced the appointment of Brian M. Cohen as head of school.
“I’ve been passionate about individualized education, meeting the needs of diverse learners, and building inclusive Jewish communities throughout my career,” Cohen said. “MetroWest Jewish Day School is a beacon on each of these fronts. I look forward to bringing a collaborative approach to leadership as we work to enhance and amplify the work already underway. Together, we will strengthen the school for generations of students to come.”
Cohen comes to MWJDS with over 20 years of experience in the field of K-12 education, including 13 years of school administration and leadership. He began his career in the public schools of San Francisco and Oakland, Calif. as a teacher and curriculum leader.
Since his move to the Boston area in 2008, he has been a principal at Maimonides School and most recently New England Hebrew Academy. He brings experience mentoring teachers, developing curricula, managing school operations, and leading community partnerships.
“In this moment of unique challenge and opportunity for educators all over the world, Brian brings a wealth of educational experience matched only by his energy and leadership abilities,” said Renee Finn, president of the MWJDS board of directors. “Brian‘s educational philosophy, to teach each child ‘according to their way’ reflects the MWJDS approach to education. The board of directors enthusiastically welcomes him to our community as our new head of school.”
Cohen succeeds Ed Frim, z”l who passed away in April after a battle with cancer.
“Having joined MWJDS in June of 2019,” the school noted in a statement, “Ed brought love, dedication and menschlichkeit to our community in ways that far outsized his short tenure with the school. The Edward Frim Curriculum Fund has been established in his memory.
“During his illness,” the statement continued, “MWJDS board member Rena Mirkin stepped in as acting head of school, and was quickly tested with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her work leading our community through a rapid pivot to remote learning was crucial to our success in this period.
Mirkin will continue to serve MWJDS as a board member, as well as a resource to Cohen in the coming year.
A graduate of Indiana University Bloomington, Cohen earned his Master’s degree in school leadership at Harvard University. He lives in Newton with his wife and two children, and serves as a board member of Congregation Shaarei Tefilah.
MetroWest Jewish Day School, founded in 2002, is a rich and vibrant community school serving the greater Framingham/Natick area as well as drawing students from a wide range of communities, spanning from Newton to Worcester. MWJDS, the only Jewish day school in Greater Boston’s Metro West region, is a nurturing institution where children are highly engaged in their education and inspired to learn, excelling both within the school and in the world beyond. MWJDS delivers exceptional Jewish and secular education with an individualized level of attention to each student from extra support to advanced enrichment or both.
For over 15 years, the individualized education offered at MWJDS has provided students leveled curricula in a nurturing and collaborative K-8 learning community designed to help them to succeed and develop at their own pace. While many students start in kindergarten, every year families transfer to MWJDS seeking smaller class size, collaboration with proactive teachers, and a program where their child loves learning. Because of their solid foundation from MWJDS, graduates have gone on to earn honors in high school and attend top-rated colleges across the country.
In 2016, the Alfred and Gilda Slifka Foundation chose MWJDS to be the inaugural site of its comprehensive Slifka Inclusion Initiative, in recognition of the school’s unique educational model.
