National
Home Repairs Loom Large for Low-Income Seniors
Curline Wilmoth (center) received help from Rebuilding Together Boston to make the bathroom in her Boston home more wheelchair-accessible. She is flanked by daughters Yvonne, left, and Doreen. (Sandra Larson/Bay State Banner)
By Sandra Larson
Special to the NNPA from Bay State Banner via New American Media
BOSTON — In Boston’s largely Caribbean and African American Mattapan neighborhood, the family of Curline Wilmoth, 67, has been struggling to care for her after she suffered a debilitating stroke in 2010 and had to leave her job as a hospital housekeeper.
Then, as happens too often when an elder returns from a hospital, Wilmoth and her family found she couldn’t safely move in or around her home. For instance, her wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the bathroom door. And family members had to carry the chair down and up the front steps each time Wilmoth went to the doctor or to senior center programs.
Increasing–and More Diverse–Elders
The rapidly aging United States population, especially in metropolitan areas like Boston, means that an increasingly nonwhite population of older adults with lower lifetime earnings and scant assets will grow.
In particular, ethnic elders, who tend to fall on the lower side of racial wealth and income gaps, are finding themselves unable to cover unanticipated expenses, such as home repairs or modifications, necessary for their safety. Retired homeowners on a fixed income needing a new roof or major plumbing repair, for instance, can face the dilemma that advocates in aging call being “house rich, but cash poor.”
“We know the need continues to grow,” said Sandra Henriquez, CEO of Rebuilding Together, based in Washington, D.C. But home-repair assistance is out there, if seniors know where to look, she said.
“A lot of people who have spent good years helping in their communities now need some help themselves. We take seriously that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” said Henriquez, former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Obama administration.
Rebuilding Together, a national nonprofit, has local affiliates that mobilize contractors and volunteers to perform free repairs and accessibility modifications. The organization assists about 10,000 low-income homeowners annually.
Among them is Wilmoth. Her family applied to Rebuilding Together Boston (RTB). During the organization’s National Rebuilding Days in April, a crew of local contractors and volunteers converged on the Wilmoth house to construct a wheelchair ramp, widen the bathroom door and install a more accessible toilet.
“God bless them, all of them,” said Wilmoth’s daughter Yvonne, 39. “Life will be much easier.”
Hard to Make Ends Meet
The older population nationally and locally is becoming more diverse. A recent report on aging in Boston by the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Gerontology Institute and the Boston Elderly Commission shows that from 2000 to 2010, the number of White people 60 and older dropped 3 percent in Boston, while numbers for all nonwhite groups increased. These trends are expected to continue.
Boston’s senior population is projected to grow by 22,500 households between 2010 and 2030, according to data in the city’s recently released housing plan. A majority of the new senior households will have annual incomes under $50,000, according to the report.
The Gerontology Institute applied its Elder Economic Security Index to measure how much income people 65-plus need to meet their basic living expenses for essentials like food, health care, transportation and housing.
The Institute estimates that in Suffolk County, primarily encompassing Boston, a home-owning couple without a mortgage typically needs $35,256 per year — far more than double the official federal poverty level— just to get by. A single person with a mortgage may need more than another $2,000 to cover basic costs, according to the Index.
Programs for Home Repair
Henriquez, who also previously ran the Boston Housing Authority, emphasized that home repair assistance — by both government and nonprofit sectors — offers a means of tackling a problem that can push seniors into nursing homes or even homelessness.
The average homeowner Rebuilding Together serves nationally has lived in the home for 23 years, but most have spent less than $1,000 on repairs and improvements in the prior two years — far less than a typical homeowner.
Clara Garcia is director of senior services at United South End Settlements (USES) in Boston, one of the provider agencies for the city’s Home Center, which funds home repairs for Boston’s low-income elders. Garcia sees firsthand insufficient home maintenance that can lead to serious safety, health and accessibility problems.
“We see homes that are very dilapidated,” she said. “The seniors as they’ve aged have not really kept up with the upkeep. They feel that owning the house is the important thing, and do not realize how it’s deteriorating.”
Using federal Community Development Block Grant funds, the city has provided repair aid for 520 senior homeowners in the past year; of these, USES handled 53 in Boston’s Roxbury community and other neighborhoods. Provider agencies perform minor repairs such as fixing doorbells and installing bathroom grab bars.
For larger jobs such as roof or heating system replacement, they help homeowners apply for the Home Center’s major repair funds. Low-income seniors who are current with their water and property tax bills may be able to receive a no-interest loan or a grant.
Paperwork and Waiting Game
Joanne C., 70, has been struggling for the past several years to keep up with home repairs on a meager income, while caring for her ill husband. As an African American who owns her home in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood free and clear, Joanne bucks the wealth gap trend in one sense, but she’s not alone in her need to pinch pennies and seek help.
At her small dining room table in April, Joanne, who did not wish to include her last name, motioned to a pile of documents assembled for repair assistance applications.
Proving her eligibility for help has not been difficult, she said. Social Security and a small pension from her 30-plus years as a hospital diet educator bring in about $30,000 annually.
But her quarterly property tax bill went up by $100 this year. And after a harsh winter, with a faulty heat system, she is still paying off two $800 heat bills: one for the upper floors and another for a first-floor former rental unit that now serves as an accessible living space for her husband.
Recently, Joanne applied for the second time to Rebuilding Together Boston. Her first application a couple of years ago was rejected. To her surprise, they didn’t deem her repair needs big enough to send a crew of volunteers.
“If I’d known they wanted to be here all day, I would have showed them more!” she said ruefully. “I didn’t know! So I was turned down.”
Now, as she awaited word from RTB, she was also looking forward to a scheduled appointment with Clara Garcia to see if USES Senior Services could help.
Relief in Sight
One senior already helped by USES is Patricia Hecker, 74, who received assistance for roof repair, storm windows and a new back door on her Roxbury home.
Hecker bought her house 15 years ago, making the down payment with money she saved from selling crafts, she said. Her mortgage payment takes up much of her income, a pension from 22 years of work as a driver for the city’s Senior Shuttle service. She is happy with her home on a quiet street with a small garden – but admits it’s a struggle to make ends meet.
“When you’re on a fixed income and you have no money to fix things, you just do what you have to do – I was putting bedspreads across the windows, shutting doors, wearing tons of sweaters and putting blankets on my lap. It was awful, for a while,” she said, sitting down at USES before going to senior lunch and an art class. “Now it’s a lot warmer. It’s really helped.”
By mid-May, Joanne, too, sounded upbeat. Garcia had visited, and USES will take care of some of Joanne’s small repair tasks and help her apply for major repair funds for the heating system.
“I didn’t want to get a loan, but if in 10 years I can still be comfortable in my home, I’ll be happy,” she said. “I’m just so vulnerable at this point, and so tired. I have to get that heat fixed before next winter.”
She added, “It looks like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
This article is adapted from a story Sandra Larson wrote for Boston’s Bay State Banner through a Journalists in Aging Fellowship, a collaboration of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America, with support from AARP. This story is part of a series on housing challenges for low-income seniors in Boston.
Activism
OPINION: “My Girl,” The Temptations, and Nikki Giovanni
Giovanni was probably one of the most famous young African American women in the 1960s, known for her fiery poetry. But even that description is tame. The New York Times obit headline practically buried her historical impact: “Nikki Giovanni, Poet Who Wrote of Black Joy, Dies at 81.” That doesn’t begin to touch the fire of Giovanni’s work through her lifetime.
By Emil Guillermo
The Temptations, the harmonizing, singing dancing man-group of your OG youth, were on “The Today Show,” earlier this week.
There were some new members, no David Ruffin. But Otis Williams, 83, was there still crooning and preening, leading the group’s 60th anniversary performance of “My Girl.”
When I first heard “My Girl,” I got it.
I was 9 and had a crush on Julie Satterfield, with the braided ponytails in my catechism class. Unfortunately, she did not become my girl.
But that song was always a special bridge in my life. In college, I was a member of a practically all-White, all-male club that mirrored the demographics at that university. At the parties, the song of choice was “My Girl.”
Which is odd, because the party was 98% men.
The organization is a little better now, with women, people of color and LGBTQ+, but back in the 70s, the Tempts music was the only thing that integrated that club.
POETRY’S “MY GIRL”
The song’s anniversary took me by surprise. But not as much as the death of Nikki Giovanni.
Giovanni was probably one of the most famous young African American women in the 1960s, known for her fiery poetry. But even that description is tame.
The New York Times obit headline practically buried her historical impact: “Nikki Giovanni, Poet Who Wrote of Black Joy, Dies at 81.”
That doesn’t begin to touch the fire of Giovanni’s work through her lifetime.
I’ll always see her as the Black female voice that broke through the silence of good enough. In 1968, when cities were burning all across America, Giovanni was the militant female voice of a revolution.
Her “The True Import of Present Dialogue: Black vs. Negro,” is the historical record of racial anger as literature from the opening lines.
It reads profane and violent, shockingly so then. These days, it may seem tamer than rap music.
But it’s jarring and pulls no punches. It protests Vietnam, and what Black men were asked to do for their country.
“We kill in Viet Nam,” she wrote. “We kill for UN & NATO & SEATO & US.”
Written in 1968, it was a poem that spoke to the militancy and activism of the times. And she explained herself in a follow up, “My Poem.”
“I am 25 years old, Black female poet,” she wrote referring to her earlier controversial poem. “If they kill me. It won’t stop the revolution.”
Giovanni wrote more poetry and children’s books. She taught at Rutgers, then later Virginia Tech where she followed her fellow professor who would become her spouse, Virginia C. Fowler.
Since Giovanni’s death, I’ve read through her poetry, from what made her famous, to her later poems that revealed her humanity and compassion for all of life.
In “Allowables,” she writes of finding a spider on a book, then killing it.
And she scared me
And I smashed her
I don’t think
I’m allowed
To kill something
Because I am
Frightened
For Giovanni, her soul was in her poetry, and the revolution was her evolution.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist, commentator, and solo performer. Join him at www.patreon.com/emilamok
Black History
Book Review: In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World
It’s a tale of heroes: the Maroons, who created communities in unwanted swampland, and welcomed escaped slaves into their midst; Sarah Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”; Marème Diarra, who walked more than 2000 miles from Sudan to Senegal with her children to escape slavery; enslaved farmers and horticulturists; and everyday people who still talk about slavery and what the institution left behind.
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Ever since you learned how it happened you couldn’t get it out of your mind.
People, packed like pencils in a box, tightly next to each other, one by one by one, tier after tier. They couldn’t sit up, couldn’t roll over or scratch an itch or keep themselves clean on a ship that took them from one terrible thing to another. And in the new book “In Slavery’s Wake,” essays by various contributors, you’ll see what trailed in waves behind those vessels.
You don’t need to be told about the horrors of slavery. You’ve grown up knowing about it, reading about it, thinking about everything that’s happened because of it in the past four hundred years. And so have others: in 2014, a committee made of “key staff from several world museums” gathered to discuss “telling the story of racial slavery and colonialism as a world system…” so that together, they could implement a “ten-year road map to expand… our practices of truth telling…”
Here, the effects of slavery are compared to the waves left by a moving ship, a wake the story of which some have tried over time to diminish.
It’s a tale filled with irony. Says one contributor, early American Colonists held enslaved people but believed that King George had “unjustly enslaved” the colonists.
It’s the story of a British company that crafted shackles and cuffs and that still sells handcuffs “used worldwide by police and militaries” today.
It’s a tale of heroes: the Maroons, who created communities in unwanted swampland, and welcomed escaped slaves into their midst; Sarah Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”; Marème Diarra, who walked more than 2000 miles from Sudan to Senegal with her children to escape slavery; enslaved farmers and horticulturists; and everyday people who still talk about slavery and what the institution left behind.
Today, discussions about cooperation and diversity remain essential.
Says one essayist, “… embracing a view of history with a more expansive definition of archives in all their forms must be fostered in all societies.”
Unless you’ve been completely unaware and haven’t been paying attention for the past 150 years, a great deal of what you’ll read inside “In Slavery’s Wake” is information you already knew and images you’ve already seen.
Look again, though, because this comprehensive book isn’t just about America and its history. It’s about slavery, worldwide, yesterday and today.
Casual readers – non-historians especially – will, in fact, be surprised to learn, then, about slavery on other continents, how Africans left their legacies in places far from home, and how the “wake” they left changed the worlds of agriculture, music, and culture. Tales of individual people round out the narrative, in legends that melt into the stories of others and present new heroes, activists, resisters, allies, and tales that are inspirational and thrilling.
This book is sometimes a difficult read and is probably best consumed in small bites that can be considered with great care to appreciate fully. Start “In Slavery’s Wake,” though, and you won’t be able to get it out of your mind.
Edited by Paul Gardullo, Johanna Obenda, and Anthony Bogues, Author: Various Contributors, c.2024, Smithsonian Books, $39.95
Black History
Ashleigh Johnson: Pioneering the Way in Water Polo
Ashleigh Johnson attended Princeton University, where she played for the Tigers and dominated collegiate water polo. During her time at Princeton, she became the program’s all-time leader in saves and was recognized for her extraordinary ability to anticipate plays and block shots. She was a three-time All-American and was pivotal in leading her team to multiple victories. Balancing rigorous academics and athletics, she graduated with a degree in Psychology, showcasing her determination both in and out of the pool.
By Tamara Shiloh
Ashleigh Johnson has become a household name in the world of water polo, not only for her incredible athleticism and skill but also for breaking barriers as the first Black woman to represent the United States in the sport at the Olympic level. Her journey begins as a determined young athlete to a record-breaking goalkeeper.
Born on September 12, 1994, in Miami, Florida, Ashleigh grew up in a family that valued sports and academics. She attended Ransom Everglades School, where she was introduced to water polo. Despite water polo being a niche sport in her community, she quickly stood out for her remarkable agility, intelligence, and reflexes. Her unique skill set made her a natural fit for the demanding role of a goalkeeper.
Ashleigh attended Princeton University, where she played for the Tigers and dominated collegiate water polo. During her time at Princeton, she became the program’s all-time leader in saves and was recognized for her extraordinary ability to anticipate plays and block shots. She was a three-time All-American and was pivotal in leading her team to multiple victories. Balancing rigorous academics and athletics, she graduated with a degree in Psychology, showcasing her determination both in and out of the pool.
In 2016, Ashleigh made history as the first Black woman to be selected for the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team. Representing her country at the Rio Olympics, she played a crucial role in helping Team USA secure the gold medal. Her stellar performances earned her the distinction of being named the tournament’s top goalkeeper, further cementing her status as one of the best players in the sport’s history.
Ashleigh didn’t just stop at one Olympic appearance. She continued her dominance in water polo, playing a key role in Team USA’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her ability to remain composed under pressure and deliver outstanding saves in crucial moments made her an irreplaceable member of the team.
At the age of 29, Johnson appeared in her third Olympiad in Paris at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Their first match was against Greece and the US team won easily and Johnson only gave up 4 points. U.S. Olympic head coach Adam Krikorian shared, “She’s an incredible athlete. She’s got great hand-eye coordination, great reflexes and reactions. And then she’s fiercely competitive – fiercely. And you would never know it by her demeanor or by the huge smile on her face. But to us, on the inside, we know how driven she is to be one of the best ever to do it.”
Team USA Women’s Water Polo ended their Olympic season in fourth place after a 10 – 11 loss to the Netherlands. Johnson only allowed 37 percent of the shots from the Netherlands.
Beyond her achievements in the pool, Ashleigh has used her platform to advocate for diversity in water polo and sports in general. As a trailblazer, she recognizes the importance of representation and works to encourage young athletes, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to pursue their dreams.
Ashleigh has spoken about the challenges she faced as a Black woman in a predominantly white sport and how she turned those obstacles into opportunities for growth.
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National
Home Repairs Loom Large for Low-Income Seniors
Curline Wilmoth (center) received help from Rebuilding Together Boston to make the bathroom in her Boston home more wheelchair-accessible. She is flanked by daughters Yvonne, left, and Doreen. (Sandra Larson/Bay State Banner)
By Sandra Larson
Special to the NNPA from Bay State Banner via New American Media
BOSTON — In Boston’s largely Caribbean and African American Mattapan neighborhood, the family of Curline Wilmoth, 67, has been struggling to care for her after she suffered a debilitating stroke in 2010 and had to leave her job as a hospital housekeeper.
Then, as happens too often when an elder returns from a hospital, Wilmoth and her family found she couldn’t safely move in or around her home. For instance, her wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the bathroom door. And family members had to carry the chair down and up the front steps each time Wilmoth went to the doctor or to senior center programs.
Increasing–and More Diverse–Elders
The rapidly aging United States population, especially in metropolitan areas like Boston, means that an increasingly nonwhite population of older adults with lower lifetime earnings and scant assets will grow.
In particular, ethnic elders, who tend to fall on the lower side of racial wealth and income gaps, are finding themselves unable to cover unanticipated expenses, such as home repairs or modifications, necessary for their safety. Retired homeowners on a fixed income needing a new roof or major plumbing repair, for instance, can face the dilemma that advocates in aging call being “house rich, but cash poor.”
“We know the need continues to grow,” said Sandra Henriquez, CEO of Rebuilding Together, based in Washington, D.C. But home-repair assistance is out there, if seniors know where to look, she said.
“A lot of people who have spent good years helping in their communities now need some help themselves. We take seriously that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” said Henriquez, former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Obama administration.
Rebuilding Together, a national nonprofit, has local affiliates that mobilize contractors and volunteers to perform free repairs and accessibility modifications. The organization assists about 10,000 low-income homeowners annually.
Among them is Wilmoth. Her family applied to Rebuilding Together Boston (RTB). During the organization’s National Rebuilding Days in April, a crew of local contractors and volunteers converged on the Wilmoth house to construct a wheelchair ramp, widen the bathroom door and install a more accessible toilet.
“God bless them, all of them,” said Wilmoth’s daughter Yvonne, 39. “Life will be much easier.”
Hard to Make Ends Meet
The older population nationally and locally is becoming more diverse. A recent report on aging in Boston by the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Gerontology Institute and the Boston Elderly Commission shows that from 2000 to 2010, the number of White people 60 and older dropped 3 percent in Boston, while numbers for all nonwhite groups increased. These trends are expected to continue.
Boston’s senior population is projected to grow by 22,500 households between 2010 and 2030, according to data in the city’s recently released housing plan. A majority of the new senior households will have annual incomes under $50,000, according to the report.
The Gerontology Institute applied its Elder Economic Security Index to measure how much income people 65-plus need to meet their basic living expenses for essentials like food, health care, transportation and housing.
The Institute estimates that in Suffolk County, primarily encompassing Boston, a home-owning couple without a mortgage typically needs $35,256 per year — far more than double the official federal poverty level— just to get by. A single person with a mortgage may need more than another $2,000 to cover basic costs, according to the Index.
Programs for Home Repair
Henriquez, who also previously ran the Boston Housing Authority, emphasized that home repair assistance — by both government and nonprofit sectors — offers a means of tackling a problem that can push seniors into nursing homes or even homelessness.
The average homeowner Rebuilding Together serves nationally has lived in the home for 23 years, but most have spent less than $1,000 on repairs and improvements in the prior two years — far less than a typical homeowner.
Clara Garcia is director of senior services at United South End Settlements (USES) in Boston, one of the provider agencies for the city’s Home Center, which funds home repairs for Boston’s low-income elders. Garcia sees firsthand insufficient home maintenance that can lead to serious safety, health and accessibility problems.
“We see homes that are very dilapidated,” she said. “The seniors as they’ve aged have not really kept up with the upkeep. They feel that owning the house is the important thing, and do not realize how it’s deteriorating.”
Using federal Community Development Block Grant funds, the city has provided repair aid for 520 senior homeowners in the past year; of these, USES handled 53 in Boston’s Roxbury community and other neighborhoods. Provider agencies perform minor repairs such as fixing doorbells and installing bathroom grab bars.
For larger jobs such as roof or heating system replacement, they help homeowners apply for the Home Center’s major repair funds. Low-income seniors who are current with their water and property tax bills may be able to receive a no-interest loan or a grant.
Paperwork and Waiting Game
Joanne C., 70, has been struggling for the past several years to keep up with home repairs on a meager income, while caring for her ill husband. As an African American who owns her home in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood free and clear, Joanne bucks the wealth gap trend in one sense, but she’s not alone in her need to pinch pennies and seek help.
At her small dining room table in April, Joanne, who did not wish to include her last name, motioned to a pile of documents assembled for repair assistance applications.
Proving her eligibility for help has not been difficult, she said. Social Security and a small pension from her 30-plus years as a hospital diet educator bring in about $30,000 annually.
But her quarterly property tax bill went up by $100 this year. And after a harsh winter, with a faulty heat system, she is still paying off two $800 heat bills: one for the upper floors and another for a first-floor former rental unit that now serves as an accessible living space for her husband.
Recently, Joanne applied for the second time to Rebuilding Together Boston. Her first application a couple of years ago was rejected. To her surprise, they didn’t deem her repair needs big enough to send a crew of volunteers.
“If I’d known they wanted to be here all day, I would have showed them more!” she said ruefully. “I didn’t know! So I was turned down.”
Now, as she awaited word from RTB, she was also looking forward to a scheduled appointment with Clara Garcia to see if USES Senior Services could help.
Relief in Sight
One senior already helped by USES is Patricia Hecker, 74, who received assistance for roof repair, storm windows and a new back door on her Roxbury home.
Hecker bought her house 15 years ago, making the down payment with money she saved from selling crafts, she said. Her mortgage payment takes up much of her income, a pension from 22 years of work as a driver for the city’s Senior Shuttle service. She is happy with her home on a quiet street with a small garden – but admits it’s a struggle to make ends meet.
“When you’re on a fixed income and you have no money to fix things, you just do what you have to do – I was putting bedspreads across the windows, shutting doors, wearing tons of sweaters and putting blankets on my lap. It was awful, for a while,” she said, sitting down at USES before going to senior lunch and an art class. “Now it’s a lot warmer. It’s really helped.”
By mid-May, Joanne, too, sounded upbeat. Garcia had visited, and USES will take care of some of Joanne’s small repair tasks and help her apply for major repair funds for the heating system.
“I didn’t want to get a loan, but if in 10 years I can still be comfortable in my home, I’ll be happy,” she said. “I’m just so vulnerable at this point, and so tired. I have to get that heat fixed before next winter.”
She added, “It looks like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
This article is adapted from a story Sandra Larson wrote for Boston’s Bay State Banner through a Journalists in Aging Fellowship, a collaboration of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America, with support from AARP. This story is part of a series on housing challenges for low-income seniors in Boston.
Activism
OPINION: “My Girl,” The Temptations, and Nikki Giovanni
Giovanni was probably one of the most famous young African American women in the 1960s, known for her fiery poetry. But even that description is tame. The New York Times obit headline practically buried her historical impact: “Nikki Giovanni, Poet Who Wrote of Black Joy, Dies at 81.” That doesn’t begin to touch the fire of Giovanni’s work through her lifetime.
By Emil Guillermo
The Temptations, the harmonizing, singing dancing man-group of your OG youth, were on “The Today Show,” earlier this week.
There were some new members, no David Ruffin. But Otis Williams, 83, was there still crooning and preening, leading the group’s 60th anniversary performance of “My Girl.”
When I first heard “My Girl,” I got it.
I was 9 and had a crush on Julie Satterfield, with the braided ponytails in my catechism class. Unfortunately, she did not become my girl.
But that song was always a special bridge in my life. In college, I was a member of a practically all-White, all-male club that mirrored the demographics at that university. At the parties, the song of choice was “My Girl.”
Which is odd, because the party was 98% men.
The organization is a little better now, with women, people of color and LGBTQ+, but back in the 70s, the Tempts music was the only thing that integrated that club.
POETRY’S “MY GIRL”
The song’s anniversary took me by surprise. But not as much as the death of Nikki Giovanni.
Giovanni was probably one of the most famous young African American women in the 1960s, known for her fiery poetry. But even that description is tame.
The New York Times obit headline practically buried her historical impact: “Nikki Giovanni, Poet Who Wrote of Black Joy, Dies at 81.”
That doesn’t begin to touch the fire of Giovanni’s work through her lifetime.
I’ll always see her as the Black female voice that broke through the silence of good enough. In 1968, when cities were burning all across America, Giovanni was the militant female voice of a revolution.
Her “The True Import of Present Dialogue: Black vs. Negro,” is the historical record of racial anger as literature from the opening lines.
It reads profane and violent, shockingly so then. These days, it may seem tamer than rap music.
But it’s jarring and pulls no punches. It protests Vietnam, and what Black men were asked to do for their country.
“We kill in Viet Nam,” she wrote. “We kill for UN & NATO & SEATO & US.”
Written in 1968, it was a poem that spoke to the militancy and activism of the times. And she explained herself in a follow up, “My Poem.”
“I am 25 years old, Black female poet,” she wrote referring to her earlier controversial poem. “If they kill me. It won’t stop the revolution.”
Giovanni wrote more poetry and children’s books. She taught at Rutgers, then later Virginia Tech where she followed her fellow professor who would become her spouse, Virginia C. Fowler.
Since Giovanni’s death, I’ve read through her poetry, from what made her famous, to her later poems that revealed her humanity and compassion for all of life.
In “Allowables,” she writes of finding a spider on a book, then killing it.
And she scared me
And I smashed her
I don’t think
I’m allowed
To kill something
Because I am
Frightened
For Giovanni, her soul was in her poetry, and the revolution was her evolution.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist, commentator, and solo performer. Join him at www.patreon.com/emilamok
Black History
Book Review: In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World
It’s a tale of heroes: the Maroons, who created communities in unwanted swampland, and welcomed escaped slaves into their midst; Sarah Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”; Marème Diarra, who walked more than 2000 miles from Sudan to Senegal with her children to escape slavery; enslaved farmers and horticulturists; and everyday people who still talk about slavery and what the institution left behind.
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Ever since you learned how it happened you couldn’t get it out of your mind.
People, packed like pencils in a box, tightly next to each other, one by one by one, tier after tier. They couldn’t sit up, couldn’t roll over or scratch an itch or keep themselves clean on a ship that took them from one terrible thing to another. And in the new book “In Slavery’s Wake,” essays by various contributors, you’ll see what trailed in waves behind those vessels.
You don’t need to be told about the horrors of slavery. You’ve grown up knowing about it, reading about it, thinking about everything that’s happened because of it in the past four hundred years. And so have others: in 2014, a committee made of “key staff from several world museums” gathered to discuss “telling the story of racial slavery and colonialism as a world system…” so that together, they could implement a “ten-year road map to expand… our practices of truth telling…”
Here, the effects of slavery are compared to the waves left by a moving ship, a wake the story of which some have tried over time to diminish.
It’s a tale filled with irony. Says one contributor, early American Colonists held enslaved people but believed that King George had “unjustly enslaved” the colonists.
It’s the story of a British company that crafted shackles and cuffs and that still sells handcuffs “used worldwide by police and militaries” today.
It’s a tale of heroes: the Maroons, who created communities in unwanted swampland, and welcomed escaped slaves into their midst; Sarah Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus”; Marème Diarra, who walked more than 2000 miles from Sudan to Senegal with her children to escape slavery; enslaved farmers and horticulturists; and everyday people who still talk about slavery and what the institution left behind.
Today, discussions about cooperation and diversity remain essential.
Says one essayist, “… embracing a view of history with a more expansive definition of archives in all their forms must be fostered in all societies.”
Unless you’ve been completely unaware and haven’t been paying attention for the past 150 years, a great deal of what you’ll read inside “In Slavery’s Wake” is information you already knew and images you’ve already seen.
Look again, though, because this comprehensive book isn’t just about America and its history. It’s about slavery, worldwide, yesterday and today.
Casual readers – non-historians especially – will, in fact, be surprised to learn, then, about slavery on other continents, how Africans left their legacies in places far from home, and how the “wake” they left changed the worlds of agriculture, music, and culture. Tales of individual people round out the narrative, in legends that melt into the stories of others and present new heroes, activists, resisters, allies, and tales that are inspirational and thrilling.
This book is sometimes a difficult read and is probably best consumed in small bites that can be considered with great care to appreciate fully. Start “In Slavery’s Wake,” though, and you won’t be able to get it out of your mind.
Edited by Paul Gardullo, Johanna Obenda, and Anthony Bogues, Author: Various Contributors, c.2024, Smithsonian Books, $39.95
Black History
Ashleigh Johnson: Pioneering the Way in Water Polo
Ashleigh Johnson attended Princeton University, where she played for the Tigers and dominated collegiate water polo. During her time at Princeton, she became the program’s all-time leader in saves and was recognized for her extraordinary ability to anticipate plays and block shots. She was a three-time All-American and was pivotal in leading her team to multiple victories. Balancing rigorous academics and athletics, she graduated with a degree in Psychology, showcasing her determination both in and out of the pool.
By Tamara Shiloh
Ashleigh Johnson has become a household name in the world of water polo, not only for her incredible athleticism and skill but also for breaking barriers as the first Black woman to represent the United States in the sport at the Olympic level. Her journey begins as a determined young athlete to a record-breaking goalkeeper.
Born on September 12, 1994, in Miami, Florida, Ashleigh grew up in a family that valued sports and academics. She attended Ransom Everglades School, where she was introduced to water polo. Despite water polo being a niche sport in her community, she quickly stood out for her remarkable agility, intelligence, and reflexes. Her unique skill set made her a natural fit for the demanding role of a goalkeeper.
Ashleigh attended Princeton University, where she played for the Tigers and dominated collegiate water polo. During her time at Princeton, she became the program’s all-time leader in saves and was recognized for her extraordinary ability to anticipate plays and block shots. She was a three-time All-American and was pivotal in leading her team to multiple victories. Balancing rigorous academics and athletics, she graduated with a degree in Psychology, showcasing her determination both in and out of the pool.
In 2016, Ashleigh made history as the first Black woman to be selected for the U.S. Olympic Water Polo Team. Representing her country at the Rio Olympics, she played a crucial role in helping Team USA secure the gold medal. Her stellar performances earned her the distinction of being named the tournament’s top goalkeeper, further cementing her status as one of the best players in the sport’s history.
Ashleigh didn’t just stop at one Olympic appearance. She continued her dominance in water polo, playing a key role in Team USA’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her ability to remain composed under pressure and deliver outstanding saves in crucial moments made her an irreplaceable member of the team.
At the age of 29, Johnson appeared in her third Olympiad in Paris at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Their first match was against Greece and the US team won easily and Johnson only gave up 4 points. U.S. Olympic head coach Adam Krikorian shared, “She’s an incredible athlete. She’s got great hand-eye coordination, great reflexes and reactions. And then she’s fiercely competitive – fiercely. And you would never know it by her demeanor or by the huge smile on her face. But to us, on the inside, we know how driven she is to be one of the best ever to do it.”
Team USA Women’s Water Polo ended their Olympic season in fourth place after a 10 – 11 loss to the Netherlands. Johnson only allowed 37 percent of the shots from the Netherlands.
Beyond her achievements in the pool, Ashleigh has used her platform to advocate for diversity in water polo and sports in general. As a trailblazer, she recognizes the importance of representation and works to encourage young athletes, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, to pursue their dreams.
Ashleigh has spoken about the challenges she faced as a Black woman in a predominantly white sport and how she turned those obstacles into opportunities for growth.
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