I am of Her

My mother was not afraid of anything, and by that, I mean she did not fear the powerful. In the wake of the killing of four little girls like me, she pushed the color line with me in tow. I was to be on the frontlines of a movement, and so were all the other Negro children of my generation in the South who were called to do something that had not yet been done, something the nation still was not yet quite ready to do.

For more on A Colored Girl Speaks, please see the website, www.andreahunter.com, and connect with me on Twitter @IamAndreaHunter and subscribe to this podcast.

We also invite you to share your stories and meditations, and to ask for those stories not yet given.

References, Resources, and Copyright

• Hurricane Andrew was a destructive Category 5 storm, highest sustained winds 175 mph, that struck South Florida in August 1992, the eyewall moved across Homestead and Florida City which sustained substantial damage. Hurricane Andrew Fact Sheet | III. (2017). Property damage $27. 3billion (192, US), and 65 deaths.
• Fort Valley State College A public and historically black university in Fort Valley, Georgia. Founded in 1895.
• Jim Crow was a popular character in 19th century ministry, where white men donned blackface and enacted the character in entertainment shows. See A. Costly (2019). A Brief History of Jim Crow - Constitutional Rights Foundation; and Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University. Jim Crow later referred to de facto social customs and de jure state and local laws in the southern United States that codified racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans and other non-whites in education, transportation, housing, employment and recreation,  first enacted in the 19th century (after Reconstruction) through the early 20th century.
• The Sixteenth Street Baptist St. Church, Birmingham, AL. was a large and prominent church in the African American community. Youth participating in The Children Crusade met here and left from this church for their march (May 1963). In September 1963, the church was bombed by white supremacist terrorist group killing four girls, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley. See George, D., McKinstry, C., McKinstry, C. M. (2011). While the world watched: A Birmingham bombing survivor comes of age During the Civil Rights Movement: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., and Four Little Girls, Spike Lee, Director. 

The Colored Girl Speaks Podcast Team

• Andrea Hunter, Essayist and Producer
• Tiera Chiama Moore Narrator, Co-Producer and Vocal Artist
• Vernonia Thornton, Announcer
• Jamonica Brown and Deanna Floyd, Production Assistants