I recently read an opinion piece by a man I have respected for my entire life. And I was severely disappointed.
In his piece titled “A continuing crisis of black leadership,” Mike Jones names a cadre of leaders whom I also respect, but something was missing. He didn’t name one black female leader also working in the trenches to change things in our community.
He starts with the “For The Sake of All” study, stating that those who haven’t read it should be “given their immediate and unconditional release.” If he read it, he would know that I, a black female, have committed to fulfilling one of the reports goals, establishing children’s savings accounts.
He also talks about how we’re not indigenous to the community. Last time I checked, I live in the 26th Ward, north of Delmar. I made a conscious choice to move back to the neighborhood where I started, just behind the shuttered hospital, the old St. Luke’s, where I was born.
Speaking of moral black leadership demanding justice, one needs to look no further than St. Louis County Councilwoman Hazel Erby, who in a show of amazing courage, stood up to the St. Louis County Democratic Party last summer by forming the Fannie Lou Hamer Democratic Coalition. She challenged the status quo and took the heat for supporting Republican Rick Stream in the race for county executive. And came close to winning!
Jones then mentions businessmen, but I can name a couple of businesswomen also empowering people and changing lives. One needs to look no further than Sandra Moore, president of Urban Strategies, or Deborah Patterson, president of the Monsanto Fund.
In the halls of justice, are you aware of Loretta Lynch, our newly confirmed U.S. attorney general? Or how about Kamala Harris, California attorney general? Or if you just have to have a local comparison, what about Judges Anne Marie Clarke, Angela Quigless or Gloria Reno?
There are many more examples of black moral leadership, but my point is simple: It doesn’t just come in one gender, Mr. Jones. Rev. Karen Anderson said it best, “It’s one thing to be invisible to the majority, but it’s entirely something different when we are invisible to our own race.”
In 1851, Sojourner Truth said, “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together, ought to be able to turn it back and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.”
We aren’t asking to lead, Mr. Jones. Women are and have been leading right alongside (and at times in front of) the men you named in your opinion piece. We don’t need your permission or acknowledgement. We will continue to lead, with our without you.
Tishaura O. Jones is treasurer for the City of St. Louis.
