Peggy Brooks-Bertram - Dear Kamala

Table of Contents

This book is a publication of

Red Lightning Books

an imprint of

Indiana University Press

Office of Scholarly Publishing

Herman B Wells Library 350

1320 East 10th Street

Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

iupress.indiana.org

2021 by Peggy Brooks-Bertram

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

Manufactured in the United States of America

First printing 2021

Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-68435-162-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-68435-163-3 (web PDF)

CONTENTS

I owe a special debt to Dr. Johnnetta Cole, President of the National Association of Black Womens Clubs who submitted a letter she wrote to Kamala Harris on behalf of the thirteen extraordinary Black Womens organizations of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Womens Clubs, an organization representing more than 2,000,000 Black women around the world. That letter is published in this book. A special thanks to those women from Buffalo, New York, who believed in this project and responded rapidly to my requests for letters and shared their ideas with me. Thanks also to numerous women who tuned in from around the country to join hastily called Zoom meetings so that they could see other contributors and offer their comments about the project.

I thank my husband for his assistance and for his unending patience addressing my technology faults. A great thank-you to Jennifer Parker, the founder and owner of Jackson Parker Communications LLC, a public relations consulting firm that offers integrated marketing solutions, public relations, and community outreach. Jennifer walked meon more than one occasionthrough the bowels of social media, without which this work could not have been possible. She was indispensable for the web work, social media platform access, and her broad organizational skills. I am deeply indebted to her for her knowledge, support, and deep friendship and her We Can Make it Work mentality.

There were also numerous women who not only submitted their own letters but also notified their friends and colleagues about this project, urged them to submit a letter, and followed up on their submissions, letting no one fall through the cracks. I am especially indebted to Kadidia Doumbia from France, a specialist in gender education, for her assistance in identifying several women from the African continent; Diane Williams from Mississippi, who identified several poets and world-renowned celebrated storytellers and encouraged them to respond; and Arlette Miller Smith for referrals of other thoughtful writers. I am indebted to the expatriates such as Adrianne George from Sweden, who has worked within Democrats Abroad as the Global Caucus leader and Global Volunteers leader, as a member of the Global Black Caucus Steering Committee, and who is currently on the Affirmative Action Committee and is Swedens Black Caucus Chair.

I owe a special thanks to all those women around the world who stopped in their tracks, wrote a letter, and called their friends, children, and other women and asked them to also write a letter to Kamala. And thanks to all of those women in different time zones who wrote letters and joined Zoom meetings and who woke up each morning to a loud, colorful fireworks video urging them to contribute. Deep thanks to all of them. And, thanks to all those women who gave me time and space on their blogs and podcasts, for example, Black Girl Nerds, Blavity.com, news stations and professionals such as Terry Wisdom with Harlem Network News, and myriad Facebook pages supporting Kamala Harris, such as When Black Women Gather, Black Women for Kamala Harris, Black Women in Suburbia, Black Women United for Kamala Harris, and many others.

It is important to acknowledge the Girl Scouts of America, particularly a group of young girls from California. The troop is led by Kristen Podulka, and when the young fifth graders indicated that they wanted to send letters to Kamala, Kristen dove right in and came back with twelve beautifully written and very thoughtful letters. These young girls are from myriad regions of the world including the US, India, and Australia. They are a beautiful addition to the Dear Kamala letters, and the topics they inquire about were myriad. They placed heavy emphasis on planet safety including clean oceans, cleaner air, and safety of animals in clean water. They asked Kamala to address major international issues such as the return of the United States to the Paris Agreement for climate change, and one expressed a desire to be a Supreme Court justice. They called for halting the spread of COVID 19, combating worldwide pollution, eliminating racism and discrimination in the country, and replacing plastic with compostable materials. All were concerned about global warming and the melting glaciers that affect the lives of the polar bears. Caring about current political divides, they asked the Vice President for her thoughts on how she thinks the country is currently being run. They called for decreased homelessness and expressed delight in seeing women of color be elected and called for legislation to enhance diversity and inclusion. That is a lot from a small group of fifth graders and it is powerful, and we thank them. These are tall orders for a new Vice President.

The 30 Woman Company (1873)

Something rotten was hangin over the suffocating air that Friday afternoon when Ella, Janey, Lady Jones and another 27 of us women decided to free Sethe from [a] blood drenched past and [a] lunatic present. Walking dusty, determined and prepared, we brought ready weaponsherbs, roots, Bibles and faithto battle the evil lurking at 124 Bluestone. We stopped shy of the yard while... Mazey dropped to her knees and, like tumbling dominoes, we all sank down into the dusty brown earthpraying, mourning, whispering, sighing, singing and praying the road down some mo:

Hear our prayer, oh Lord. Bring thy servant, Sethe, from the hovering

wickedness. Keep her strong, master. Put your protective arms round bout her... Then cast all evil back to hell. Fling it and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness, Father.... Deliver Sethe from her past sins... we ask you, Lord. Amen. [But]

This is not a story

This is not a story to pass on;

This is not a story

This is not a story to pass on

This is a silentsufferingsong of a wretchedwickedworld gone wrong (Miller Smith).

In Beloved, Toni Morrisons iconic novel, a passel of determined women show up, speak up, and rise up in solidarity to save their estranged neighbor, Sethe, who was being terrorized by the past in her home at 124 Bluestone Road. Some of the women are reluctant participants in the rescue. They believe Sethe deliberately excluded them for 18 years from her misery; nevertheless, protecting their own outweighs her perceived arrogance and their lingering doubts.