On Wednesday afternoon, the Saint Mary’s Division for Equity and Inclusion and Gender and Women’s Studies Department held a joint lecture to highlight the accomplishments of Black women who helped to progress the Civil Rights Movement.
The lecture, titled “Hidden in Plain Sight: Black Women of the Civil Rights Movement,” featured special guest Arielle Brandy, the granddaughter of Barbara Vance Brandy, who spoke at the event about the legacy her grandmother left within the South Bend community.
The line-up of speakers also included vice president for inclusivity and equity Redgina Hill, assistant director of the LGBTQ+ Center Eli Williams, associate professor Jamie Wagman, junior Giselle Martinez, and senior Sophie Johnson.
On the lecture’s importance, Williams shared, “It’s really important to acknowledge that women have been left out of the dominant historical narrative … That’s something that we as a Saint Mary’s community need to learn as much as we can about.”
“It was really great seeing queer history represented in the lecture and hearing that trans history is women’s history,” said Saint Mary’s senior Phoenix McClellan.
Hill started the lecture by providing a historical overview of the Civil Rights Movement. She emphasized that each historic moment was executed with the support and leadership of Black women, noting that they are often not given the credit or recognition their work deserves.
“These women strategized, they organized, they mobilized. They didn’t just hold traditional roles, they didn’t just cook for the men so they could put their minds together. No, they were out there on the front lines as well,” Hill said.
“I wanted to bring this struggle to today’s struggle, to connect the dots with the modern movements,” Hill continued, noting the ongoing role of women in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Women featured in the lecture included Ella Baker, Ruby Bridges, Coretta Scott King, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer, Dr. Pauli Murray, and Brandy.
Their stories were often interconnected. “Both Ella Baker and Ruby Bridges made enduring contributions to the civil rights movement together. These two women represent a big part of the Civil Rights Movement, a movement led by both individual courage and collective action,” Martinez said. “Their legacies continue to guide and inspire the fight for racial justice and equality.”
Wagman shared the accomplishments of Scott King and Nash, whose stories inspired her work as a gender historian. Both figures faced harsh condemnation from politicians, having to do their work on their own with community support.
Johnson focused on Lou Hamer, who was a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizer, and later founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Her work with the MFDP centered around bringing to light the illegitimacy of the state’s democratic party, as Black citizens were not allowed to vote.
“As an impoverished and disabled Black woman, Hamer challenged the image of a political leader and a civil rights activist. Despite this, she was proud of these identities, and she used them to her advantage. She was an integral part of passing legislation that would protect voting rights, and she is remembered for her powerful speeches,” Johnson said.
Williams explored the life and legacy of Pauli Murray, who was an LGBTQ+ professor, Episcopal priest, lawyer, poet and activist who championed for LGBTQ+ rights as well as the Civil Rights and Feminist Movements.
“We may not learn about her in textbooks or history classes, but she changed everything in this country, whether we know her name or not,” Williams said, adding that Pauli Murray wrote that “one person plus a typewriter constitutes a movement.”
Assistant Director of the LGBTQ+ Center Eli Williams presents the history and efforts of Dr. Pauli Murray at Haggar Parlor.
Brandy described that at nine years old her grandmother was denied entry into the natatorium, as African Americans were not allowed to swim there aside from one day a week. This natatorium later became South Bend’s Civil Rights Heritage Center, where Brandy was able to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony. The Center’s logo is inspired by her, featuring the red bathing suit she wore as a kid heading to the pool.
Brandy was the first African American secretary at Robertson’s Department Store, which later turned into an apartment complex that she lived in for several years later. She was also the first African American secretary in SBCSC at Kaley/Kennedy Elementary School. She was recognized as the best typist in the city and became the first African American executive secretary for the engineerings office in St. Joseph County.
Later on, she contributed to the ‘Voice of the People’ section in the South Bend Tribune, addressing the inequality in their actions and legislations of local elected officials.
“All of these accomplishments came a lot of racial harassment, a lot of pushback being in these predominantly white spaces as the only Black woman. She was still seen as ‘the help’,” Brandy said.
Brandy’s own professional pursuits and accomplishments have been inspired by her grandmother. She has been involved in Democratic politics for 15 years, serving as the Indiana State Director for the Pete Buttigieg presidential campaign from 2019 to 2020, writing policies for the Joe Biden Administration and assisting with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
“I love what I do, but there have been barriers every step of the way, and a lot of those same barriers that my grandmother had were some of the same barriers that I had today. I would say that I have been privileged enough to be able to know how to navigate them because she experienced them first at a time that is different from ours, but very similar,” Brandy said.
Brandy’s family started Ripples in the Water – The Barbara V Brandy Foundation, which aims to keep Brandy’s legacy alive by contributing to the community.
