BY WEVONNEDA MINIS , ADAM PARKER
Monday, February 13, 2012
Article from The Post and Courier
To be a black woman in America today is no simple matter.
The challenges and opportunities come from many directions. Success and struggle coexist. Meaningful and lasting relationships can be hard to find. Family and faith play a vital role.
The Post and Courier profiled 6 local women who share aspects of their aspirations, struggles and triumphs.
A poll recently conducted by The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation paints a complex portrait of the black woman today, shattering some long-held myths.
Is she stoic or vulnerable? Independent or longing for love? Is career more important than marriage and family? How does religious faith influence her life?
The poll sheds light on the dynamic and changing roles black women play, and the complicated feelings they hold.
To humanize the numbers, The Post and Courier has profiled six local women who share aspects of their aspirations, struggles and triumphs.
Online chat:
Join The Post and Courier's Shirley Greene and Wevonneda Minis for a live online chat about this package at 2 p.m. Go to postandcourier.com/blackwomentoday to participate.
Charlotte Allen: Lawyer-to-be
Charlotte Allen knows where she wants to go. The Charleston Southern University sophomore has her life mapped out. First stop law school, then time as a prosecutor, and before too long her own law firm and a career of representing abused children.
Charlotte Allen Age: 19 Residence: North Charleston Occupation: Student, Charleston Southern Family status: Single One word that describes you: Driven.
Charlotte Allen
Age: 19
Residence: North Charleston
Occupation: Student, Charleston Southern
Family status: Single
One word that describes you: Driven.
Allen, who majors in criminal justice and political science, is not always taken seriously when she talks about her plans. She gives tours to visitors at CSU, and sometimes older visitors say they don't picture her as a lawyer. Allen is not sure why, but is not surprised at their response.
"It's going to be challenging for me to be seen in a powerful role," says Allen, who is from Columbus, Ohio. "While that's true to a certain extent for all women, it's tougher for black women to be seen in such roles. It will probably take some time to get to the point where people just say 'Charlotte Allen, the prosecutor,' instead of 'Charlotte Allen, the black woman prosecutor.' "
She says it will be easier to meet her goals in a bigger city. "In Atlanta, it's not going to be that hard," she says. "And Charleston is pretty diverse, but in a lot of smaller Southern cities, they have a problem with an African-American woman in power. Organizations can be diverse and still have a problem hiring an African-American woman for a position of authority."
There are a lot of stereotypes about African-American women, Allen says. They include the image of people who hold odd jobs, are single with children and struggling financially.
"There's also the 'angry black woman' or the 'bitter black woman,' which are derogatory terms," Allen says. She believes, however, that it's going to be important for her to be seen as the strong black woman. "A lot of people will throw stuff at me, so I'm going to have to be tough. Keeping my game face on is going to be important."
But it won't be all about a career. "I'm a Baptist, so having a husband and raising children are important. "Having a family also is important to me because it is a support system."
Today she is dating and has a good relationship with God, she says.
"Religion is extremely important," Allen says. "I'm in a lot of activities and sometimes there is so much on my plate. So, there are times when I really get discouraged, but I don't want to call home and worry my parents. There's God, and I can always let loose with Him."
NeCole Davis: New dreams
The great awakening came when NeCole Davis returned to Charleston to take care of her ailing mother.
NeCole Davis Age: 49 Residence: West Ashley Occupation: Administrative assistant Family status: Single mother of one One word that describes you: Compassionate
NeCole Davis
Age: 49
Residence: West Ashley
Occupation: Administrative assistant
Family status: Single mother of one
One word that describes you: Compassionate
As a young woman, the achievement-minded Davis had landed on the honor roll at Burke High School, secured a full scholarship to Talladega College and launched a successful career as a computer technician in the Army and in the private sector.
She worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, moved on to NASA, then found a job at the Pentagon. By 1999 she was employed by a Fortune 500 accounting firm.
Along the way she had a son, Jarrell, though his father quickly drifted out of their lives.
Still, life was good. She earned a decent salary and could provide not only for her son, but for her mother as well.
In Maryland she met an older woman who wanted to be a nanny, to keep busy by caring for the child of a working mother. Davis, tentatively at first, then with gratitude once a relationship had been forged, let the woman care for Jarrell.
The nanny treated Jarrell as part of her family, gave him a room of his own. But this didn't seem right, and Davis thought of her own mother and how she raised 10 children single-handedly, how her mother instilled in all of her children a dedication to family.
"So I changed my attitude," Davis says. From that moment on, she would avoid split shifts, working on Sundays or past 5 p.m. and living in communities that weren't child-friendly.
When she came back to Charleston in 2000, she was surprised by a limited job market based less on merit and accomplishment and more on connections and luck.
She had moved her mother into a senior home, and soon ran out of money. For a couple months she was sleeping on the floor of her mother's vacated apartment. The job search was not going well.
At night, lying on the cold floor of the empty apartment, Davis contemplated suicide, but God stopped her, she says. "It was one of the most challenging times in my life, but also the most triumphant," she said.
Finally, she found room at the Florence Crittenton home, and then she found a job and stable living quarters.
Today, she is building new dreams. She wants to start a nonprofit that advocates for single women. For Davis, what's most important in life is God, her mother, her son and her close friends. "I think if I have those I have everything."
Trimeka Johnson: Priorities
Trimeka Johnson's faith led her to Charleston.
Born in Greenville in 1976, she was raised by her grandmother and always aspired to go to an Ivy League college.
Trimeka Johnson Age: 35 Residence: Summerville Occupation: Student Family status: Single mother of one One word that describes you: Resilient
Trimeka Johnson
Age: 35
Residence: Summerville
Occupation: Student
Family status: Single mother of one
One word that describes you: Resilient
She made it into Winthrop University but was soon distracted from her lofty goals. She became fixated on buying a nice car, which meant choosing between material gain and her education. Her grandmother failed to dissuade her. "It's my biggest regret," she says.
Around the same time she met a man and had a son, Kylin. But the relationship did not last and Johnson soon was a single mother.
In 2000 she received a notice from New Jerusalem Church in North Charleston advertising a seminar for single women who had endured broken relationships. When she met the pastor, Rev. Charlesetta Prioleau, and felt her warm embrace, she was "awestruck."
She moved to the Lowcountry and worked as a case manager for the departments of Social Services and Health and Human Services. When the grant that funded her position expired, she was let go. So she went back to school, taking criminal justice classes at The Citadel and Trident Technical College. "I am going to become a magistrate judge," she says.
She has two priorities, her son and her faith. The former is the source of her pride. The latter is the source of her optimism and resilience.
When Kylin arrived at Fort Dorchester High School from Rollings Middle School of the Arts, he was quickly tested by his fellow students. Was he soft? Gay? Cowardly? Someone hit him in the face. Someone dumped the contents of his book bag on the bathroom floor.
Kylin reacted. He went for the throat of his nemesis, prompting school officials to suspend him for two days. The episode revealed a difficult double-standard that young men often must face, Johnson noted. At school there are two sets of rules -- those established by teenagers that involve challenge and confrontation, and those determined by adults that demand discipline and self-control.
But the two sets of rules conflict. What is a teenage boy to do, especially one who harbors a quiet anger at an absent father?
So Johnson loves him. "He's got to know that he can come to mom."
The future is bright. Her son will succeed. She will finish school and pay back her loans. She will pray and love God. "It is faith," she says. "He gives me favor."
Karen Chandler: 'Strong'
Some people see race and ethnicity as limiting factors, especially for those who are African-American. But that's not the way Karen Chandler sees it.
Karen Chandler Age: 55 Residence: James Island Occupation: Professor of arts management Family status: Single. One word that describes you: Developing.
Karen Chandler
Age: 55
Residence: James Island
Occupation: Professor of arts management
Family status: Single.
One word that describes you: Developing.
Chandler, an associate professor of arts management at the College of Charleston, was raised by parents who first told her that she could accomplish whatever she wanted. Then they provided her with numerous examples of other African-Americans, many in her own family, who had done just that.
"I never thought my race would keep me from becoming anything," Chandler says.
While there have been situations in which she has not advanced at various times in her life, she says it was probably due to a combination of factors.
"It was because I was not talented enough, not tall enough or because I was a woman or because of my personality, but never because of race alone."
When she has been disappointed, her internal strength and fortitude have sustained her, she says.
"I am strong, I can take in a lot of hurt and not let it crush me, not let it keep me down. There are strong black women on both sides of my family. They are strong, dominant black women who don't back down from anybody or anything. That's in my DNA.
"So often (black women) are perceived as angry and short-tempered," Chandler says. "We don't have time for someone who is not bringing it."
Life is still easier for white men, white women, Asian men and Asian women than black women, Chandler says, but black women are advancing.
"More and more black women are desired for managing in large corporations," she says adding they are well-suited for such roles. "Nobody has the perspective that black women have. Even when a man is present, things can't move without her."
"Unique as a maternal figure and as a mover and shaker, she makes sure the ends meet even when she's not bringing home the bread," Chandler says. "She's the one who makes sure stuff gets taken care of, historically speaking. Ours is a perspective that only we have and it's suited for running a corporation."
Chandler no longer assumes a tough persona when making decisions at this point in her career; she allows the softer part of her personality to be exposed. "It's a much easier approach to life. That other way is just hard work. Always having to assume a certain way of thinking to advance can be tiring."
Deona Smith: Entrepreneur
Deona Smith stood in a booth at Black Expo 2010 presenting a new Lowcountry magazine she was helping launch. The magazine was conceived as a quality product featuring positive images of Lowcountry African-Americans, and the booth reflected that.
Deona Smith Age: 42 Residence: Awendaw Occupation: Publisher, Living Roots magazine Family status: Single, one son. One word that describes you: Driven.
Deona Smith
Age: 42
Residence: Awendaw
Occupation: Publisher, Living Roots magazine
Family status: Single, one son.
One word that describes you: Driven.
Smith recalls that two people stopped by and asked such questions as, "Who's backing you? Who's backing your publication? Who's behind you?" One was black and one was white, but both were surprised at the professional presentation put forth to introduce "Native."
"They assumed we must have had a white backer," says Smith, who since has re-launched the magazine as "Living Roots," and is its publisher. Such comments are in the minority, but remind Smith that she will always have to prove herself to a small percentage of the population.
"I offer a product rooted in the black community, but that needs the support of the whole community," says the 42 year-old Awendaw resident. So, when networking with other professionals in the community, she sometimes has to explain why having an African-American magazine in the Lowcountry is important to people who have not seen it.
When people see the magazine, the majority are pleased and often comment that its about time for such a publication, Smith says. But a few look at the glossy pages and well-written articles on black accomplishments and express surprise at the high quality.
"They expect something less than, something not as good," Smith says. "I feel offended and sorry for such people at once. I'm not talking about critiques. We all need honest critiques to improve. But I don't waste my time explaining what people are not going to understand or believe."
At those times, Smith remembers that she has been embraced by the community as a whole. She thinks about the people who have become her cheerleaders and mentors. She remembers that worrying about negative thoughts and comments is a waste of energy. And she reminds herself of the positive role models in her close-knit family and the successes she has had throughout her life.
"I keep going," she says. "I was raised to live a quality life and not dwell too much on the obstacles. My business brings me joy. I love being an entrepreneur. I love this freedom, creativity, flexibility. It's been a magnificent experience.
"Now, I can walk into Barnes and Noble and Piggly Wiggly and see "Living Roots" on the shelves. Having that sense of accomplishment is huge."
Norma Davis: Back to roots
Norma Davis is back home, living with her husband, Leonard, on the Wappoo Road property her great-grandfather owned. It's a gracious plot of land where an agronomist uncle once grew a special breed of strawberries.
Norma Davis Age: 71 Residence: West Ashley Occupation: Retired schoolteacher Family status: Married with three children One word that describes you: Experienced
Norma Davis
Age: 71
Residence: West Ashley
Occupation: Retired schoolteacher
Family status: Married with three children
One word that describes you: Experienced
Today it has a house and a distinct suburban feel. Gone are the days when Wappoo Road was a country path, and when blacks in Charleston relied entirely on their own farmers, shopkeepers, doctors and lawyers, school teachers, midwives, pastors and civic leaders.
Davis, 71, is the daughter of the late Joseph I.Hoffman, a once-prominent Charleston physician, and Ellen Hoffman, a school teacher.
Her youth was shaped by segregation. Institutions were distinctly black or white, but neighborhoods often were mixed.
When children played in their yard on President Street downtown after the family moved to be closer to Hoffman's practice on Cannon Street, a white girl who lived nearby would happily join the black children for an afternoon romp.
But when Davis and her mother encountered the same girl outside a store on King Street, her mother tugged her arm and pulled her away, leaving Davis confused.
Once, when Davis required the care of an otolaryngologist, her father reluctantly referred her to a white doctor he knew. Unlike many doctors at the time, this ENT physician had a single waiting room, and many were seated there when Davis and her mother arrived.
The receptionist checked them in, scanned the waiting area, then led mother and daughter to a small room just inside the offices. It was the broom closet.
Davis went off to college, majoring in English literature, then considered pursuing a master's degree in linguistics at the University of Michigan. But Leonard (who also has Lowcountry roots) was in dental school in Washington, D.C., and he convinced her to attend Georgetown University instead.
After they were married, Leonard joined his uncle's practice in Detroit.
The couple had three children -- Leslie, Stephen and Alan -- and made a good life for themselves up north. Leonard's dental practice flourished, and Norma taught English literature and English as a second language.
After her parents died she inherited the Wappoo Road house. They fixed it up and started coming to Charleston during the winter of 1997. Five years later they left Michigan for good.
Article from The Post and Carrier
