2008-2009 - Grand Valley State University

COE
Achievements
Her Story 2009
The Women
Against The Odds – Ella and Daisy
I am the great-granddaughter of a slave. Her name
was Ella Vincent; the surname belonged to the white
slave master who was her biological father, but she
was considered his property rather than his daughter.
Although I never had the opportunity to know her,
without her I would have no story to tell. Stories
passed down through the family tell me that she was
10 years old when the slaves were emancipated.
In adulthood, she married and gave birth to eight
children. She was described as a peacemaker and a
woman with a gentle spirit. She was born into slavery,
but freedom and independence must have been in
her soul. While working as a domestic servant, she
managed to purchase a sizeable parcel of land in
my home state of Virginia which she left to her heirs.
Can you imagine what it took to accomplish such
a feat in the post-Civil War years? Ella must have
recognized the importance of breaking both physical
and mental shackles and refused to let herself be
defined and delineated by others. She may have
cried over past injustices, but she was clearly more
focused on making a better future for her children
and her descendents. Today my brother lives on a
plot of that land. It stands as a testament to an
indomitable spirit, and it is where my story took root.
In contrast to Ella, my paternal great-grandmother
was something of a spitfire! In true southern tradition,
we called her Miss Daisy. Long before Morgan
Freeman drove Jessica Tandy’s Miss Daisy in the
movies, our own Miss Daisy was making her presence
known. Daisy Faison-Kee-Woods-Epps (count them –
three husbands, and she outlived them all!) was not
afraid to speak her mind. She was strong and determined
with a quick wit and quicker temper. One of my
favorite stories about Miss Daisy was when she
recalled an incident in which she got into an argument
with someone in a position of authority. The mores of
the day dictated that she should have kowtowed to
him and held her tongue. Miss Daisy ended the
recollection by stating that, “He was jumping this
high [motioned about a foot off the ground], but I
was jumping this high [motioned about two feet off
the ground]!” By the time I knew her, she was a tiny
woman with iron-grey hair and failing health, but I
knew that she had been a “pistol” in her day. She
was a certified midwife at a time when most black
women in the south had few options other than domestic
work or field work if they needed to contribute to
the family income. The lesson I learned from Miss
Daisy’s example was that you have to be willing to
stand up for yourself in the face of challenge.
The Storytellers – Lillie and Fannie
It often seemed to me that my two grandmothers
were somehow switched at birth because Lillie’s
gentle personality seemed to match the descriptions
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Faculty Awards
of Ella that I had heard from others. Fannie, on the
other hand, was the same strong-willed, “take no
prisoners” kind of woman that Miss Daisy had been.
Both of them loved to talk, and it was through the
two of them that I developed an early appreciation
for oral history and my own roots. I spent countless
hours in their company listening to stories about “the
old days.” Though they approached life differently,
both were incredibly strong. Despite the numerous
hardships that they endured in their lives, I seldom
heard either of them complain. In addition to family
history, I learned from them to take what life gives
you and make the best of it.
The Heart of It All – Lady Virginia
My mother’s name was Virginia. She was about five
feet tall, but she occupied a lot of space in my world
and that of my family. I started calling her Lady
Virginia because of the way she carried herself. She
was loving, kind, generous and warm to those she
loved, but she also knew how important it was to be
good to her self. You might say she raised it to an art
form, and somehow all of her children, grandchildren,
sons-in-law and daughters-in-law bought right into it.
She stood under the shelter while we went through
the rain to get the car for her. Then we held an
umbrella over her head so that she wouldn’t get wet
getting into the car. So what if we got soaked? Our
clothes would dry eventually. Spouses sat in the back
seat of their own cars while she sat in the front. We
thought she deserved the world, or at least whatever
she wanted of it, and we did everything in our power
to bring her joy, honor and comfort.
My mother got her first driver’s license at the age of
69. My father had been stricken with Parkinson’s
disease and was no longer able to drive. Rather than
be dependent on others, my mother took a driver’s
education course and learned to drive. Lady Virginia
taught me the importance of self-esteem; if you don’t
believe that you’re someone of value, then you probably
shouldn’t expect anyone else to believe it either.
She also taught me that it’s never too late to learn.
Sisters and Best Friends – Barbara, Betty and Bernice
Most people aren’t lucky enough to grow up with
three best friends living in the same house. My sisters
have been a constant source of support, advice,
friendship, fun and love throughout my life. My
brother-in-law insists that we switch into “Sister
Speak” when we are together because of the way in
which we communicate. When two or more of us are
out in public, we usually notice that people are looking
at us and smiling (or maybe they are laughing at us!)
because we laugh so much when we are together.
I think that too many adults have forgotten how to
play and how to laugh; I will be eternally grateful to
my sisters for keeping laughter and fun in my life
during the worst of times. They are also three of the