Leticia James, Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg, (Hon.) Tanya Chutkin, Ruby Freeman, and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss are doing their best to lead us out of the criminality-infused jungle cultivated by a former president and fertilized with the fear and hatred of those who believe they’re being replaced. Similar to the roots of poison ivy and bamboo, the roots of fear-based hatred grew unabated and underground until given permission to emerge and propagate.
In emulation of two past guides, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, the people I’ve listed above are risking their careers, their professional reputations, and their lives to clear the way for truth to bloom. Last Thursday, Fani Willis’ efforts were in the spotlight of public and private opinion. As I listened to and watched her deliver her testimony, I returned to an important lesson I learned when I began my career in the classroom.
The lesson I learned was to never gauge a student’s ability to learn based solely upon his/her appearance, attitude, demeanor, or manner of speaking. Doing so would affect my efforts to reach the student. More importantly, my lack of effort might stifle my student’s expectations of what she or he could achieve.
This lesson returned when I watched CNN’s live-feed of Ms. Willis’ courtroom testimony. I heard her utter a slang expression to express “one-thousand dollars.” I heard her name the brand of her preferred adult beverage. I knew I wasn’t listening to CNN’s or MSNBC’s Black legal experts whose more academia- infused language was the standard to which I was accustomed to hearing. I would have clutched my pearls had I been wearing them!
Later that evening, as I watched the videos of Ms. Willis standing toe-to-toe with the attorney charged with questioning her, I realized I’d rushed to judgement about Fani Willis, who she is and what she has achieved. My East Coast, educated, middle-class Black ears almost made me miss appreciating the value of Ms. Willis. When I watched and listened carefully, I witnessed a woman who possesses a cogent grasp of and allegiance to the law, a prosecutor who very easily takes her legal adversaries “to school,” a brave fierce woman who does not permit anyone to demean or try to lay untruthful garbage and inuendo at her door. Ms. Willis is ready and willing to “throw down” in defense of her right to rip out the aforementioned poisonous weeds choking our democracy. In short, and to quote my late mother, Fani Willis is “someone to get ready for.”
Dear Readers, I have no doubt the Attorneys General, judge, and falsely accused mother and daughter I mentioned in the first paragraph are equally determined to dig up the roots of corruption that put us all in danger. With one exception they are Black women. I am as proud of that fact as I am certain they will prevail.
©Renée Bess
Renée is the author of five novels, the co-curator of a GCLS award winning anthology, and one of the winners of the 2019 Alice B. Readers’ Award. Renés’s next book, Her Last Secret, will be published in August, 2024 by Flashpoint Publications. http://www.reneebess.com
The Wide Window 