Lenten Hero Stories
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Lenten Hero Stories M A R C H 1 5 T H - 1 9 T H Lent interrupts our day to day rhythm and invites us to reflect. We believe We prepare for Easter by examining our hearts, lives and in the power faith. In this season we go deeper with three experiences of stories of stories. Whether you engage in our small groups, Sunday We celebrate the lives of 33 services or Justice Journey women of color. All different: events, we pray your faith will scientists, advocates, teachers, grow. artists, writers, politicians but all bold pioneers and heroes. We May these women look to their lives and legacies and seek to learn. and their stories bless you. Lenten Hero Stories W E E K F O U R GLADYS BENTLY Blues Singer, Pianist & Entertainer, birthplace: Philadelphia, PA, 1907 - 1960. Gladys Bentley challenged societal norms of gender stereotypes in the 1920s, 30s and 40s as a performer in the Harlem Renaissance. She violated the accepted code of morals and presented herself with fluidity. At a young age, she felt more comfortable in her brother’s clothes than dresses. Her family subjected her to medical and hormone treatment to “cure'' her, but she rebelled by running away to Harlem when she was just 16 years old. She found freedom in the Prohibition Era which fueled an underground emergence of cultural expression and queer celebration. She convinced a nightclub they needed a female piano player and in her typical white tuxedo, she became a headliner. She was boldly out and unashamed of her queer desires. She adapted modern songs to widen the conception of what a woman could be, with lyrical and sexual prowess. Sadly, her queerness brought criticism and often came into conflict with the church. As Prohibition ended and the McCarthy Era took over, Glady was forced back into the closet. In post WWII America, like many in the LGBTQ+ community, Bentley bent to the society norms of gender and sexuality. However, many celebrate her today because she paved the way for the Black queer community through her showmanship and courage. As musician Shirlette Ammons says, “Gladys went back into the closet so that one day, I would never have to do that.” MARY LOU WILLIAMS Jazz Pianist, Arranger & Composer, birthplace: Atlanta, GA, 1910- 1981. Mary Lou Williams was a music prodigy, teaching herself to play the piano at three years old. Her music skills became a means of survival as the mostly white neighborhood in Pittsburgh targeted and harassed her family. But that all changed when Mary Lou played the piano. By age six she was supporting her family by playing at neighborhood parties. She became a professional musician by age fifteen and started performing all over the country. This started her career that would span more than five decades. Mary Lou Williams wrote more than a hundred compositions and arranged more than a hundred records. It’s said while performing in Harlem, Louie Armstrong was so enraptured by her performance that afterwards picked her up and kissed her. Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie. Later in life she became a devote Catholic. Her faith helped her through dark times as she lost friends like Charlie Parker and stepped away from music. She returned to her passion as a means to honor God and share her gift with the world. Lenten Hero Stories W E E K F O U R SUSIE KING TAYLOR Educator, Army Nurse & Author, birthplace: Liberty County, GA, 1848 - 1912. Susie King Taylor spent her whole life elevating others through education. Born onto a plantation, Susie was permitted to live with her grandmother Dolly in Savannah. There she received an education in an illegal school run by a free African American woman, Mrs. Woodhouse. When the Civil war started, Susie’s education caught the attention of the Union soldiers in Union-occupied St. Simons Island. They enlisted her to start a school for children and adults. She became the first Black teacher in a school for freed African Americans in the state of Georgia. After getting married to Edward King, a noncommissioned officer in the First South Carolina Volunteers of African Descent, she traveled with his unit and provided medical service during the day and helped the soldiers with literacy at night. Some claim she was the first African American Army nurse, but in truth there were quite a few during the civil war. However none of them received any pay or compensation. After the war, Taylor continued teaching, setting up a school in Savannah. When her first husband died, she traveled north to Massachusetts where she met and married Russel Taylor. Later in life, Susie King Taylor would write a memoir of her experience as an Army nurse and teach for generations to come through her autobiography. RUBY BRIDGES Civil Rights Activist, birthplace: Tylertown, MS, 1954 - Present. Many of us picture Ruby Bridges as the brave young girl in the Norman Rockwell painting boldly entering a school surrounded by soldiers. It’s true, at age six, Ruby courageously paved the way for others as she became the first African American student to desegregate all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. And yet, even today Ruby Bridges Hall continues to advocate for civil rights and fight for equality, SIXTY years on! In 1999, Ruby formed the Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote "the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences". Describing the mission of the group, she says, "racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it. She has dedicated her life to advocacy and continues in this pursuit in New Orleans, where she lives with her husband and four sons. Lenten Hero Stories W E E K F O U R CHERYL MILLER Basketball champion, birthplace: Riverside, CA, 1964 - present. Many might know Reggie Miller, the famed Indiana Pacer, but his older sister was a trailblazer herself. Everyone in her hometown of Riverside, California knew her basketball skills would help her excel. But high school accolades would not be the only medals to decorate her wall. Miller went on to attend the University of Southern California, studying telecommunications and helping to lead her basketball team to two national championships in 1983 and 1984. In 1984- 1985 she won the ESPN Woman Athlete of the Year award and also led the US women’s basketball team to gold medal victory at the Goodwill Games in 1986. But her influence was even greater off the court. Miller became an advocate for children and young adults. She worked as a sportscaster breaking down gender barriers. After a short stint in the WNBA, she coached at a professional and collegiate level from 1986 - 2019. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS Which hero story struck you and why? What part of Jesus’s story struck you and why? How do these stories inspire your faith? How do these stories impact how you see your story? How can you respond to or share what you learned this week? This week’s Jesus story: Friend of Sinners Matthew 9:9-13.