Support, like Steel

A love letter to my family

The people who give you their food give you their heart.”

Cesar Chavez

I grew up in a home and family where there was always plenty of food and love. We regularly gathered to be with one another and enjoy each other’s company. Quality time and acts of service were my family’s love languages. We loved being together during holidays and every part of the year.

While my immediate family consisted of my mother, father, sister, and me, I had a plethora of aunts, uncles, cousins, and play cousins in my orbit. My maternal side of the family derives from a man named Mervin McGrew Brown marrying a woman named Dannie Mae Johnson, creating something new but not unique. Both originally hail from Choctaw County, Alabama, and became a staple in the Smithfield Community of Birmingham, AL.

Grandfather

My grandfather owned a small grocery store in the East Thomas neighborhood. He started this store for two reasons: one, he was an industrious man. He was skilled with his hands and had a mind for business. He was an entrepreneur who saw a need in his community and knew he had the skills to serve others. The other reason is that he felt he had more to give than society would let him show. An intelligent Black man born in rural Alabama in 1923 found himself coming of age during the great depression in the Jim Crow South.

He fought in World War II, but to this day, I don’t know if he enlisted or if he was drafted. My mother tells me he didn’t speak much about his time during the war, but the best I can ascertain is that he may have been an ambulance driver. I don’t believe anyone knows for sure, and the death and destruction that so many men of that generation witnessed was not something most of them felt they could communicate to people who weren’t there.

My grandfather had a knack for seeing the beauty in life. His favorite adjective was “beautiful.” He would utter it whenever he experienced something amazing or pleasurable. He most often said it when family gathered together or did something to support one another. He saw the beauty in being together. He found pleasure in his family.

Grandmother

The same can be said for my grandmother, Dannie Mae Brown, affectionately known as Dear or Ma Dear. She was a caring woman who dedicated much of her life to her children and grandchildren. She was the type of grandmother who opened her house to all her grandchildren during the summer, weekends, and weeknights. My mother, a nurse, worked at a hospital near my grandmother’s home, so we spent many weekends in her care.

She was the anchor of our family; as people left in search of meaning and purpose, they always came back to Dear, who never turned anyone away. She was a north star during the storms of life, reminding us of how deeply we were loved and that we came from somewhere. She weaved the core value of hospitality into everything she did. There was always food, always a place for you to sleep, and always love.

Foundations

Their lives provided a foundation for their progeny to thrive. Were they perfect? Find the perfect family, and I'll show you people who have gotten good at covering up their secrets. They were Black people seeking to build a life from the material they were handed. My grandfather's formal education stopped at sixth grade, but my grandmother was fortunate to graduate from Alabama A&M University. They made mistakes, but they never lacked love.

Last year, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Esau McCaulley about his book How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South. In his book, he discusses how we all desire to make a life. Our promised land is where we can thrive and enjoy life's beauty and blessings. Many call it the American Dream, but what he describes is deeper than that. It's making the most out of the life we've been given and finding prosperity (wholeness) and peace. It's about finding a place to settle and the freedom to explore.

My grandmother instilled the importance of home, and my grandfather gave us the courage to explore. Their support shaped our family in profound ways.

Origins

Birmingham, Alabama, is known as the Magic City. Formed after the Civil War during the Reconstruction period, it is the only place on earth that contains an abundant amount of the three necessary ingredients to form steel: iron ore, coal, and limestone. This unique geographical advantage, coupled with the South’s need to rebuild its economy during this post-Civil War era, caused Birmingham to experience explosive growth in population and prosperity. Though that prosperity was not dispersed to all, Birmingham became a place where Black people journeyed in search of a promised land.

My grandmother, grandfather, and countless others fall into that category. They came here in search of a place to raise a family, find meaningful jobs, buy homes, and build a community. Supported by the railroad, mining, coal, and steel industries, many people carved out meaningful lives under the weight of backbreaking work and seemingly impossible circumstances. The steel industry in Birmingham became the economic driver for what would become the state’s largest city. Steel supported the development of a city and a people.

Support

To survive, people had to fortify themselves into communities that supported and cared for one another. Due to their day's social and economic disparities, they found strength through the shared experience of doing life together. They built schools like Industrial High School (A.H. Parker High School) and Tuggle Institute, formed by Carrie A. Tuggle; became titans of industry like A. G. Gaston; and shook the foundations of Jim Crow and segregation through the Civil Rights Movement’s leaders like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.

Lives and communities forged in the fire, like steel. Strengthened through adversity and bonded through love.

They provided the necessary support to pursue our own promised lands. So, in the tradition of those who came before me, I'm building on the foundation and following the road map for what it means to thrive in this country. Still, as I explore my origins and the origins of the people and places I call home, I am reminded of how much we have all been given and the support we've been offered. That support is like steel, strong enough to hold our lives and communities. Pliable enough to carry us into an uncertain future.

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