A Passionate Mind In Relentless Pursuit
A preview of my interview with Professor Noliwe Rooks, author of a powerful biography and meditation on the life, legacy, and current day lessons of Mary McLeod Bethune
I loved interviewing Noliwe Rooks. Not only is she a scholar with a deep knowledge of the civil rights movement, she speaks with heart and wisdom about what we need to learn from those stories.
In these turbulent times, we must turn to the stories of those who came before us, the ones who navigated storms of their own and left us roadmaps for resistance, survival, and hope. One such voice belongs to Mary McLeod Bethune, a name that ought to echo loudly in our collective memory but often doesn’t. Her story, captured so vividly in Noliwe Rooks' book, A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune, is more than a historical account—it’s a guide for how we can respond to today’s rising tide of racism and regression.
I knew I had seen you somewhere! Anyway, you are so right about learning from examples who came before. Our opponents certainly are, although they lift up examples such as Reagan, Nixon, and Hitler. I have as a few of my mentors John Lewis, Russell Means, Michael Hastings, and Nadine Smith!