You don't know her, but you know the movement she helped create.
Photo: Associated Press
Last week, Jaunita Abernathy passed away in an Atlanta hospital at the age of 88. It wasn’t on the front page of national newspapers and it wasn’t a big ‘trending’ social media story. So if you didn’t hear it on the news, don’t worry. Most people didn’t. You’ve probably have never even heard her name. Lots of people these days haven’t.
But you know what she helped create.
You see, Jaunita Abernathy was the woman who wrote the business plan that helped guide the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56, the social action that was the catalyst for bringing national attention to the civil rights struggle in the South. She was the woman with the plan, who became known as the “cook of the Civil Rights Movement.”
And then the men got out front… and that’s far too often who we talk about, right? These are names you know: Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy (her late husband), Congressman John Lewis, and Reverend Jesse Jackson. Right? Sure, you’ve heard of Rosa Parks too. But did you know that after Rosa Parks took the courageous act of refusing to give her seat up on that Montgomery, Alabama bus on December 1, 1955, there was a written plan to launch the boycott that led to the desegregation of buses not only in Montgomery, but across the United States? Juanita Abernathy wrote that plan.
So behind the woman who sparked the Civil Rights Movement was a plan. And behind that plan was…another woman.
All of this has me thinking about the ways we celebrate the people up front. You know, those people on the stage, and in the press, who tweet, post, and generally make themselves known to the world. That’s not to say that these people aren’t leaders. They are. Most of them have done the hard work. They have helped create organizations and campaigns that required visionary leadership. Their place “up front” often isn’t just a claim to position, it is a result of showing up and being there, of being someone who had the courage to be in the front through the good times and the bad.
But for every person we see up front, there are countless individuals we don’t see. They are the ones whose quiet efforts turn possibility into reality. They don’t make the list of “most influential,” and they aren’t on the list of “ones to watch.” Why? Because they oftentimes prefer to be unseen. They choose to work behind the curtain to make sure the plans are written and the work gets done.
They are the people like Juanita Abernathy.
Jaunita wasn’t always in the background. She marched on Washington with many female civil rights activists (also who far too many of us have forgotten). But what was her mindset when she was writing the movement-changing plan and hosting the important meetings in her home back in the 50’s? Here it is in her own words (taken from an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2013):
“When I started off in ’55 in Montgomery, recognition and honor was nowhere in my mind. I started when there were no cameras and no newspapers writing nice things about you, instead they were writing all sorts of ugly things. But we kept going. It wasn’t about us. It wasn’t about me. It has always been about right and righteousness. Justice and equality. Not just for me and my family, but for all of God’s children.”
‘Nuff said.
We live in a day where getting credit is a currency of the ego, and it can be paid instantly with likes and shares. It’s a time when far too many people “do it for the ‘gram” as much as they do it for the cause. But not the Juanita Abernathys of our world. They are often in the back, sharpening their pencils and sharpening their (and our) thinking. Sadly, just like in the 1950’s, there are far too many men taking space up front, and far too many women not being given enough credit for what they create.
Just like Juanita Abernathy.
So as we go about our day-to-day lives perhaps it would benefit us to look a bit past the spotlights we see, and look into the shadows of the stories we think we know. There are people there of all genders who are creating new possibilities without the expectation of being celebrities. Look for them, support them, and shine a light on them. Because maybe everybody can see the action… but we can’t always see who wrote the plan. And sure, some of those individuals might not want the credit, but maybe they DO want us to remember Juanita Abernathy’s words.
“It wasn’t about us. It wasn’t about me. It has always been about right and righteousness. Justice and equality. Not just for me and my family, but for all of God’s children.”
Exactly.
Questions for further self-reflection:
Is there someone you work with who is the ‘person with the plan?’ How is that person recognized or celebrated in your team/organization?
Be honest with yourself, what do you do for credit and praise? If you didn’t get that feedback, would you still do it?
What is something you are working on that is about right and righteousness? Justice and equality? How can others help you with that work? Have you asked them? Why not?