My mom’s life began in a cage.
By Councilman Albus Brooks
My mom’s life began in a cage.
She was the first black baby born in her town’s all-white hospital in rural Arkansas, but spent her first days on earth in a cage because the staff didn’t want her to “contaminate” the white babies. Oppressed and confined, this is how Dr. Joyce Brooks’ story begins.
Today, 71 years later, she continues to fight oppressive systems and dismantle the cages that confine the mind and body. She is as fierce as she is wise, and I want to share with you what she has taught be about being a change agent and voice for justice.
Her story is not one without loss. She and my father moved to Denver to be close to our kids and to build a new life in retirement, but unfortunately my father passed away suddenly in 2016. I was concerned how she would respond to my father’s death, because Dr. Joyce Brooks and Perry Brooks, Sr. were everything to one another. He was her rock. As with all things in her life, she responded to this loss with an outpouring of love. Her story is still being written.
The depth of her love for my father can be seen in how she supports those working to educate low-income young people across the city. My father’s legacy has sprouted new life in their stories, planted by my mom and watered with her unconditional love. She mentors women with stories similar to hers, and has become involved in Denver’s NAACP chapter. She is even forming a group called the “grey panthers,” which will organize senior citizens around advocating for quality education in Denver. Dr. Joyce Brooks, born into a cage in rural Arkansas, is a change agent in this city so young kids of color don’t have to be born into cages of poverty and low-quality education.
In many ways, I am learning more from my mom now than I did when I was growing up — which is saying something because she was an amazing parent. Here are some of the things I have been learning from her in this season, and it is my hope that we could all carry a piece of her story by applying these lessons in our lives.
“Love is a powerful weapon.”
Molded by her experience as a Black Panther, her fierce activism took shape as a black parent, and black professional. She taught me that true progress only comes when love and empathy are woven into the fibers of protest and resistance. Confrontation does not demand the presence of hatred, and the winding path towards justice can only be illuminated by love. Hatred is a cage that confines one’s own mind and heart, and when I hear my mom speak about the power love has to liberate hatred, I can’t help but be inspired at the splendor of this woman who was literally born into a cage.
She has taught me to engage issues with substance that comes from education and a curiosity for the truth, and with a love that comes from empathy and embracing the humanity of those we disagree with. Too many of today’s modern political movements are drowning in a quicksand of hatred and zero-sum games that only seek gains at the expense of another’s loss. Social media provides opportunities to engage with others, but too often it devolves into a platform to demean those we disagree with. If we engaged more often in loving, logical debate we would lay a stronger foundation for inclusive growth as a city. She has taught me the value of seeing the humanity of someone’s story, which is often missing from the swirling chaos of social media today.
My mom has taught me that the greatest agents of change are those that are willing to stand out and lead by challenging the status quo.
She has taught me that the builders of bridges give more to the world than the builders of walls.
As I reflect on her growing legacy, it is my hope that you will carry a piece of her story and share her desire to be different. She is exceptional. She is my mom.
