MARYANN MAHAFFEY: “SHE DIDN’T SEE COLOR” By Grace Lee Boggs Michigan Citizen, Åugust 6-12, 2006 The death of Maryann Mahaffey has left a hole in my life and the life of Detroit. Soon after this little Iowa-born woman was first elected to the City Council in 1973 (the same year that Coleman Young was elected our first black Mayor), Detroiters began recognizing that we had someone in the City/County Building speaking up for those most in need, the homeless, the hungry and the marginalized, and for the good of the whole city. On every issue you could count on Maryann’s taking a position based on what was right against what was wrong. Even if no other Council members agreed with her, she took her stand and clarified the issue for us. Her concerns were mostly local but she was also a global citizen who supported the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. I have warm memories of two campaigns in which she (and Mel Ravitz) worked with us to win an important struggle. * the 1988 referendum on the issue of casino gambling. Despite Coleman Young’s claim that Detroit needed casinos to supply the jobs no longer ensured by the auto industry, the majority of Detroiters rejected the “quick-fix” of gaming as they had done on three previous occasions. It was only after a casino opened up in Windsor and we could see our dollars swimming across the river that Detroiters voted for three casinos. * the 1990 struggle to save the Ford Auditorium from being bulldozed for a Comerica Bank office building. Ford Auditorium was where Malcolm made his last Detroit speech on February 14, 1965, one week before his assassination. It was also treasured by thousands of Detroiters who over the years had walked across its stage to receive their high school diplomas. Maryann did not hesitate to take to the streets to bring the neighbor back into the ‘hood. In the late 80s and early 90s she would often join the WE-PROS (WE THE PEOPLE RECLAIM OUR STREETS) anti-crackhouse marches which helped reduce crime drastically in some neighborhoods. Along with Sister Theresa,, Dorothy Garner, Norma Mayfield, Charlotte Kish. Frank Zaorski, Shea Howell, Jimmy, myself and others, she chanted “Up with Hope! Down with Dope!” and “Dope Dealers, You’d better run and hide, ‘cause people are uniting on the other side.!” She walked her talk. In 1995, along with Bill and Jeanie Wylie-Kellerman, 91 year old Attorney Ernest Goodman, myself and others mobilized by Readers United, she was arrested for blocking the Detroit Free Press entrance in support of the newspaper strikers. Like hundreds of Detroiters I looked forward every year to her birthday party fund-raisers. As we signed in at a table near the entrance of Barth Hall in the Cultural Center or the IBEW hall in downtown Detroit, we were greeted by the smiling face of Hy Dooha, her husband of 56 years, After sipping wine, nibbling on cheese and listening to a brief talk by Maryann on the state of the city, we would line up for a simple supper of lasagna or spaghetti. Then we were free to wander around and sample (or gorge on) the almost obscenely rich cakes at each of the 20-30 tables, join those doing the hustle and/or singalong oldies like “You made me love you” or “Side by side. ” I always took my song sheet home with me. In a city overwhelmingly African American, Maryann frequently became City Council President because she received the most votes in the November elections. As I was writing this column, I asked Ellen Richardson, my old friend who was born and raised in Mississippi, why she and so many other African American Detroiters voted with such enthusiasm for Maryann Mahaffey. “She was just a little person but she was real, ” Ellen said. “She reminded me of Jimmy Boggs. She didn’t see color. You don’t find many people like that.” Email Grace Boggs Center, |