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  • Essay / Life Remembered - 1591

    The setting for this interview with Mamie McFadden was done in her home at 10786 S. Peoria, Chicago, Illinois. The house is a brick cottage with a concrete-based metal-railed porch. Ms. McFadden greeted me at the door and mentioned that her housekeeper had recently left and was excited to do this interview. Walking through the door at 12:30 in the afternoon, I was greeted by the aroma of cooking cabbage coming from the scullery. The living room, where the interview was to take place, seemed to have stood still in time. There is no doubt that this house was decorated in its prime, in the 1970s. The orange plaster walls contrasted with the cream ceiling, along with the square tiled mirrors on the south wall, took me back back when I was a little boy and my aunt had a similar style living room. It occurred to me that most African American women not only share a sisterhood in trials and tribulations, but also in tastes and decorations. McFadden is 5'2" with slightly stooped shoulders. She has caramel skin, brown eyes and weighs approximately 120 pounds. She survived two bouts of cancer and was recently released to return to her teaching duties at the Sunday school. She is a widow, whose husband died in 1994. She wears a contemporary brown wig and dresses more modern than most women her age. were you born? Her response was “September 30, 1940.” She continued with a big smile on her face as she said, “I’m 71 years old” I immediately thought of the 1940s and the conditions faced by many African Americans. were facing during the Great Depression and World War II. Mrs. McFadden told me she was born in Milledgeville, Georgia. She repeated this with pride, sp...... middle of paper .... ...the times she was the victim of individual prejudice She seems relieved in her smile when she talks about the bonds that unite her with her brothers and sisters, and even a few white neighbors whom she called brothers and friends. . She is still close to her family as they all gather together every Thanksgiving in Georgia. She travels South, sometimes traveling South by train, but as I sat with her I could see that she made many trips South while sitting in her living room. By the end of this interview, I was sure she had a lot more to say. Works Cited Hurston, Z.N. (1995). Their eyes looked at God. In Zora Neale Hurston: Novels and Stories (pp. 173-334). New York: Literary Classics of the United States. McFadden, M. (February 10, 2012). Reminiscent of life. (ED Jr., interviewer)Verner, B. (1994, June 12). The power and glory of African womanism. The Chicago Tribune.