Maya Angelou made it very clear when describing certain individuals. “When someone shows you who they are believe them the first time!” JoAnn Watson made me a believer the first time I saw her. She was taking care of her siblings and she was outspoken at Macculloch Elementary School in Detroit. She showed me who she was as the president of the Central High School student chapter of the NAACP. She showed me who she was as the editor for the Central Student, our high school newspaper. She showed us all who she was as the first woman to be appointed as Executive Director of the Detroit Branch NAACP from 1990-1997. Her examples are legendary. Freedom Fighter, Writer, Orator, Organizer, Talk Show Host, Pastor, Wife, Mother, and Grandmother. She had been elevated to the royal position of ‘Queen Mother’ based on her revolutionary, universal recognition as one who un-apologetically speaks Truth to Power.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STATEMENT