The night before she fell, she had a long conversation with Tre Murphy, a young organizer from Organizing Black whom she mentored, about their call with his mother’s Black women’s church group regarding voting and policing.
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In 2003 she received a coveted Open Society Institute Community Fellowship, focused on popularizing the history of Baltimore’s social justice organizing. She was the Lead Organizer for the Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CPHA)...
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...which organizes Baltimore area communities around quality of life issues. She worked with SURJ, a national organization of white people who work for racial justice as allies with people of color organizing in local communities.
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She was also appointed to Baltimore’s Civilian Review Board. Throughout her life, Betty was passionate about organizing against injustice and she used whatever tactics seemed most appropriate.
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She also stressed that organizers should be guided by the issues the communities themselves identified as their priorities… that they should be careful listeners.
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In 2010, at a large event she put together in Baltimore for Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC — a book she co-edited with 5 other SNCC women — the room was packed with representatives from the various campaigns she’d been involved with.
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As she called the name of each campaign – focused on affordable housing, police brutality, educational equity, immigrant rights, or mass incarceration – one group and then another stood up. Sometimes those in each group knew each other, sometimes they didn’t.
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But Betty knew them all, because she had joined in their struggle… or had helped bring them together. They were part of her vast network, people with whom she had developed deep and lasting personal bonds.
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Organizing and enjoying those around her were integral parts of who she was; they were the inseparable parts of her life that brought her joy. She loved being with people: attending potlucks where she’d try out new recipes with vegetables from her garden...
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...singing in Baltimore’s Charm City Labor Chorus, reading about all manner of topics (she had an insatiable curiosity) and discussing them with friends and family. Betty particularly enjoyed being with her beloved family: daughters Tanya and Keisha and their families...
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... particularly her precious grandchildren, McKenzie, Jeffrey, and baby Thalia. She also enjoyed learning from young activists and sharing her experiences.
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She often asked them to consider: “What kind of a country do you want and what kind of country are you willing to fight for?” As Tre Murphy wrote: "To me Betty Robinson [who we always called Ms. Betty] was one of the greatest souls ever to walk the earth.
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She was humble enough to know that it took more than her to win freedom for Black people, gifted enough to see possibilities none of us could visualize, and fearless enough to keep fighting even when the outcomes looked grim or wasn’t what we expected.”
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Michaela Gramelis, from SURJ posted: “I am crushed to have lost the smile, hugs, and incredible guidance of Betty Garman Robinson…Betty was a literal and metaphorical gardener, and in her care and company, things bloomed and grew.”
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Until the end, Betty was one of the best representatives of SNCC’s grassroots organizing style… and of the closeness and passion for justice that continues to exist, even today, within our “Band of brothers and sisters in a circle of trust”. Presente, Betty!
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Keep up to date with the SNCC Legacy Project: SNCC Digital Gateway -http://www.snccdigital.org
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