In Memoriam: Rhetaugh Dumas, PhD

I had the honor of meeting Dr. Dumas a few months ago when she came to town to speak. But more than meeting her, she came to my school and had an intimate lunch with me and my fellow students of the brown folks group we created and other students who were interested in meeting her. It made me completely homesick because she reminded me of my paternal grandmother. She is from Natchez, Mississippi and my grandma is from Tchula, Mississippi. I will let you read about her accomplishments (there were so many) for yourself, including many "firsts" and 10 honorary doctorates on top of the one she "earned." Instead of listing those things, I will share some of the things she said to us about succeeding in graduate nursing school having come from poverty that really stuck with me:

I had to work twice as hard just to keep up.

I told myself, 'if she can do it, I can do it.' And I'm telling you, now, 'if I can do it, YOU can do it.'

It's not about what I did, but how I thought about it. There is no explanationfor how I got here, except that I thought about it a lot. You have to give your life, what you're doing, the thought it deserves.

When I was frustrated with being the only one [brown person], I talked myself through it until I got over it, but it didn't happen often.

What is it in your history that would make you think that you can't do this? There is no precedent for failure in this, so why do you believe that you will fail?

Dr. Dumas died of cancer on July 22nd. She was, is, a true inspiration. Click here to read about her life.

Often times I feel as though the universe is telling me something about the magnitude of my life. When I was home for break last week, my mother gave me a picture of me and Barbara Jordan. I will add it to that of me and Faith Ringgold. And now I can add the photo of me and Dr. Dumas to that collection. As I think about the women I am meeting, including the personal friends and family in my life, I realize that I am being groomed for something bigger than I ever allow myself to acknowledge.