91 year-old Jean McGuire was walking her dog when a random man attacked her, stabbing her multiple times!
But knowing McGuire’s background, this attack doesn’t feel “random.”
Throughout the sixties McGuire desegregated Boston schools. She was the first Black woman elected to Boston’s School Committee, the first Black social worker in Boston’s schools, and co-founded Metco, a program designed to connect Boston’s students of color to equitable educational resources.
She never asked for permission— she busted down doors and demanded to be heard.
BAM! McGuire struck her attacker, kicking him repeatedly until he ran. McGuire’s dog chased him through the park.
Unfortunately he got away. It was only then McGuire realized how bad her wounds were.
McGuire is safely recuperating, her vast community rallying to support her. But her attack brings up a sobering truth that white supremacy continuously erases.
Often Black men are seen as the main victims of white supremacy because historically they’ve been more publicly murdered by systemic racism. The reality is thousands of Black children, women, and elders are killed by white supremacy, their murders erased from history.
While white supremacy is dangerous, we can’t live in fear. If white supremacy comes for us, like McGuire, let’s come out swinging.