Remembering the legacy of Maxine Smith

by Liz Rincon

Memphis has a long, rich history of civil rights and activism. We saw the worst of humanity show up on our river banks when an assassin's bullet struck down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th, 1968. Many people believed that his dream died on the balcony of the Lorraine motel. Would the Civil Rights Movement be able to carry on?

Of course it could, and did.

There are many people who worked to ensure that the dream of those who came before them would continue, even when the movement itself started to lose media traction and we found ourselves moving into a new century. While it may have been true that the "colored only" bathrooms, segregated lunch counters and whites-only bus rides had been outlawed, racial injustice still could be (and still can be) seen in other arenas. From the boardrooms of major corporations where you will most likely see only white male faces, to colleges and universities that have unjust hiring practices, and many other points between and beyond, the struggle continues.

One woman who fought in this movement was our beloved Maxine Smith. Maxine was a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement. When she was turned away from enrollment at then Memphis State University, she was accepted into Spelman College in Atlanta, a historically black college. Her denial to the University of her hometown led to her involvement and then her organizing on behalf of those who were being denied equal opportunities.

She was tough. Very tough. She organized the "If You're Black, Take It Back" campaign to boycott Memphis businesses that refused to integrate, both in regards to their workforces and their clienteles. That the title of the campaign itself was so strong spoke to Maxine's ability to not take any you-know-what from folks. She would be perceived by many as hard to deal with, but what that really came down to was that she was unwilling to compromise in her life's goal that everyone be given a fair chance. And there is, of course, that old saying: "Well behaved women rarely make history."

She would later go on to work with the NAACP, sitting on the National Board as well as serving as Executive Secretary for the Memphis Chapter. The work that she did was hard, and it was intolerant of those who did not want to see change. When you are a "change agent," you have to deal with the brunt of that work. I think this is what I admire most in her.

As a Memphian, a woman and a person who has worked in politics for a very long time, I have nothing but the utmost admiration for a woman who was right there at the center of the struggle, went on to run a campaign to elect the first African-American Mayor of Memphis, protected the young children who were there in the first moments of integration and held so many people captive with her words.

We are Memphis and if we really want to honor a woman who did so much for us, we need to pick up that torch and carry on in her name and the names of those who came before her. So here is my suggestion: the next time you hear someone say something negative about our city, tell them the story of Maxine Smith and what she did to improve where she lived and thus where we all live. Keep her spirit alive by keeping our city alive. We owe it to her.

Godspeed, Maxine.