Mamie Who?: The Life and Times of a Colored Woman (An Autobiography)

Mamie Currie Hughes' Jacksonville, FL birth certificate carried the label "colored." After all, she was born in the late 1920s. Despite spending a lifetime advocating for Civil Rights, women's empowerment and ethnic equality, this octogenarian dismisses any attempt to assume a "politically correct" label like African American. She is adamant about a lot of things, especially equality and justice, and is revered as a model for social activism in her adopted city of Kansas City, where she came as a bride with her attorney husband. This autobiography is a microcosm of the Civil Rights movement in the U. S. through the eyes of one of its prime movers and shakers in the Midwest. Mamie ran for office in county government, served as a regional director for ACTION, spearheaded and helped with projects to establish the 18th and Vine Jazz District, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and advocated for black history celebrations and archives, holocaust survivors, Hispanics, older Americans and foster families. She fought racism in her children's schools, in Mississippi in the early days of voter registration drives and even in her church. Through scores of tributes and accolades, Mamie Hughes continues to network and advocate for justice, all the while helping neighbors and urging others to get involved and exercise their civic duties and political voices. This is current history through the eyes of someone who made it in her own corner of the world. It's a story of bravery, hardship, racial bias and gender discrimination. When she first ran for office and even for the Miss Fisk contest at her university, everyone wanted to know, "Mamie who?" After Mamie's 86 years of service, few people ever ask that question now.