Willie Barrow

Willie Beatrice Barrow (née Taplin; December 7, 1924 – March 12, 2015) was an American civil rights activist and minister. Barrow was the co-founder of Operation PUSH, which was named Operation Breadbasket at the time of its creation alongside Rev. Jesse Jackson. In 1984, Barrow became the first woman executive director of a civil rights organization, serving as Push's CEO. Barrow was the godmother of President Barack Obama.[5]

Willie Barrow
Barrow in 2012
Born
Willie Beatrice Taplin

December 7, 1924[lower-alpha 1]
Burton, Texas, U.S.
DiedMarch 12, 2015(2015-03-12) (aged 90)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Resting placeOak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
Other names
  • Willie B. Taplin Barrow
  • Little Warrior
  • Princess of Protest
  • The High Priestess of Protest
EducationWarner Pacific Theological Seminary
Moody Bible Institute
Central Conservatory of Music
University of Monrovia
OccupationMinister
Years active1935–2015
OrganizationRainbow/PUSH
Chicago, Illinois
Known forCivil rights activism, Operation PUSH leadership
Notable work
How to Get Married and Stay Married (book; 2004)[3]
Spouse(s)
Clyde Barrow
​
​
(m. 1945; died 1998)​
[4]
ChildrenKeith Barrow

Biography

Born Willie Beatrice Taplin in Burton, Texas, to Nelson, a minister, and Octavia Taplin, one of seven children. When she was 12, she organized a demonstration with fellow students to protest that white students were allowed to ride the bus, but black students had to walk to school. Barrow confronted the bus driver and demanded that he let her fellow students ride.[6] When the bus driver confronted her about it she said "Y'all can kill me if you want to. But I'm tired."[7] When Barrow turned 16, she moved to Portland, Oregon, to study at the Warner Pacific Theological Seminary (now Warner Pacific College). While still a student, Barrow and a group of black residents helped build one of the first black Churches of God in the city; she was ordained as a minister after graduation.[8] She started working as a welder during World War II at the Kaiser Shipyards in Swan Island, Washington, where she met Clyde Barrow, whom she married in 1945 in Washington state.[9]

The couple moved to Chicago in the early 1940s, and Barrow attended the Moody Bible Institute to further her call to service. They lived on the South Side, and Barrow ran the youth choir at Langley Avenue Church of God. According to Barrow, she was approached by the minister to do some additional organizing for civil rights movement actions.[7] Barrow campaigned for Harold Washington who became the first Black Mayor of Chicago in 1983. In 1984 and 1988 she worked for Jesse Jackson's Presidential campaign.[10]

Awards and achievements
  • 2014 Champion of Freedom Award[11]
  • 2012 Bill Berry Award[12]
  • Woman of the Year of Chicago 1969[13]
  • Image award from League of Black Women
  • Christian Women's Conference History Makers Award
  • Doctor of Divinity Degree from Monrovia.
  • Libreria and Leadership Certificate from Harvard University
  • Indo-American Democratic Organization's Humanitarian of the Year Award
  • C.F. Stradford Award for her lifelong work on the front lines of the civil rights movement.[14]
  • 2006 Black Heritage Awardee[15]

Organizing

In the 1950s she worked with Martin Luther King and other Chicago ministers and activists as a field organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.[16] In the 1960s she helped organize the Chicago chapter of Operation Breadbasket with Rev. Jesse Jackson.[17] She opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and led a delegation to North Vietnam in 1968.[6][18] She joined the National Urban League in 1943 and the National Council of Negro Women in 1945.[19][20] She was the godmother of President Barack Obama.[5] In 1973 she protested social services cuts by the Nixon administration.[13]

Intersectional activism

Barrow additionally was an activist for the LGBT community, which included fighting for HIV/AIDS victims. She also advocated for fair labor practices, took an anti-Vietnam war stance, and was vocal about women's rights. In a 1987 interview on Chicago Tonight she said, "You see ministers, they would rather have a minister who could not articulate and perhaps may not have even been called ... than to have an articulate woman that knows something about the rebirth of Christ and knows about the natural birth and the new birth. They would rather try to have a man articulate than a woman. ... As Jesse [Jackson] grew, his vision grew. Anytime that there was a committee was formed, it would be all men. I'd say 'Jesse, you haven an unbalanced committee. You've got to have some women.' ... He kept putting women on committees, kept making them managers ... then it became a habit, a part of his vision."

Significant events attended

Later years and death

Each Saturday she would participate in demonstrations and she participated weekly in Rainbow/PUSH's events. She helped many people by writing checks to cover college tuition for them. She mentored over a hundred people in PUSH, helping them to move on to the next stage of the movement. Barrow was co-pastor of the Vernon Park Church of God in Chicago. She helped raise money for assisted living development in the south and to fund after school programs.[8] She had focused on gun violence in Chicago and changes to the Voting Rights Act that were taking away rights that the Selma marches helped create.[25] Barrow died of respiratory failure on March 12, 2015, at age 90 in Chicago. Following her death, A tribute to her life was held at Operation PUSH headquarters ; Her funeral at her church Vernon Park Church of God.

See also

Notes
  1. Some sources list December 7, 1924[1] as her birth date, though others cite December 17, 1924.[2]

References
  1. Keyser, Jason (March 12, 2015). "The Rev. Willie Barrow dies at 90; longtime civil rights activist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  2. "Rev. Willie Barrow dies at 90". ABC 7 Chicago. March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  3. Barrow, Dr. Willie (2004). How to Get Married and Stay Married. Cool Springs Publishing Inc. p. 118. ISBN 1889860077.
  4. JET Magazine – Clyde Barrow 75, Husband Of Chicago Activist Rev. Willie Barrow , Dies (July 27, 1998)
  5. "Civil Rights Icon Rev. Barrow Looks Back". Huffington Post. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  6. "Reverend Willie T. Barrow". www.thehistorymakers.com. The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  7. "Willie T. Barrow, National Visionary". National Visionary Leadership Project. American Folklife Project/Library of Congress. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  8. "Rev. Willie T. Barrow, activist and civil rights icon, dies at 90". Chicago Tribune. March 15, 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. Ihejirika, Maudlyne; O'Donnell, Maureen (12 March 2015). "Rev. Willie T. Barrow, 'Little Warrior,' was civil rights leader, mentor". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  10. "Civil rights leader Rev. Willie Barrow remembered as a soldier for Black America". Examiner.com.
  11. "28th Annual Interfaith Celebration, Honors Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr". thechicagocitizen.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  12. "Rev. Willie T. Barrow, 2012 Bill Berry Award recipient". Chicago Tribune.
  13. Aaseng, Nathan (2003). African-American religious leaders A-Z of African Americans. New York, NY: Facts On File. p. 15. ISBN 9781438107813.
  14. "State's Attorney Anita Alvarez Photo Gallery - 2012 Stradford Awards".
  15. "The 16th Annual Black Heritage Awards". Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  16. "Remembering Rev. Willie Barrow". Chicago Tonight. March 12, 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  17. "Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle". Stanford University - Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  18. Davis, Andrew (29 December 2004). "Willie Barrow: 8 Decades of Activism, a son lost to AIDS". Windy City Times. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  19. Murphy, Larry G.; Melton, J. Gordon; Ward, Gary L. (2013). Encyclopedia of African American Religions. Routledge. p. 72. ISBN 9781135513382.
  20. Aaseng, Nathan (2003). African-American Religious Leaders. Infobase Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 9781438107813.
  21. Obama, Michelle; Obama, Barack (2015-03-12). "Statement by the President on the Passing of Reverend Willie T. Barrow". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  22. "Obama supporter". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  23. "Million Family March - C-Span" (Video). Washington D.C.
  24. "JANUARY 6, 1994 Violence Against Women". C-Span. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  25. Gordon, Taylor. "Civil Rights' 'Little Warrior,' the Rev. Willie Barrow, Passes Away, But Today's Black Youth Must Never Forget Her Message". Atlanta Blackstar. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
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