Further Conversation on Oprah and The Legacy of the Black Mammy in American History

More on Oprah. I remember hearing FDR speak of going home from college to see his 'mammy', and subsequent to her death, missing her great presence in his life. During WWII he said he often thought of her and her wisdom. She is faceless as the many other 'black mammys' are. I would like to know more about them and how they stood alone in the gulf between the races, at a time when black people weren't even considered to be human, and mitigated the cultural brutality with a kind word or gesture. Imagine a time with no Black leaders and no black movements as a cultural reference? These women were all black people had. And if the hand that rocks the cradle truly rules the world, the black mammy's great hope must have been to rear white children who wouldn't let the cacophony of racism and the priviledge of white supremacy gain more influence in their lives than her fundmantally human lessons about tolerance and peace.

So these women are the old framework that the coming Civil Rights Movement would be built upon, their mere presence as black women behind the lines of American aparthied, placed the seeds of civility and humanity they sprinkled throughout the white and black communities that, now and then, come to fruition....the biggest one being Oprah.