Interview with Rhonda Mathies, March 17, 2011

Interview

With

Rhonda MathiesMarch 17, 2011

By

Todd M. Read

University of Louisville Archives

Interview number 2011-1036-03

Interview conducted on March 17, 2011 at the residence of Rhonda MathiesParentheses represent time in minutes on digital recording device

(0-15): Rhonda Washington Mathies, 59 years old; originally from Louisville, Kentucky (Smoketown), married, but now widowed. Two children. Discusses not wanting children to be bused. Both children were in advanced programs. Family was originally from Birmingham, Alabama. Mother was a nurse, beautician, worked out of the home. Father worked for the railroad. Aunts and uncles were all teachers. Her mother had 12 children (6 after tubes were tied). Rhonda attended schools in Louisville (Booker T. Washington, Jackson Middle, Central High School). Moved to New York and lived with Aunt while attending school. Eventually graduated from Marymount with a degree in Sociology. Rhonda was a social worker in Louisville assisting welfare families. Worked at a Children's Psychiatric Hospital. Had a stroke, became homemaker and was able to stay on top of girls in school system. She was very active with the schools and spent a lot of time involved in children's education. Became involved in Kentucky Alliance after meeting Fran Thomas at Eugema. Her childhood home was not very political. She was 12 when MLK, Jr. was killed. Remembers the Louisville riots, but was too young to really get involved. Her greatest influence was her Aunt in New York who took in family members and gave back to their community. She (aunt) was Director of the Child Development Center (asked by Nixon to be on an education board). Lived around the corner from Ossie Davis in New York.

(12-15):Rhonda became active locally after issues with the Ku Klux Klan arose. Attack the Police brutality and education issues in Louisville. Protested the Klan on Jefferson. Rhonda was active on the James Taylor case. Rhonda was chair of the Alliance and organized subcommittee's to respond to local violence. Motivated young people to get involved in the Alliance. Rhonda modeled her activism on Ella Baker. Describes problem with the Alliance around the fact that she wanted to be more active, but she was considered too young in the eyes of members and the older volunteers always took the lead.

(15-20):Discusses first major action in the Alliance with the PNC Bank protest. She went to jail for being on private property during the race relations meeting. She went to jail with Anne Braden. This was her first jail experience. She felt like the Alliance just had to put out the same fires again and again. Discusses interaction with Rev. Louis Coleman. Describes the jail experience.(20-27):Talks about first time with the Alliance. Recruited by Fran Thomas. Rhonda just wanted to be involved in a social justice community. She and Fran were concerned what was happening with "black folks." Discusses "Masterminds" program created by Bob Cunningham.

Took the children on trips and organized social justice programs for the local community. Mainly organized by local teenagers. They painted murals and created drug awareness programs. Created a safe place for local children/teenagers. Describes the goals and racial make-up of the Kentucky Alliance.(27-37): Describes the goals of the interracial make-up of the Alliance. She talks about how the Alliance divided on racial issues. Rhonda helped form the group P.I.E. Rhonda had an issue with her daughter at Manual and it inspired the PIE group. Rhonda talks about the Central case. Describes the problem that her daughter had with a Physics teacher. Anne Braden tried to build a racial case around the issue, but never materialized. Rhonda describes her relationship with Anne Braden. Describes the problems she had with Anne Braden micromanaging the issues. Rhonda talks about blacks/whites working together on issues such as police brutality and Derby cruising. She describes good relations. Rhonda talks about Fran not wanting Anne on board of CEASE case because she was a white woman who just wanted publicity. Rhonda very passionately describes the Derby cruising situation.

(37-40):Rhonda discusses police brutality issues in the Alliance. She believes they did create a better situation in Louisville. Rhonda describes the Alliance work with job loss issues.

(40-44):Rhonda talks about the school desegregation issues. She gives early opinion of busing plan in regards to her children. She didn't want to have her kids bused out of the area when there were perfectly good schools in the neighborhood, so she sent her kids to private schools. She felt the student assignment plan hurt African-American children and JCPS should have put more money into the neighborhood schools. Rhonda felt that her children benefited from being in class with other races, so she did feel like that was a good aspect of busing. She believes the problem was more with adults rather than the children. Rhonda never looked into what school she would have attended because she was dead set against not having her children bused. She describes her daughter's education.

(44-50): Rhonda describes her time with CEASE. She lists members of the group. She describes the reasons for CEASE's creation. Aubrey Williams was Alliance attorney. Teddy Gordon was CEASE's attorney. Describes the reasons for filing the lawsuit based on ratio restrictions. Expresses jubilation for the results. Rhonda describes the current state of the JCPS system. The current plan is hurting the kids in her perspective. She talks about neighborhood schools, charter schools, and future of JCPS. She speaks about the NAACP supporting the plan. Rhonda talks about the west end and the schools in the area. She provides her opinion of the current state of Central High School. She would rather focus on quality teachers, programs, and other community support initiatives.

(54-58):Rhonda speaks about the current political/social status of Louisville. She describes the state of the west end and what could help rebuild the more poverty-ridden areas. She speaks to the current mayor and what local government has promised and what has not occurred.

(58-63): Speaks about the current state of the Kentucky Alliance. She is worried that the Alliance did not build up enough support in the youth movement when they were strong so they have fallen off. She speaks about how demonstrating had an effect on her children/family life.

(63-70):Rhonda provides her final statement about her time with the Kentucky Alliance, her time with Anne Braden, her reasons for leaving the Alliance (due to Alice Wade's connection with Anne Braden). Rhonda believes there needs to be an institution like the Alliance needs to continue in the future, but in fighting caused its decline.Rhonda talks about why she thinks the Alliance fell apart due to ego problems.

(70-84): The final part of the conversation was recorded, but really was a discussion session on current events.