Her name was Janet Cyril...
January 15th is also the anniversary
passing of an incredible unsung warrior queen...The late Janet Cyril of the
legendary NY Chapter of the Black Panther Party...
Janet left us for the Land of the
Ancestors on that day in 2005...
Janet was a key organizer of the Party's Breakfast programs. She
gave our world two beautiful ferocious cubs in Malkia Cyril and Sala Cyril...
With the immortal Safiya Bukhari
taking the point, in their later years, Janet was among several Panthers who
grounded me and a number of activists when we were quite young. I was quite
inclined towards adventurism. Janet rained me and that dangerous instinct in
before it got me into potentially real trouble.
She would also check the testosterone
tall ingrained sexism of the males among us at the door, another hugely
important seed she firmly planted the fertile gardens of our young minds...
NY
PANTHER JANET CYRIL
Incredibly we lost her to Sickle Cell Anemia, that disease particular to our people that the Party made into a household word with their legendary People's Clinics. It would also claim one of my first aunts.
I am not one of Janet's biological
cubs, but i proudly and unapologetically claim her as she selflessly claimed
us. I am forever grateful for her special place in our struggle, in our lives,
in our hearts...
Standing on incredible shoulders like
hers, we carry on the tradition...
‘bro’ zayid
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