USD Magazine Summer 2007

ethnicity, etc. By not teaching our children about themselves and others, we are by default annihilating their self-esteem (by) leaving them to learn about who they are through the media,” Brown says. She tries to repair educational inequalities — the ones caused by the racism and classism she believes still play an integral role in education’s problems — by working with the students who are directly affected and with those students who aren’t. “I don’t even want to say the haves and the have-nots — the have- mores and the should-have- mores. And that’s my work, to connect the two worlds.” As it turns out, it wasn’t a no-brainer for Brown to take the Columbia position. She was weighing another job offer at the same time. Unable to decide, she compared the jobs to actors and realized the offers were like choosing between Academy Award-winner Denzel Washing- ton and Grey’s Anatomy ’s Isaiah Washington, a fine actor, but, perhaps, no Denzel. Columbia, of course, was Denzel. “I don’t know how I got either one of them. I just showed up.” Don't believe it for a minute. With that fiery commitment to fixing what isn’t right, backed up with a whatever-it-takes work ethic, just showing up isn't in Kecia Brown's nature.

yet they still encounter burnout, identity issues, uncertainty about the future. We tend to forget that women lead from a different place, so self-care is imperative. No one can hear your voice if it is worn out. I let every single one of them know they are precious to me.” As if to bring that point home, she runs into one of her students leaving the Harlem restaurant, shares a big hug and asks where the younger woman is going on this frigid night. “She’s one of my babies. She told me, ‘I’m gonna come see you. We gotta talk.’” Brown offers up whatever her students need. “I have a lot of black students who come in and just want to spend time with me,” she says. “I don’t know if they see a lot of women of color on campus.” it’s sunday at the Bronx home of Joe-Joe McManus, whom Brown has been dating for nearly three years. Brown may not live here — her own place is blocks away — but she is at home. “This is my domain, even though I pay not a drop of rent,” Brown says. “The major pieces of furniture, I put together.” She points out McManus’ awards and memorabilia, like the picture from his time in astrophysics as the first American employee of the Soviet Academy of Science; he subsequently became the first American employee of its successor, the Russian Academy of Science, when the Soviet Union fell. On Sundays, Brown likes to settle in and prepare a big meal. Tonight, she’s cooked chicken and rice with roasted potatoes, peas and peppers. Her tiny frame, topped by a similarly diminutive Afro —“I’m doing the natural thing; this summer I’ll chop it off.”— is clad in jeans and a gray sweater. She loves costume jewelry. Tonight’s earrings are big and convex; they turn out to be coconut shells. “The only time I really get to cook is Sunday,” she says. “That’s my chill time.” With as many late nights as she works, she revels in the luxury of kicking back. Not that Brown is one to sit still for long. She recently began pursuing a doctorate in adult education and leadership at Columbia University’s Teachers College. And she’s writing another book, with Nicole Simmons ’01, aimed at inspiring first-generation black women attending college. In all of Brown’s activities, one of her biggest supporters is McManus. That the pair would settle into the relaxed, intellectual relationship they share wasn’t immediately apparent. The night they met, she remembers thinking, “He really has no idea that I’m anti-male and my stomach hurts.”Then he started wooing her with talk of doctoral programs — the “nerd’s equivalent” of a pickup line, she figures. But McManus apparently made it hard for Brown to remain anti-male, with his shared commitment to educational diversity; he’s now assistant head of school for diversity and associate dean of faculty at the exclu- sive Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He seems easygoing, though he’s also clearly driven. It’s fun to watch them together, both talking up the other’s accomplishments. The mutual respect is apparent. When it’s noted he seems proud of her, McManus gently corrects: “I’m proud to know her. I have a lot of respect for her. She’s a remarkable person. And she’s got a unique and remarkable way of leading. She’s got an energy, a vibe about her; people listen. She’s just very steady.” And those attributes help her fix the problems she can with educa- tion. Multiculturalism is as important to learning as reading, math or science, she says. “Working with student leaders, I see just how timid students become when we discuss race, gender expression, sexual orientation, class,

Kecia lays her journals and

her life bare to combat a

culture of silence that can

keep women from healing

themselves and each other.

“I can move in spaces that

wouldn’t have been open

to me because I don’t have

shame. I just admitted to the

whole world that I’m a hot

mess. I’ve still got a long

way to go.”

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