Funeral program for Marona Amandla

ervices
Saturday, July 2/
11:00 a.m.
Augusta, GA
Williams Memorial CME Church
1630 15th St.
3:30 p.m.
Claxton, GA
Mt. Pleasnt Cemetery
1268 Mt. Pleasant Rd
Driving directions will be provided at seiwice
Cjatn
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emona
er
Anil Arbor Area
Univ. of Michigan*
Sept. 26, 2013
7-9 PM
Atlanta Area
Spelman College Cosby Center*
Aug. 24, 2013
5-7 PM
* Locations Subject to Change
ecial Instructions
111 lieu of flowers and/or gifts, the family suggests donations be made to:
Marona Amandla Memorial Fund
PO Box 970444
Ypsilanti,MI 48197
www.gofuiidme.com/3nxo0g
For updates on memorial gatherings, to view featured work by
Marona, and to learn how you can help celebrate her legacy visit:
http://www.marona-amandla.coni/
The time is right
I'm gonna pack my bags
And take that journey down the road
Cause over the mountain, I see the bright sun shining
And I want to live inside the glow
I wanna go to a place where I am nothing and everything
That exists between here and nowhere
I wanna go to a place where lime has no consequence at all
rite sky opens to my prayers
Please understand that its not dial I dont care
But right now, these walls are closing in on me
I love you more than 1 love life itself
But I need to find a place were I can breathe
1 can breathe
I wanna go to place were I can hold the intangible
And let go of the pain with ail my might
I wanna go to a place where 1 am suspended in ecsUisy
Somewhere between dark and light, wdiere wrong
becomes right
1 w'anna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
I w'anna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
arona /^mandl
(1^55-2015)
)eautifu
ndla./\rle
My research focuses on people's identitiesparticularly on how
and how much they identif^vith the social groups (according to
race, gender, class, and sexuality) that define power relationships
in American society. 1 hope eventually to examine the implications
for changing these power dynamics and advancing social justice.

er own wor
5
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with...
... my grandfather, who passed away when my mother was young. He spent most of his life in Augusta, Ga.,
where my grandmother still lives. Growing up, I would always hear stories about how poised and generous of
a man he was. My grandfather fought in World Word II. When he returned, he used his GI Bill funds to obtain
his Ph.D. from New York University, since the University of Georgia had not yet begun admitting
African-Americans. Hes said to have been the first African American from Augusta to earn his PhD. Its a
profound legacy, and I would want to spend a day listening to his experiences living in Georgia, New York,
and overseas thr oughout the first half of the 20th century.
If I knew I could not fail, I would...
... institute an educational requirement for each of us to walk in other peoples shoes before graduating. Im
interested in studying the way people handle difference and diversity and often wonder how much prejudice in
our society is due to our inability to empathize or even recognize others realities. Specifically, Im interested
in exploring the best way to teach qualities such as acceptance, consciousness and empathy, and how framing
diversity in a way that honors difference but highlights commonality across peoples experiences might help
reduce prejudice.
A LITANY FOR SURVIVAL
1995
Audre Lorde
For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children's mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours:
For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother's milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.
And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive
Saturday, July 27*, 2013
Home Going Service for Marona Amandla
11:00 A.M.
Williams Memorial C.M.E Church; Augusta, GA
Opening Music.............................................................................Maronas Favorite Artists
Lizz Wright, "Coming Home"; Reba McEntire, If I Had Only Known"; Whitney Houston, "I Didn't Know My Own Strength"; IndiaArie, "Strength,
Courage, & Wisdom"; Amos Lee, "Colors"; Annie Lennox, "Many Rivers to Cross."
Opening Prayer.........................................................................Rev. Paul W. Gardner, Sr.
Scripture Readings............................................................................Rev. Gene R. Dean
Musical Selection................................................................................Nimara Snyder
"Beautiful" India.Arie
Silent Reading of Obituary
Reflections
Marona as friend Allison Shirley, Orlando, FL
Marona as teacher Judy Sims, Rome, GA
Marona as journalist Valerie Boyd, University of Georgia
Marona as scholar Abbey Stewart, University of Michigan
Marona as kinfolk Marci Bailey, Brunswick, GA
Musical Selection.............................................................................Marcellus Cooper
"Georgia on My Mind Ray Charles
Acknowledgements.......................................................................LaVerne Ayodele Moore
Words of Comfort.......................................................................Rev. Paul W. Gardner, Sr.
Closing Music..........................................................................Maronas Favorite Artists
Rissi Palmer, "I'm not of this World"; Lizz Wright, "Lead the Way"; Alison Krauss, "Ill Fly Away"; The Band Perry, "If I Die Young"; LeAnn Rimes,
"What I Cannot Change"; Carrie Underwood, "Temporary Home.)
***For those joining the processional to Claxton, GA, you may pick up a to-go lunch in the Fellowship Hall.***
Graveside Ceremony for Marona Amandla
3:30 P.M.
Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Cemetery; Claxton, GA
Prayer....................................................................Reverend Charlie P. Fogle, Jr.
Thomas Grove A. M. E. Church
Silent Reading of Obituary
Words of Comfort.............................................................Reverend Michael Dixon
Mt. Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church
Reading...........................................................................Maryemma Graham
Adapted from "Will & Testament" Remika L. Bingham; What We Ask of Flesh: Poems
Interment
Musical Selection...........................................................Lizz Wright, "Amazing Grace
Repast
Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church
Acknowledgements......................................................................Linny A. Bailey
Saturday, July 27*, 2013
(l555r2015)
We mourn the passing of our beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend Marona Amandla on July 16, in Ann Arbor,
Mich. Having battled a cancerous sarcoma successfully, she was diagnosed with treatment-induced leukemia in January 2013.
Marona demonstrated remarkable strength and resilience in the face of a terminal illness. At only 28, she was already a beacon
of light for many as a teacher, a journalist, and scholar.
A Home Going Service will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, July 27, at Williams Memorial
CME Church in Augusta, Ga. Interment of her ashes will follow at the Mt. Pleasant
Baptist Church Cemetery in Claxton, Ga. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests
Memorial, PO Box 970444 Ypsilanti, MI 48197).
Born January 19, 1985, in Pontotoc, Miss., Marona moved with her family to
Cambridge, Mass., where she attended elementary school. She traveled to Georgia
often, spending time with her grandparents, and made her home there until entering a
doctoral program in psychology and womens studies at the University of Michigan in
2011. At the time of her death, Marona was in her second year of the program. Always
(Marona graduated class valedictorian in 2002 from Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro,
N.H., where she was an athlete in soccer, rowing, and other sports, editor of the
schools literary magazine and an award-winning photographer. After entering
Vanderbilt University, her summer work experiences at Camp Starfish in New
Hampshire serving children with special needs and her research at the university
inspired her study of neuropsychology and special education. She graduated siunma
cum laude from Vanderbilt in 2006. Her work within research teams at Vanderbilt
included authorship of several academic journal articles. She taught special education
Her passion for journalism returned as she began writing, blogging, and documenting !
peoples lives through stories. In 2008, she entered graduate school at the University of j
Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication as a McGill Fellow to i
focus on the social context of personal narrative and to learn how to tell stories better I
that needed to be heard. As she completed a masters degree, she wrote articles that !
circulated widely, including a penetrating analysis of her sojourn to South Africa in j
2010. Her articles appeared in Current Health II, UGA campus publications as well as
her blog. Marona pursued her interest in teaching by working with young journalists in
I the summer, including health journalism camps in Greene County, GA., and Savannah
j State University. A brief stint as a journalism instructor at Spelman College in Atlanta
complemented her burgeoning interest in a career in higher education. |
donations be made to the Marona Amandla Memorial Fund (Marona Amandla
serious and steadfast, with little time for what she considered frivolous engagements,
she prepared herself early in life to become a world class professional.
in Nashville, Tenn., public schools and later moved to Adairsville, Ga., as education
coordinator for Downing and Clarke Academy, where she derived great pleasure from
working with special needs youth.
arena
man
Reading more broadly especially in womens studies combined with her initial interest in
psychology shifted Maronas focus toward more quantitative research in identity studies. The
University of Michigan eagerly embraced her application and research proposal, in 2011,
she began her PliD studies there. She quickly found her academic home in the research area of
personality and social context within psychology. Her professors commented that her
theoretical brilliance exceeded that of more advanced students and anticipated her work
would make significant breakthroughs in the measurement of simultaneous multiple identities,
and how these identities shape attitudes and behaviors related to social justice.
Marona loved the rural countryside of her Mississippi childhood and her many years Georgia, just as she loved the mountains
of New Hampshire where she spent her high school years. She took full advantage but was not fundamentally changed by the
affluence she found in Cambridge, Mass., where she went to elementary school, began her lifelong interest in art, and became
an accomplished young double bass player. The country-fied city of Nashville during her college years contributed to her
balanced view of the world, her well roundedness, and her interest in and love of country music. She embraced the
opportunity to travel in a very deliberate manner: she went to Haiti to help build a hospital. Her photographs of the country
and its people remain a testament to her profound understanding of the need for greater human connectedness.
Marona set her own standard for achievement, often demanding more of herself than she did of others. She was bold, but not
aggressive; she was compassionate, but held little sympathy for slackers. She had a fierce commitment to social justice and a
unique ability to see all sides of a situation, refusing to allow emotion to affect her decisions. She could be a fearless critic
who held her ground.
Between March and her death in July, Marona approached death in the same way she had approached all other aspects of her
life: realistically, thoughtfully, practically. She did not want to travel or create a bucket list. She wanted to be surrounded by
family and friends. In great detail, she provided instructions for handling her final days. She especially wanted to provide
opportunities for her far-flung network of friends to celebrate her life and to build new relationships among each other that
could continue beyond her death.
She relied on Malika as a source of loving and constant big sister support. She grew even closer to her brothers who moved
to Ann Arbor from different parts of the country to anchor her care-giving team. She made one special request of those who
had guided her: to continue her research, and of this she was assmed. Her intellectual work will live on through her mentors
Valerie Boyd at the University of Georgia and Abigail Stewart at the University of Michigan.
Marona is survived by her parents, Maryemma Graham, Lawrence, Kan., and Ronald Bailey (Urbana, ILL); a stepmother
Saundra Murray Nettles (Urbana,Ill)); three siblings, Malika Josina of Chicago, Robeson of Claremont, Calif, and Ranee
Gary DuBois of Cambridge, Mass.; grandparents Helen G. Moore of Augusta, Ga. and Earlean G. Bailey, Claxton, Ga.; a host
of relatives, including, uncles, aunts, and cousins in Georgia, Florida, California, and especially Michigan, where she bonded
with Meredith Freeman of Detroit, and Linda Lee Gulley of Flint, Mich.; and three of her closest friends, Allison Shirley,
Orlando, Fla.; Loti Walker, Ann Arbor; and Loren Saxton, Washington, D.C. Her family acknowledges the many dear friends
from Brewster Academy, Vanderbilt University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Michigan, who were
important in Maronas much too short, but rich life and who visited with her in the last months.
Some people pass through life and leave an imprint that we only come to know long after they are gone. But in her time with
us, Maronas imprint was an indelible one. As she faced the fact of a shortened life, she revealed an inner strength that she
transmitted to us all. She thrived on complexity, teaching us the necessity of understanding how to balance competing forces
within ourselves and the world into which we are bom. One by one, she sought us out to affinn our place in her life, and to
help us to make sure her memory and legacy live on. Marona Amandla identified the core of her being and engaged it fully.
She leaves many who will not only continue to mourn her but will also follow her model of an exemplary young life.
July 20, 2013