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 ngs 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