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Inece M. Bailey
By Nancy Nakai
When
Iniece Bailey
died in
1979, a
shock wave of grief and unbelief swept through the
various communities
she had served over
her years
in Marin.
How could they replace her uncanny ability to combine
a strong,
purposeful, politically-savvy
personality with a delightful sense
of humor? Surely, they were to miss
her laugh and her knack for getting the job
done. But, luckily, Iniece
Bailey left behind her a
legacy of agencies she helped to create to carry on her work - and a cadre of
people she trained to carry on that work.
Born in
Louisiana in
1921, Iniece
Monroe was
one of nine children - the
youngest girl child of a household
that comprised her parents, her
brothers and sisters, her grandfather and other assorted family members that
visited for long periods
of time. It was
a loving family. There
was always enough for another at the dinner table, always an
extra place
for someone
to sleep etc. "We learned
at my mother's knee,"
claims Iniece's older sister, Eva. "You
always shared what you
had with family.
My sister and
I often did
the washing for someone who was sick.
Almost everyone was our cousin. If
they weren't, we didn't know it. There were always
so many people around!" Mrs.
Monroe had been a school teacher until she
started her family.
Excellence in education was
not only
expected of
her children, it was demanded. Every
Friday, she expected one of her children to win the weekly spelling
bee at the
one-room school (serving grades kindergarten through 8th) they
attended. Later,
Iniece boarded at a high school
thirty-five miles away. The
local high school (just two miles away) did not allow blacks
to attend. But that didn't stop
the Monroes. At
school, "Iniece was a leader as a child," says Eva, "it
was the only way to be with my mother!"
Iniece loved to mimic others as a child, and "she could have been a
stand-up comedian". "She
always took her work very seriously," says
her daughter
Susie, "but
she never
took herself
too seriously.” She had
a wonderful
sense of humor." She
loved parties and was known for her zany antics.
Her gregarious nature helped her at
college, too. A long way from home, she attended Texas College in Tyler,
Texas. (Again, she
was unable to go to college
near her
home because
of the
curse of
segregated facilities.) She majored in education, and
became a high school English
teacher.
Iniece was married in 1943. A
daughter Susie was born a year and a half later, followed by Brenda, Petey and
Erik. They moved to the Bay
area and later settled
in Marin County.
As a mother, what is remembered about her the most was-how she
encouraged her children to do
well in school and college; how she
instilled in them the ability to feel good
about themselves and others;
and, how she taught them
to take care of themselves and others.
She had her children participate in the things she
was doing. They were
at her side at
meetings and at the picket line carrying signs.
Following the example of
her mother, she took
care of foster children in her home for many years in addition to her own
children.
Greatly inspired by the work of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and herself non-violent in
nature, she
nonetheless delighted in
wearing buttons
displaying such
slogans as
"By Any
Means Necessary". Her friend,
Alice Graham, has
said Iniece's dreams "...like his [Martin Luther King, Jr.] were
firmly rooted in the cold appraisal
of reality." Her
daughter remembers that she was fond of saying,
"I'd rather live
forty years and do something
than live eighty years
and do nothing!" Her
personal motto was "The work is out there, do it!"
She took this determination into the
public sector
and began
a life-long
activism against injustice.
Concerned about the
growing number of
"at-risk" youth in
Marin City, she started
matching them
with big
brothers and big sisters
through her church, St.
Andrews Presbyterian Church.
Children would often come up to her on the streets asking her how soon
they could get their "match".
The demand grew. So, with two other people, she founded Operation Give A
Damn (OGAD), which took up operation of the program. Now children from the
ages of seven to eighteen, who
have problems at home or at
school, or even a child who just
needs companionship can find assistance. Dealing
with county agencies and non-profit
organizations to get other means to support children was one of her biggest
challenges and frustrations. As a
result, she often created new programs to address the issue.
She was a co-founder of the Marin County Human Rights Commission and served on
the Mill Valley Human Rights Commission from 1969-1974.
She was a board member of the local American Civil Liberties Union
chapter and served as a member on the San Quentin Task Force.
In regards to
the Task Force, she
was a staunch supporter of the prison ministry and was always vigilant in
areas concerning prisoner's rights. She
was a leading advocate on the Task
Force for
the creation
of an Advisory Commission
on Corrections. She became a founding
member of
that commission (renamed the Adult
Criminal Justice Commission) and served on it until her death.
During
this time
she began
a professional
career as
an eligibility counselor for
the county's Health and Human Services Department.
Later she was to be
promoted to
supervisor of a special
unit of
paraprofessional social
workers. She was an active
member of the Northern California Council of
County Human Services Advisory Committees.
She became the county's liaison for Head Start program providers.
She worked for
the county twelve years, until her death at the age of fifty-eight.
Never ceasing in her
work on behalf of children, she was one of the
early board members
of Project
Care for
Children, an organization
dedicated to
locating quality
care for Marin's youngest
residents. She
served as Marin's
coordinator for the United Nations'
International Year of the Child. As
a member of the Marin chapter of the Congress of Racial
Equality (C.O.R.E.), she served on the
Educational Task Force.
She was the first black P.T.A. president of
the Tamalpais
High School District.
She actively
moved to
have "cake
classes" eliminated and to establish rigorous testing of
students. She
had a wonderful ability to
draw people to her, and
bought out the best in them. She personally mentored
many teens, encouraging
them to finish school and
go on to college.
Many people now involved with serving
the Marin
City community
got their
start with her mentorship
and loving concern.
A life of
activism is
sometimes not without its
toll on the personal lives of the
activist. After
twenty-five years of
marriage, she
and her
husband parted
ways. "He
was on a different train. He
wanted to come home to a clean
house. She (Iniece] felt
time was better spent on other things." claims her sister,
indeed, the demands on her
time were incredible.
Her telephone number was available to all.
Even in the middle of the night, her phone would ring; on the other
end would be a person in
crisis. Once,
a friend called in distress because money for a funeral was lacking. Of course,
Iniece helped
her get the needed funds.
She had little
time or desire to relax,
though once Susie remembers she was so exhausted
she didn't have the energy
to do
those things
she most
loved doing – attending church, reading and doing
crossword puzzles. On
the night she died, she had
been on the phone to someone reminding her about a meeting.
One of her last projects was the
establishment of a
child care center for infants
and toddlers from
low-income families. The
child care center at Redwood
was closing and
time was running out. With
the support of
Project Care for Children, space was leased from the Sausalito
School District. "She
worked around the clock on
that one,"
said Eva
Turner. Funding
was
successfully arranged and within a few months it was operational. Unfortunately,
Iniece did not live to see the doors of the center open for business.
But she would have been delighted – the center was
named the Iniece Bailey
infant Center in recognition of her contributions to
the center and the
community at large. The
center serves twenty-one children, thirteen of whom are infants.
Posthumously, she was honored
by the both Marin County
Housing Authority and the Marin City Community
Development Corp for her
work on behalf of
Marin City.
She was also honored by her beloved church, St. Andrews Presbyterian, in honor of the
years of service as a life elder, a member of the session, and a member of
various committees of the Redwoods Presbytery.
A poem was written in her memory and read by Dennis Rice at the Marin
County
Board
of Supervisors. It is as follows:
"In Commemoration of Iniece Bailey
We pause, remembering Iniece:
Who fought for truth and worked for peace.
Always with a warming glow,
Ever boosting those below;
Always searching holes in rules
And poking pleasant fun at fools.
(Even poking at us Supes,
To think of persons, not of groups.)
Iniece was always "on our case"
To make Marin a nicer place.
Though never leaving wrongs undone,
She still could laugh with anyone,
And brighten, like a shaft of light,
Any bleak or cheerless night.
Even though your life may cease
Your spirit lives: Right on, Iniece."
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