I know Helen!

Here's a Dale Moss article in the C-J on Helen Bryant, who gave a talk at the local library tonight. Unfortunately, I had to teach a class tonight and missed the occasion.

Helen was a next-door neighbor to my Grandma when she lived at Riverbend/Alterra-- and a gracious lady.

Helen Bryant went in to quit. Her husband was defending America during war, putting his life on the line.

Yet she was stuck on a segregated line at the Army ammunition plant and required to use separate restrooms. Her tolerance tried and true, Bryant finally had been pushed too far.

But she decided to remain on the job after all. Bryant agreed that her country needed her more.

"Don't let your hatred consume you," she said. "It can happen. And don't judge everybody the same."

That is but some of the wisdom that Bryant, 91, intends to share tomorrow, speaking at the public library in her lifelong home of Jeffersonville during Black History Month. Bryant's talk is at 7 p.m. at the library, 211 E. Court Ave.

Her perspective is special for more than its longevity. Thomas V. Bryant, her late husband, went on to lead the NAACP in Jeffersonville and Clark County for two decades. His wife of 59 years was at his side through steady and occasionally spectacular progress....