Living Black History Today: 2 Leaders Look Back, To The Present

Diane X. Brown and Honda Smith grew up two blocks from each other in Newhallville during the 1960s and 1970s in families steeped in politics and a New Haven pulsing with the Black Panthers, racial unrest, and a burgeoning sense of possibility. 

Brown, 66, became the first African American librarian in New Haven in 2006, transforming the Stetson branch into a thriving community and cultural hub. Smith, 59, a retired city public works employee and longtime civic activist, took the reins as West Hills alder in 2020 upon her retirement from a three-decade career working for the city government. She’s known for, among other initiatives, The Shack, which she revitalized into a thriving intergenerational community center on Valley Street. 

The Independent sat down with Brown and Smith at The Shack to get their takes on observing Black History Month in 2024 New Haven. 

Brown recalled the May Day rally on the Green in 1970, when thousands of protestors from around the country joined Yalies and New Haveners to rally in support of the Black Panthers after the murder of Panther Alex Rackley.

“My mother wanted us to see history,” Brown said. ​“She took us down there when [Abbie] Hoffman was speaking. I was 11 or 12 years old.”

Smith recalled a city braced for violence around that time. ​“I remember being outside playing and the Black Panthers telling us to go inside,” she said. ​“And then you saw the tanks rolling down the street and the National Guard riding down Congress, with rifles out the window.” 

“Honda’s mother, my mother, they were always talking to us about Black history, whatever they knew, and also about how to be proud that we wore Afros, and how we were going to be treated differently when we went over to Macy’s as little Black girls,” Brown said. 

“Everything was a teachable moment,” Smith said. 

When the Black Panthers first came to New Haven, ​“my mother told us they are not thugs, most of them are college-educated, and they’re here to help police the neighborhood,” Brown said. ​“I remember them being out at night, like blockwatch. If they saw us, they’d say, ​‘little Sister, let me walk you home.’”

“They set up shop in the Vanguard Teen Center on Shelton Avenue and they did sickle cell testing and they had a free breakfast program there,” Smith said. ​“They were like an extension of the community, not these people that history would write negative about.”

While working full time at the Winchester rifle factory, Brown’s mother, Lillian O. Brown, was a neighborhood leader and was elected the last city treasurer in 1973. She also served on numerous boards and commissions in New Haven. Diane’s sister Sally served as city clerk. Her mother’s house was Democratic headquarters in Newhallville.

“Honda’s brother Lonnie helped put the board [for counting votes] up on our wood-paneled wall, and they’d get the numbers and call them in,” Brown recalled. ​“We little kids would sit on the porch and my mother would have snacks and we’d hear the older people talking.” 

On other occasions, ​“Lonnie walks in. ​‘Ma Brown, what do you think about this?’ he’d ask, and she’d say, ​‘No no no Lonnie,’ and they’d have a back and forth, heated,” Brown said. ​“But the point is the conversations were there, and you were there, you heard it, it wasn’t like you have a mansion and you just go somewhere else.” 

“It was just like being born and raised in a musical family,” Brown said. ​“It’s in our blood.”

“We had these community meetings and I’d go with my brother and Diane would go with her older sisters and mother,” Smith said. ​“They were trying to galvanize the community into voting. Remember, we’re going way back where people didn’t have the right to do all that stuff, so it was learning what their rights were and how effective they could be if they got out there and voted.”

Brown recalled former two-term Ward 22 Alderwoman Maeola Reddick as an unsung hero. ​“She was the biggest mouthpiece for the community on Dixwell,” she said. ​“She’s the one that went and fought for the grants for the projects. She was a powerhouse.” 

“People like [Reddick] were not looking for acceptance from the mayor or the powers that be,” Brown said. ​“They were looking for assistance, and they weren’t afraid to speak out.” 

“A Yale PhD in political science can’t give what we got growing up,” Brown said. ​“We witnessed it; we got the hands-on.” 

That came into play when Mayor John DeStefano proposed to shut down Stetson Library as a budget-cutting measure in 2008. ​“They were saying, ​‘Well, the kids could just walk downtown to the main library,’ but they’re not even welcome downtown,” Brown said. 

She recalled her mother telling her, “‘You fight like hell, and you get the people involved, and let them know this library is for future generations and for kids. You get your sneakers on and you walk and get signatures til your feet get blisters on the bottom,’ and we were able to collect almost 1,500 signatures in three days.” 

Smith said a vision of The Shack came from Newhallville’s Vanguard Teen Center that she and Brown enjoyed while growing up. 

“They had after-school educational activities to keep our minds ticking, they had the cookout in the parking lot,” she said. ​“It was a true community center, where you could get mentoring, resources, tutoring. It was a place where someone could walk right in, and ask for something, and if you didn’t have it, refer them someplace else. Or maybe you just want to sit down and talk to somebody for five or ten minutes.” 

“It might not be something that fits into your boxes,” she went on. ​“It’s one where they recognize it’s not just kids that are vulnerable, but seniors. They come in here all the time, they need help. They’re the forgotten ones.” 

With that, Smith motioned a young woman over. She had been doing her laundry. ​“I want you to meet Diane,” she said.

Smith told Brown that the young woman recently had a baby. 

“How old is your baby now?” Brown asked. ​“I did it. I’m 66, my son’s going to be 50 this year. I had one child when I was young. It’s not easy, but you can do it, and if you ever feel like you can’t, just give me a call.”

“That’s right,” Smith said. ​“We’re here.”