NITA BLACK JAMES
The girls in our younger days, Linda Faye, Nita, Sherryl, Iris and Sybil Kay.
Sherryl, Nita, Bonnye and Linda Faye.
The girls after many years of friendship attending a Christmas Party, Sybil Kay, Linda Faye, Nita and Bonnye.
BY BONNYE HALL CREWS
Someone once said, “When traveling life’s journey, it’s good to have a friend’s hand to hold on to.” And, for more than fifty years of Nita Black James’ journey, her friends held her hand.
My journey with Nita Black began at Potter Elementary in February of 1968. That was the year Florida’s teachers decided to walk out and not return to work, leaving thousands of school children in classrooms without teachers.
For fifth graders at Potter, the temporary solution was to cram four classes of children into one large classroom under the supervision of the only fifth grade teacher who refused to strike. It was in this chaos that I first met Nita, the good-tempered, smiling girl who sat next to me, taking it all in stride.
The strike lasted about a month, but in that short time, Nita and I discovered that we lived a street apart, down the railroad track from each another. From then on, we walked to and from school together, finding much to talk and laugh about along the way. When the strike ended, we returned to our respective teachers, but our friendship remained and grew stronger.
A year and a half later, we were off to Young Jr. High School, where we met a whole slew of new kids, several with whom we became pals. Among our new friends was Sybil Kay Andrews, a studious and very witty girl who loved having fun as much and Nita and I. We clicked immediately and the three of us soon became bosom buddies.
There was something magical about our days at Young. Jr. High School. We adored the principal, esteemed the teachers, and enjoyed great camaraderie with most of our classmates. We socialized before school, between classes, and at lunch. But, it was after the school day, at Harris Burger Joint, that Nita, Sybil Kay, Iris Holton, and I elevated our socializing to a whole new level.
Harris’ was a black-owned teen hangout on Chelsea Street across from the old Middleton High School gymnasium. Owned and operated by a kindhearted middle-aged man, the little cafe had a cool jukebox, an open floor for dancing, and really cheap burgers and snacks — the perfect combo for teens looking to unwind after a grueling day at school.
I don’t really remember who among us friends first suggested going to Harris’ every day, but once we got started, we looked forward to stopping by to listen to hits on the jukebox, to practice the latest dances, and to see Nita swoon dreamily every time we cued a Smokey Robinson song. Over the years while at Young, our friendships expanded to include girls and guys. But those of us who’d bonded during our Harris Burger antics remained the tightest.
When the Jackson 5 hit the Motown scene, we were smitten — Nita with Jackie, Sybil Kay and me with Jermaine. Their music was one of the highlights of our middle teen years. We knew every word of every song by heart. So, imagine our excitement when our most resourceful friend, Sybil Kay, hooked us up with orchestra seats to the Jackson 5 concert at Curtis Hixon Hall. Oh the cheers, oh the screams…oh, what a night!
Wrapping up those wonderful years at Young, we looked forward to even better times at Middleton High School. But, alas, it was not to be. The summer before we entered high school, students who planned to attend Middleton received letters reassigning us to Hillsborough High School, the high school that Nita was originally going to attend. And just like that, we went from being Tigers to all being Terriers.
Forced busing marked an end to Middleton and other Black segregated schools, but our days at Hillsborough were tumultuous. Jim Crow was in its final stages and racial tensions were at an all-time high. Fights, racial slurs, open discrimination, and protests were common occurrences at school.
It was during this tense chapter that we befriended Linda Faye Brannon and her sister, Sherryl. Linda, or Faye, as she’s affectionately known, rarely got bent out of shape with the drama surrounding us in those years. She was a calming force, especially for me because I tended to get a bit militant sometimes. Together we referred to ourselves as “the girls” and began to make the most of being at Hillsborough High. Our crew expanded in high school to included ‘the fellas’, Eddie, Ike, Darrell, Carl, William, and Jeffrey.
Ultimately, Nita’s smile and cordial ways made her well-liked and quite popular. So much so, she was named third maid in Miss Hillsborean’s court our senior year.
By high school’s end, we were so close, each of us was like another sibling in the others’ family. We respected and regarded each parent as our own. They knew us by name and looked out for. It was truly a village.
Post high school, ‘the girls’ splintered, some going to different colleges while others went directly into the workforce. Nita, who had been in the Upward Bound program during the summers of her high school years, attended the University of South Florida, where she majored in business education. Her circle of friends at USF included people she’d previously known and those she met while there. Her best college friends were her line sisters who pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., with her.
Nita, Sybil Kay, Linda Faye and I stayed in touch during college, but it was different not seeing each other on a daily basis. As we entered adulthood, life got real. We got married, had children and worked demanding jobs. The journey wasn’t always roses, daisies, and fun for any of us. But we always knew whose hands we could hold and who would pray us through any storm.
Nita and Faye became coworkers at GTE (Verizon). Sybil Kay took on duties at the newspaper. My education career was demanding, sometimes taking me out of the loop for a season. Nita also loving took on the daunting task of being the primary caregiver of her mother, Mrs. Audrey Black for about 5 years until her health began to fail.
All that said, after more than fifty years of traveling with Nita along life’s journey, her hand has slipped from ours as her earthly walk has suddenly ceased.
So many people will miss her, especially her children, Dequan ‘Deke’ Moody and Niqua Moody-Adkins, her beloved grandchildren, Hyana Moody-Adkins, Issani ‘TeeTee’ Moody-Adkins, Heaven Luke, Sanai and Dequan ‘DJ’ Moody, Jr.,her siblings, Ann, Robert ‘Mickey’, Norman, Lisa, and Perry Lee, (her baby sister, Linda preceded her in death), her cousins, nieces and nephews, and her church and choir members. But, for us “girls,” there remains a void that is especially painful. Nita, we’ll miss you when we’re dredging up memories from days gone by. We’ll miss you at birthday celebrations and beach days. We’ll miss you at dressy galas. We’ll miss you in our daily texting. Though we’ll no longer hold your hand along this earthly journey, you’ll always be in our hearts.
