{"id":133518,"date":"2024-04-25T10:51:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T14:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=133518"},"modified":"2024-04-25T10:51:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T14:51:17","slug":"journey-of-a-lifetime-with-our-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=133518","title":{"rendered":"Journey Of A Lifetime With Our Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

NITA BLACK JAMES <\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The girls in our younger days, Linda Faye, Nita, Sherryl, Iris and Sybil Kay. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sherryl, Nita, Bonnye and Linda Faye.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"\"<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The girls after many years of friendship attending a Christmas Party, Sybil Kay, Linda Faye, Nita and Bonnye. <\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

BY BONNYE HALL CREWS<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Someone once said, \u201cWhen traveling life\u2019s journey, it\u2019s good to have a friend\u2019s hand to hold on to.\u201d And, for more than fifty years of Nita Black<\/b> James\u2019<\/b> journey, her friends held her hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My journey with Nita Black<\/b> began at Potter Elementary in February of 1968. That was the year Florida\u2019s teachers decided to walk out and not return to work, leaving thousands of school children in classrooms without teachers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 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,<\/b> the good-tempered, smiling girl who sat next to me, taking it all in stride.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The strike lasted about a month, but in that short time, Nita<\/b> 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.\u00a0 When the strike ended, we returned to our respective teachers, but our friendship remained and grew stronger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Among our new friends was Sybil Kay Andrews,<\/b> a studious and very witty girl who loved having fun as much and Nita<\/b> and I. We clicked immediately and the three of us soon became bosom buddies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We socialized before school, between classes, and at lunch. But, it was after the school day, at Harris Burger Joint, that Nita, Sybil Kay,<\/b> Iris Holton,<\/b> and I elevated our socializing to a whole new level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Harris<\/span>\u2019 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 \u2014 the perfect combo for teens looking to unwind after a grueling day at school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I don\u2019t really remember who among us friends first suggested going to Harris\u2019 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<\/b> swoon dreamily every time we cued a Smokey Robinson<\/b> song. Over the years while at Young, our friendships expanded to include girls and guys.\u00a0 But those of us who\u2019d bonded during our Harris Burger antics remained the tightest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 When the Jackson 5<\/b> hit the Motown scene, we were smitten \u2014 Nita<\/b> with Jackie,<\/b> Sybil Kay<\/b> and me with Jermaine.<\/b> Their music was one of the highlights of our middle teen years. We knew every word of every song by heart.\u00a0 So, imagine our excitement when our most resourceful friend, Sybil Kay,<\/b> hooked us up with orchestra seats to the Jackson 5<\/b> concert at Curtis Hixon Hall. Oh the cheers, oh the screams\u2026oh, what a night!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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<\/b> was originally going to attend. And just like that, we went from being Tigers to all being Terriers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was during this tense chapter that we befriended Linda Faye Brannon<\/b> and her sister, Sherryl. Linda,<\/b> or Faye,<\/b> as she\u2019s 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 \u201cthe girls\u201d and began to make the most of being at Hillsborough High. Our crew expanded in high school to included \u2018the fellas\u2019, Eddie, Ike, Darrell, Carl, William, <\/b>and Jeffrey.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Ultimately, Nita\u2019s<\/b> smile and cordial ways made her well-liked and quite popular.\u00a0 So much so, she was named third maid in Miss Hillsborean\u2019s court our senior year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By high school\u2019s end, we were so close, each of us was like another sibling in the others\u2019 family. We respected and regarded each parent as our own. They knew us by name and looked out for. It was truly a village.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Post high school, \u2018the girls\u2019 splintered, some going to different colleges while others went directly into the workforce. Nita,<\/b> 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\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nita, <\/span><\/b>Sybil Kay, Linda Faye<\/b> 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nita<\/b> and Faye<\/b> became coworkers at GTE (Verizon). Sybil Kay<\/b> took on duties at the newspaper.\u00a0 My education career was demanding, sometimes taking me out of the loop for a season. Nita<\/b> also loving took on the daunting task of being the primary caregiver of her mother, Mrs. Audrey<\/b> Black<\/b> for about 5 years until her health began to fail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All that said, after more than fifty years of traveling with Nit<\/b>a along life\u2019s journey, her hand has slipped from ours as her earthly walk has suddenly ceased.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So many people will miss her, especially her children, Dequan \u2018Deke\u2019 Moody <\/b>and Niqua Moody-Adkins<\/b>, her beloved grandchildren, Hyana Moody-Adkins, Issani \u2018TeeTee\u2019 Moody-Adkins, Heaven Luke, Sanai<\/b> and Dequan \u2018DJ\u2019 Moody, Jr.,<\/b>her siblings, Ann, Robert \u2018Mickey\u2019, Norman, Lisa, <\/b>and Perry Lee,<\/b> (her baby sister, Linda <\/b>preceded her in death), her cousins, nieces and nephews, and her church and choir members.\u00a0 But, for us \u201cgirls,\u201d there remains a void that is especially painful. Nita,<\/b> we\u2019ll miss you when we\u2019re dredging up memories from days gone by. We\u2019ll miss you at birthday celebrations and beach days. We\u2019ll miss you at dressy galas. We\u2019ll miss you in our daily texting.\u00a0 Though we\u2019ll no longer hold your hand along this earthly journey, you\u2019ll always be in our hearts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NITA BLACK JAMES \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The girls in our younger days, Linda Faye, Nita, Sherryl, Iris and Sybil Kay. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sherryl, Nita, Bonnye and Linda Faye. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The girls after many years of friendship attending a Christmas Party, Sybil Kay, Linda Faye, Nita and Bonnye. BY BONNYE HALL CREWS \u00a0\u00a0 Someone once said, \u201cWhen traveling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133523,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133518\/revisions\/133523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}