Katherine Council - On education, changes in the community, and racial discrimination
Interviewed by Rita Phetmixay on March 31, 2011
“I really think with children, it didn’t matter. It was the adults that were having problems.” (In reference to integration)
- Katherine "Mama Kat" Council
Ms. Council, fondly known as Mama Kat, grew up on a farm in Chapel Hill down Jones Ferry Road and has lived in various places in the area her entire life. She went to the Northside school when it was just a one-room schoolhouse. She grew up as one of nine children and had lots of kids herself: one of her daughters was one of the first five African American students to attend an integrated school. She has seen the community change in many ways, from raising housing prices to sports to shifting racial dynamics. Ms. Council worked at several elementary schools and at a laundromat, and she experienced and witnessed racial discrimination in each workplace. Today, she is involved with St. Joseph’s Church and especially with Heavenly Groceries food ministry.
