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Emily Brown
March 1997

A picture of comfortable dignity, Emily Brown does not look like a revolutionary. Yet the soft spoken, unassuming woman has spent much of her adult life fighting for human justice. Born in the deep south, her soft, Georgian gentility wraps the stubborn toughness of a social activist. Her latest venture, becoming a tutor for the Adult Literacy Connection, is merely another way Emily continues her fight.

As a white girl growing up in Mansfield, a small town in rural Georgia, she had a particular view of her segregated world. "Oh yes, we were part of the system," she remembers. "We had tenant farmers and black employees. I've always been comfortable around other races. We had constant contact everyday growing up. And I never thought a thing about it! It was segregated, but friendly. Everyone helped each other."

As an adult, she was shocked and saddened by the poverty she often saw in the black community. She became involved in the civil rights movement. She became particularly active via the YWCA organization, which was at the forefront of racial and human justice. As a young teacher, and later as a wife of a physician, she saw first hand the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and discrimination. She has worked her whole life to change it through volunteerism at a local and national level. Even with this background, being a one-on-one literacy tutor is a different role for Emily. She admits she is trying to slow down a bit, and serves on fewer boards and committees. "In some ways, it's easier to write a check, or chair a committee. You feel you can help a larger group of people," she explains. "But on many levels, helping one person, on an individual level is more satisfying."

Having been a literacy tutor for nearly two years now, Emily currently tutors a black man. He too was raised in the South and immigrated North. She became acquainted with him and his family several years ago. Though he has an excellent job at a local factory, he also worked as a handyman for the Browns'. They became friends, and soon Emily learned the man had quit school in the fourth grade. Like many black youngsters in Mississippi at the time, the man was pulled out of school to work in the fields. Now in his 50's, with a family of his own, he longs to earn his GED. Emily suggested the Literacy Connection. He was interested, but insisted he could only do it if Emily agreed to be his tutor. A team was born.

It is hard to resist the obvious comparisons, at least on the surface, to the characters in "Driving Miss Daisy." Still the relationship is far more significant for all parties involved. Though couched in polite Southern manners, Emily's admiration for her learner is obvious.

"He's a very private man," explains Emily, "very reserved about personal matters. But it's such a thrill to see him succeed. He's progressed rapidly in reading and writing. We do mutual reading. He reads short books now, and writes synopses of them. We've written letters, friendly letters and business type both. Oh, and he discovered crossword puzzles! He's just crazy about them."

Though clearly a woman unaccustomed to bragging, Emily's delight in her learner's success is evidence of their special friendship. "Well, that's just it," she agrees. "That friendship that grows between tutor and learner is what makes the program so special-and so effective. It's thrilling, really."

Listening to Emily, it's difficult to say who, the tutor or the learner, gets more out of the experience. In typical no-nonsense fashion, she has some advice for anyone thinking about trying the program, learners and tutors alike. "Go to it! Do it! Emily insists. "It's a very fulfilling kind of thing. My goodness, it's just wonderful."
Interview by Kim Ross-Polito