From the Director’s Desk: Mae Cat Said It … I Believe It
By Cathryn McGill, NMBLC Founder and Director
Thank You For Reading …
I’m proud of this paper. When we launched the UpLift Chronicles, we didn’t have a budget or a blueprint—just conviction. It’s an honor to build dialogue, not division. This column lets me step away from bills and bureaucracy and speak from the heart. Let’s keep the conversation going.
“Get to Work”
Mae Cathryn Rucker could cuss like a sailor and make it sound like Langston Hughes’ prose. She was the original thrift-store style icon, a mother of 10, and one of the funniest, sharpest women I’ve ever known. She was my mother’s best friend—ride or die.
My mother had degrees and was the Sunday School superintendent. Mae Cat had street wisdom, a perfectly pressed wardrobe, and the kind of clarity you don’t learn in school.
Where I Ran When the Ruffles Came
I once ran away from home to go live with Mae Cat. My mama tried to make me wear a dress with ruffles. I WAS NOT HAVING IT. I knew Mae Cat would understand—and she did. That little house of hers, always smelling like Clorox, laughter and chitlins, was a haven.
Some folks would’ve labeled her unworthy. A welfare queen. A bad influence. But I knew better—she taught me so much of her hard-earned wisdom—and it stuck.
“What You Think of Me Is None of My Business”
Long before I knew Terry Cole-Whittaker wrote a book by that name, Mae Cat dropped that wisdom on me:
“Sweetie, don’t you waste one expletive-deleted minute worried about what people say. Most times it ain’t even about you—it’s about them.”
My takeaways?
Our value doesn’t live in other people’s mouths.
Our peace starts and ends with us.
Other people’s opinions are just noise unless we let them turn into chains and chaos.
Supremacy, Oppression, Suppression Ain’t Even About You …
If Mae Cat were alive today, I know she would have reminded me of that very fact. The world is loud and confusing right now—everyone’s yelling, throwing blame, slapping labels, shooting insults with real and figurative bullets. It’s not new.
It’s true this country was born out of unrest and rebellion, but let’s not confuse righteous resistance with reckless destruction. Violence rooted in lies, superiority complexes, or fear is the antithesis of revolution. My dictionary defines it as regression.
There is a clearer path. That all people are created equal. That each of us carries inalienable rights regardless of race, creed, color, or class. When we forget that—or deny it—we lose our grip on what makes democracy worth defending in the first place.
So Here’s the Work
You’re responsible for what you do. As we say in the hood, “Periodt.” Yes—with a T.
Understand what’s yours to do and then be about it in a way that doesn’t trample someone else’s rights. Your rights end at the tip of my nose.
Election season is coming up. Vote. Even when it feels like it doesn’t matter—especially then. And after that? Don’t just post. Mentor. Clean up. Educate. Organize. Show up. Build something.
Get to Work
If Mae Cathryn Rucker were here today, she wouldn’t sugarcoat a thing. She’d say:
“Stop bit—– and get to work.”
And that’s exactly what we bettah’ do …