my why: leona petite washington randall (1928-2010)
photo of my late grandmother, leona petite washington randall, c. 1940s
leona’s legacy
Leona was born in Daphne, AL on May 14, 1928 and was later adopted in 1934 by the late Alice Boudin Washington and Booker T. Washington. She married the late William Randall Sr. on June 1, 1951. She graduated from Xavier University in New Orleans. Leona worked as a school teacher in the New Orleans Public School system for 33 years: from 1955, and retired from Joseph Hardin Elementary (in the Lower Ninth Ward) in 1987. Leona taught three generations of students in New Orleans.
Prior to the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Leona was an active member at her home church (St. David’s Catholic church), serving as Eucharistic minister and various community outreach services. Leona passed away on February 11, 2010 at Bernice Nursing and Rehabilitation Nursing home in Bernice, AL.
My Grand-mère (French for grandmother) Leona was an artist and a writer. Her work in poetry remains unpublished, but per her expressed desires these works were printed in limited copies in a collection titled Poetry from Urban Realities.
Read the text from one of Leona’s poems below.
“The glass of night: a telescope” dedicated to granddaughter IsaBel liana randall
In the glass of night, I suddenly take a sail, And cast my thoughts, Across the starry trails.
My dreams embark far out into the sea, Of space and filled with ecstasy.
Like sparkles through a sphere of tinted glass, They course my search amid the spiral path.
I journey through the quiet and peaceful beams, Can this great venture be of the cosmic scheme?
Bright astral jewel rush before my eyes, Their fragments lend to long awaiting skies.
I focus on the cold reality, And land my roaming craft inside of me.
My mind returns from fantasy and height, Such grandeur lies within the glass of night.
This literary work is comprised mainly of poetry. it is written in tribute to all people who faced the devil and very hard times during the great depression of the nineteen thirties and early forties. they could find spiritual strength, humor, beauty, honor, and the flexibility to survive despite the turbulence of that era.
