Black Mamas/Madams, Sexual Oppression and the Truly Determined
Black Mamas/Madams, Sexual Oppression and the Truly Determined Today, in recognition of Black History Month, I celebrate my Aunt, Momma Dot. Momma Dot was a business owner, a Madame, and an active church member. Her full name was Dothulia Groce Gaddis. She was the de facto Matriarch of our family, my mother's eldest sister. She was the first to leave Jackson, Mississippi, in the mid 1920s' and venture North. She jokes about having to decide whether to ride in the white or the colored section of the train. Never ashamed of who she was, she decided to ride in the colored sections. Momma Dot was a character. She operated the 38 Club in the strip between "Goose Hill" and East St. Louis. This No-man's land was really just a strip of clubs and bars, aiming to get the attention of the men and their money as they left the "Stock Yards" on their way home. The 38 Club got its name because that was what Momma Dot always carried (a 38 snub-nose revolver)...