How Living Through Segregation Shaped Cynthia Reel
By Rebekah Gamble
With almost 14,000 students, Lehman College has a student body that is mostly made of minority students. With 53% of the population being Hispanic and 30.3% being of Black ethnicity, every degree awarded is a win for urban communities. Today, we celebrate education in a way that was illegal in 1896 when the court case Plessy v. Ferguson, ruled that segregation based on skin tone was legal.
From the 1st to 6th grade, Cynthia Reel, a sophomore Africana Studies major, learned in a segregated classroom where every face in the room looked like her own. For Cynthia, being raised in the South during a time when freedom for African Americans was still up for debate was challenging. The times when she should have been enjoying childhood innocence, she instead saw violence in the form of riots as the country reacted to change. It wasn’t until 54 years after the original court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, that segregation in schools was considered a constitutional violation.
Prior to sitting down to talk with The Meridian, Lehman College had the pleasure of hearing one of her poems “When I Look At Me” during the Audre Lorde Great Reads campus event held earlier this Spring. Cynthia opens the poem with 18 lines of pure unfiltered, vivid language of what she sees as a Black woman when she looks in the mirror. She states:
“I see a woman who doesn’t judge.
I see a woman who treats others with respect.
I see a woman who expects to be treated with the same respect.
I see a woman who is still finding herself.”
In high school, she exhibited academic excellence and skipped the 11th grade. Despite the societal norms that were expected of women during that time, she knew college was where she belonged. But when tragedy struck as her mother passed away when she was 19, she had to make a decision. Like many others who were forced to grow up too soon, it was either take care of her siblings or choose her own dreams. She chose her family.
The last lines of “When I Look at Me” are a tribute to not only the women in her immediate family but to her ancestors, all of the African Americans who cried out to be free and fought for the opportunities we have today.
“I see a woman who looks to her ancestors for strength and guidance.”
The struggles of those before her are a reminder that not only she, but women and African Americans, belong in all spaces. Cynthia expressed a desire to “not be labeled in a box of what she should be.” Like many of her peers, college was a stepping stone and a path to a new life.
“I see a woman who dreams to be free like the spirits before her. So you see it doesn’t matter what you see when you look at me.”
History has painted an image of hopelessness when it comes to being of color and like other Lehmanites, Cynthia refuses to accept this as her fate.
Of all the major accomplishments she’s obtained, having the opportunity to attend Lehman is one that she is most proud of. While Cynthia has returned to college after 45 years, she is also the mother of two college graduates. Her own college experience has been rewarding and she completes each semester with more knowledge, passion, and friends.
She doesn’t know where her degree will lead her but each semester, whether online or in-person, she treks toward the finish line. Not anything, including the stroke she survived, the uphill battle of learning how to speak again, or the death of her loving husband could deter her from becoming all that she can be.
The CUNY system has become a symbol of the educational opportunities available to those from marginalized backgrounds. Our campus is thriving on educating, empowering, and serving low income students.
Now 65 years old, Cynthia Reel has lived a life that pushes against the notion that African Americans are just statistics. As Cynthia continues on to the next phase of her life, she’s determined to make her own happiness and find herself. She embodies what you can accomplish despite your background and how you are never too late to conquer your dreams.
