By Alexis Taylor
AFRO Managing Editor
The official record says Johnnie Mae Quince Gay died Aug. 2, 1972 of “cardio respiratory failure,” a “massive brain haemorrhage ” and hypertension. But the oral history says it was possibly another matter of the heart that took my grandmother’s life.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Find a Grave
Born in Verbena, Chilton, Ala. on Aug. 30, 1930, Gay didn’t let humble beginnings stop her.
She was a member of the Women’s Army Corps as a clerk typist and served in the Korean War during a time where women fought to be more than cooks, homemakers and maids.
The act of enlisting in the Army, still in the shadow of Jim Crow, speaks loud and clear that she had a type of fearlessness only found in the bravest women of her day. Gay had heart. She had courage…but her love life was nothing to brag about.
The story passed down to me says one day a young Johnnie Mae Quince sat on a train, heart torn between engagement offers from a “Mr. Peoples” (possibly Peeples) and William Henry Gay. If she got off the train at her stop, she knew Mr. Peoples would be waiting. At the last moment, she stood up. But for some reason, the train did not stop. The last moment passed.
Unbeknownst to her, this one moment in time would change the course of her life. Johnnie Mae took the train’s failure to stop as a sign to take William Henry up on his offer. A Norfolk, Va. marriage license says the two became one on June 17, 1957.
Credit: Courtesy photo
What followed was not a picture of wedded bliss. Seven children later, Johnnie Mae Quince Gay began to experience health challenges related to her cardiovascular health.
On an August night, just weeks away from her 42nd birthday, she returned home from a long-term rehabilitation clinic. She had suffered a stroke and, according to my mother, had finally been well enough to return home. Her doctors didn’t know “home” was the worst place for her.
My mother, the seven-year-old girl who went on to become a nurse of three decades (and counting), remembers the fight that took place between the two veterans. My aunt remembers her mother being rushed by ambulance for another cardiovascular event. The death certificate shows a heart, finally giving out.
Some say I shouldn’t write about this. No one wants to read about it. But the truth is, I think more people should understand that matters of the heart- both physically, romantically and otherwise– truly do hold the power of life and death. And Black stories always deserve to be told.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “in the United States in 2022, 1 in 6 deaths (17.5 percent) from cardiovascular disease was due to stroke.” The Office of Minority Health reports that “in 2023, Black or African American adults were 20 percent more likely to have diagnosed hypertension (high blood pressure) than non-Hispanic White adults.”
This American Heart Month, I have become hyperaware that between the COVID-19 pandemic and a career change that requires less physical movement, my lifestyle and lack of a real exercise routine in the past five years has set me on the wrong path when it comes to cardiovascular health.
Though we never met, the life of Johnnie Mae Quince Gay also reminds me to take care of my heart in other ways. The CDC reports that “over 61 million women and 53 million men have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime.” While it was labeled as cardiovascular disease, the backstory to my grandmother’s death has been a reminder to never settle in love. To live boldly, with the courage to care for my own heart in every way possible. This means having open and honest communication with my loved ones and fostering relationships that don’t stress me out and raise my blood pressure!
Credit: AFRO photo / Alexis Taylor
This edition of the AFRO touches on heart health and the many types of love that abound during American Heart Month and the many celebrations related to Valentine’s Day.
While we speak to the importance of understanding the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease, we also speak on the power of Black love and healthy connection with others, no matter the relationship.
The stories collected here, like that of Johnnie Mae Quince Gay, are meant to be a reminder that Black bodies–and the hearts that beat inside them– absolutely matter. Happy reading!
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