Rosalind “Roz” Adams Shares Memories of Rev. Willie Barrow

Deborah Bayliss | As of Thursday, March 19, 2015

Rosalind “Roz” Adams & Rev. Willie Barrow
Rosalind “Roz” Adams & Rev. Willie Barrow

As a volunteer on Chicago’s political scene for more than 30 years, it was just a matter of time before Rosalind “Roz” Adams, 58, crossed paths with Rainbow PUSH’s, Rev. Willie Taplin Barrow, whom she grew to love and provided care to from 2012 to 2014.

One of seven children, Barrow was born Dec. 17, 1924 in Burton, Texas and grew up with the profound influence of her father, who was a minister that taught her to “take on the burden of her fellow man,” something she did her entire life. One of Barrow’s most critical roles came as a field organizer for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the civil-rights demonstrations and marches of the 1950s and 1960s and continued with the work she did in helping to establish the Southern Leadership Conference’s, Operation Breadbasket along with Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and others, an organization that sought to combine theology and social justice, to effect progressive economic, educational, and social policy in America.

Adams shared some of her fond memories of Rev. Barrow with the Chicago Citizen Newspaper.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Tell me the story of how you came to know Rev. Barrow?

Adams: I’ve always been partial to seniors. I’ve been a volunteer in Chicago for more than 30 years. I’ve been a volunteer with PUSH for 12 years. As a volunteer with PUSH’s Senior Connection and my involvement with politics, I also volunteered for the PUSH Conventions and would see her; we crossed paths often. In 2006, her secretary at the time, Debbie Mitchem, was transitioning out and I was transitioned into the volunteer secretary position. She asked me if I knew how to use a computer and I said yes and we went back to her office at PUSH (headquarters, 930 E. 50th St.). I opened her email account and she had about 600 unopened emails and we have been together ever since. I started out as her secretary and after a surgery she had, I became supervisor of the caregivers who looked after her. In addition to supervising the caregivers, I also personally provided care for her. I did everything for Rev. Barrow and had a dedicated team who was hand-picked by her who worked with me in providing care for her. They were more than staff, they were family. Their names are Alice, Enid, Sabrina, Connie, Robin, Vanessa, Jeromeka, Ralph and Shelby. I’m so happy to have been part of her life.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Rev. Barrow was very well known around Chicago but for those who didn’t know her, share a little bit about what she was like?

Adams: Most importantly, Rev. Barrow was a Christian who believed in God and that all things were possible with God and prayer. She loved her husband Clyde, whom she called Honey and her son, disco recording artist, Keith Barrow; her Goddaughter, Dr. Patricia Carey, the number one Godchild with whom she had an actual Godparent ceremony and helped raise her after her mother passed. She loved both of her families, the Taplins and the Barrow family. she also loved Rev. Addie Wyatt of Rainbow PUSH, Vernon Park Church of God, her friends and all of her Godchildren of which there are more than 200, with all of her heart. She enchanted everyone she met. Men melted in her presence. She was extremely intelligent and her memory went way back to when she was 12 years old and could recall the bus boycott she started at 12, in her hometown in Burton, Texas. She was feisty with a sense of humor and was concerned equally, for people. People were her life blood. She was very loving. She’s the thread that runs through this country as godmother and mentor to so many (including President Barack Obama). She was a friend to so many people.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: What were some of the things she was working on?

Adams: She was working on a leadership institute for women. I’m not sure if they’ve decided on a name for it yet. She was very focused on women’s issues. She mentored so many women across the nation, like Donna Brazile, (an African American author, academic, and political analyst who is Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee). I’m in good company in terms of the people she mentored. She would say, “If you don’t have money, you need to have connections.” She would say also that, “We are not so much divided as we are disconnected.” I loved her dearly and will miss her for the rest of my life. She was so proud of the fact that her hands picked cotton and presidents.

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