The Tribune

“I have gone to bat for workers all my life. I was never worried about losing a job. I would tell the powers that be, employers, the government, that it is either this way or that way! You can't treat people any way you feel like. They have rights, they are hungry, and you gone let them die? No! See, I wanted to save lives. Not kill them. I would say ‘the people have to eat’. I would be sorry for people who were weary and hungry, especially women, who were often carrying a heavy load as homemakers and providers in their homes. Sometimes you would see the people and women in particular, their struggles, their children, and say ‘Oh God’.”

“I had a few persons who acted in a different way to me because I was from the island and I was not dressed up like the others. There were some who accepted me and then there were others who would have shunned me. But of course, because of my home training, I did not mind. I walked by as though I did not care. I know the names of those who treated me well and I can never forget them.”

“Never mind what you see other children with, because you don’t know how they get it. What I could give you or what God has in store for you – that is it. What’s for you, God will give it to you. When you could get some, you get it. Don’t follow fashion. That is the same thing my mother taught me and I passed it on. Today I never had no problem with my six gyal children or boys.”

“If you know the family from which I come, age has nothing to do with our enthusiasm, energy or accomplishments. My grandmother was 102. My mother lived to 96. We have genes of longevity. What is wonderful about aging is that people consider you, the sage on the stage. And I love that role, because they know that it is authentic, genuine and coming from proven experience.”