Mrs. Alma Speed Fox: Spiritual Daughter of Sophia
(Inspired by Civil Rights Foot Soldiers Betty J. Tilman, Gladys Russell & Martha Garvey) by Rev. Melony McGant
A gifted child named Alma Speed was born in Cleveland, Ohio in February of 1923 during the first great migration of black southerners to Northern cities in search of opportunity and a better life.
At this time, many White people throughout the United States celebrated hate organizations like the Ku Klux Klan. Dressed in white sheets with hoods they terrorized Black people by burning their homes and conducting lynchings. Jim Crow, the separate & unequal laws, and discrimination of black people seemed to dominate the United States.
Less than two years before her arrival on Earth there had been the Black Wall Street Massacre, and a month before Alma's birth had been the Rosewood Massacre.
For Black people life was difficult but just like their ancestors, they persevered.
Some say the daughters and sons of Sophia periodically came in waves from the Heaven Realm to correct all that was wrong and to help people grow in understanding.
Both the Bible and the Koran teach that Sophia is the female personification of Wisdom. In the Jewish Kabbalah, Sophia is the female embodiment of God.
Around the world, the name has been given to baby girls so that they too learn that the beauty of their hearts is compassion with intelligence that helps them grow in the wisdom known as Sophia.
Alma was and is a Spiritual Daughter of Sophia. Her life purpose was to work for equality, justice, harmony and opportunity for all. She believed in the right of every woman and man to live, thrive and prosper.
After arriving in Pittsburgh in 1949, Alma married Gerald Fox and became involved in the NAACP during the 1950s.
Under the leadership of then Pitsburgh NAACP president Byrd R. Brown, Esq., Alma Speed Fox and the many women of the NAACP helped organize rallies at Forbes Field and Central Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr spoke. These women were behind the scene assistants and organizers of a train convoy to the March on Washington in 1963 and also facilitated many of the logistics of the Poor People's Campaign March on Washington in 1968.
Alma was employed as executive director of the NAACP from 1966 to 1971 where she mentored Tim Stevens to take over the job. She cofounded FREEDOM UNLIMITED, Inc. in 1968.
It is important to note that though Mrs. Fox has received numerous awards, most of the women who worked with her in the background were seldom acknowledged in the same way that the men have been acknowledged. With the men, these women helped to finance and organize marches against Mine Safety Appliances, Gimbels, Kaufmans, Hornes, the Board of Education, Sears and Roebucks, as well as the University of Pittsburgh.
With some progress in civil rights made, Alma Speed Fox then went to work as Eastern area equal opportunity manager for the U. S. Department of the Interior and also served on the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission from 1972 to 2002.
Ms, Fox became intricately involved in the National Organization of Women (NOW) but was known to say that in NOW she discovered racism just as there was sexism within the men of the NAACP.
Mrs. Alma Speed Fox remained on the NAACP and GWEN'S GIRLS boards until returning to the Heaven Realm, January 24, 2022.
The Spirit of Sophia lives in the spirit of Alma Speed Fox. She has been Welcomed to Heaven by ascended family members along with Pittsburgh Civil Rights Foot Soldiers, Wilhemina Byrd Brown, Hazel Garland, Coretta Ogburn, Delores Stanton, Katie Everett Johnson, Barbara Davis White, Mary Gloster, Maida Springer Kemp as well as Nefertiti, Makeda, Queen of Sheba, Sacagawea, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Ella Mae Baker, Fannie Lou Hammer, Coretta Scott King, Carolyn Goodman, Dr. Betty Shabazz, Pauli Murray, Carol Mosely Braun, Ruth Ginsberg and many other Angel Daughters of Sophia.
May we remember Mrs. Alma Speed Fox and all these great ones in our hearts.
May we recognize the daughters and sons of Sophia on Earth at this time and commit to carrying on the loving work of fighting for justice, voting rights, quality healthcare, fair housing, equality, and equal opportunity as we continue to learn to live with compassion, integrity, and Wisdom.
Photo: Courtesy of the Fox Family
Special Note
Funeral services will be held Thursday, February 3, 2022 at 11:00 a.m at Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. A livestream of the service will be available at calvarypgh.org/live.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Alma’s name to Freedom Unlimited, Inc., 2201 Wylie Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.
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