Overview: Mzee Mason Byrd, a 106-year-old African American woman, is being honored for her wisdom and cultural significance. Born in 1919, she has outlived three of her eight children, all of her siblings, and many friends. Despite the racial violence and discrimination she experienced during her lifetime, Mzee Mason has lived an active and fulfilling life. She practices Tai Chi, does water aerobics, reads, cooks, and plays Words with Friends. She believes that the key to longevity is to take life easy and think positive thoughts.
S.E. Williams
In recognition of Woman’s History Month, this week I am honored to feature the legacy of 106-year-old Mzee Mason Byrd.
Mother Mason Byrd is recognized as a Mzee, an East African Swahili term that reflects the cultural significance of age and wisdom in African societies as well as among those of African descent in the Diaspora who hold to these meaningful traditions.
Born in 1919, Mzee Byrd entered the world during another year of white supremacists’ discontent. It was the year white supremacists terrorized Black communities across the country in what’s since become identified as “Red Summer”.
Historians tell us that in the year 1919, Blacks in America experienced the “culmination of steadily growing tensions surrounding the great migration of African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North.”
In addition, just previous to Red Summer, as World War I came to an end in 1918, the Ku Klux Klan breathed new life into its violence against Blacks in the South. There were 64 lynchings in 1918. That number increased to 83 in 1919.
What occurred that year was labeled Red Summer because racial violence exploded across the country from Washington, D.C. to Knoxville, Tennessee; from Longview, Texas to Phillips County, Arkansas; from Omaha, Nebraska to Chicago, Illinois. That year, white-on-black violence devastated Black communities including the massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma that laid waste to Black Wall Street.
Despite having lived through Red Summer, Jim Crow, the lynching years, the Civil Rights era, the Black Lives Matter movement and all things in between, Mzee Byrd told an audience recently that “Life has been good to me.”
Mzee Mason’s legacy encompasses five generations and includes a combined 200 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great grandchildren.
She birthed and raised eight children. Among the greatest challenges she’s faced in her life to date, is outliving three of her children. Her grandson Mark, who was raised by Mason and now assists with her care shared that he’s only seen her cry three times in his life… “I’m outliving my children,” she confided in him on those occasions of loss.
“… Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate; how charged with punishments the scroll; I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
William Ernest Henley
In a broader sense, at 106-years-old, not only has Mzee Mason out-lived three of her children, all of her siblings and most friends have passed on. And yet, she continues to live an active, full and rewarding life.
A former master in both Reike and Tai Chi, Mzee Mason still practices Tai Chi twice weekly in addition to participating in water aerobics two times each week. She still likes to do her own cooking–especially beans; is an avid reader, completing one book a week; solves jigsaw puzzles; makes the most beautiful quilts; and continues to beat all challengers at one of her favorite games—Words with Friends. Yes, even at 106-years-old, Mzee is not intimidated by technology.
Although raised in a traditional Christian family, one of Mason’s sons, the Reverend Meri Ka Ra, chose to follow—and lead—a different tradition, one rooted in AfRAkan spirituality. Meri Ka Ra, now deceased, was former minister of KRST Unity Center of AfRAkan Spiritual Science in Los Angeles. When Mzee Mason was asked what she thought about her son deciding to follow this path in his ministry, she replied, “I think it was wonderful he chose the African way because it is the truth.” Adding, “To me, African spiritual science sounds like true teaching because it cannot be broken down.” In other words, she explained, “[It teaches] that all is good and all is god.”
When commenting on the social and political progress of Black people during her lifetime, Mzee Mason gave a thoughtful response. “We have prospered,” she acknowledged in relation to material progress. “But, we haven’t grown as a people. Too many of our young people don’t know who they are.” This comment can encompass a range of thoughts including the need for young people to develop an understanding of their African heritage and identity; their place in the world; their life goals; learn to love themselves; their role and responsibilities to the broader community; and the list goes on.
Being a woman of a certain age, Mzee Mason was asked what it feels like as a parent, to now have her adult children not only caring for her but also advising her regarding how to live her life. “They try to protect me…,” she smiled. “They pick me up… I think they would help me breathe, if they could,” she beamed reflecting on how they love and care for her.
Mzee Mason said if she had her life to live over again she would do it all the same. “I’ve decided to die on my feet,” she added jokingly.
On a serious note, Mzee Mason shared her formula for longevity. “The secret to a long life is taking it easy. Don’t think negative thoughts. If you do, change them to something positive.”
When a young person asked Mzee Mason why she believes she is still alive? Her sharp mind and quick witted response elicited resounding laughter and approval from the audience. “Because, I’m not dead, yet,” she quipped.
Experts confirm the number of people living over 106-years-old is extremely limited. Worldwide, only a few confirmed individuals have reached this age. And here in the U.S. it is estimated that less than 1,000 individuals are 106 or older. This makes Mzee Mason part of a rare demographic known as supercentenarians.
As an elder myself in my mid-seventies, I was grateful to have the opportunity to “Sit(ting) at the Feet of the Elder” recognizing we are never to old to learn from the wisdom of others. I encourage everyone who has an elderly family member, neighbor or friend to take the time to hear their stories, honor their journeys, and acknowledge them as Mzee.
Throughout Africa, to honour and appreciate the elders is considered a moral obligation for the well-being of society. . . something we can work to mirror more closely here in America.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.
This week I will close with Mzee Mason Byrd’s favorite poem, Invictus, by the English poet William Ernest Henley:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.