Kingstree Natives Return to Tape Program

Inetta Jenkins and Wandy Wallace grew up in Kingstree, graduating from Kingstree Senior High in 1973. In the intervening years, they have embarked on different journeys toward success. Both live in Georgia now, where Inetta is Dr. Inetta Jenkins Fulton, and Wandy is Dr. Wandy Wallace Taylor. Dr. Fulton lives in Savannah where she is the founder and CEO of Women-N-Power, a global ministry network. Part of that ministry involves hosting the television show, Inetta and Friends. Dr. Taylor retired from the public education system in 2016 after a career as a school principal. She now is co-owner with her husband, Dr. James A. Taylor, of Taylor & Taylor Education Consultants. The Taylors are also the authors of the new book, The Imperfect Storm: Racism and a Pandemic Collide in America. Last weekend, nearly 48 years after they graduated from Kingstree Senior High, the old friends returned to Kingstree to tape Inetta and Friends at the C. Williams Rush Museum for African-American Art and Culture. During the show, they reminisced about growing up and discussed the Taylors’ book.

They agreed that growing up in Kingstree’s close-knit African-American community of the time provided them with advantages. They knew they had the community behind them, looking out for them and also expecting them to do their best. They noted that the African proverb “it takes a whole village to raise a child” applied very much to this community at that time. “We had that village,” they agreed, with Dr. Taylor noting that the formative years in a child’s life are so crucial. “Those memories stick with you,” she said.

At that time, students revered and respected their teachers. Inetta remembers that her sixth grade teacher was Wandy’s father, Norris Wallace, Jr., whose career embraced teaching, chairing the Williamsburg County School Board, and serving as a Williamsburg County Magistrate. “We all bear the scars of that ruler across the back of our hands,” she said, staring out into the audience where the judge was seated. She then acknowledged, “We turned out all right, but that’s not legal today,” which brought a laugh from the audience.

Family was of paramount importance then. Wandy, Norris and Grace Wallace’s eldest child, has seven brothers and two sisters. “I’ve been teaching a long, long time,” she joked. Inetta said she was not in the least surprised that Wandy became an educator. She said that in their group who went around together during high school school, “I was the driver, but Wandy always told us what to do.”

The two of them were in high school when Williamsburg County’s school district was fully integrated. They said that they had mixed emotions when they found out that in 1969, they would no longer attend Tomlinson High School but would be going to the new Kingstree Senior High. “We were excited,” they said, “but we were also a little afraid.” The adjustments of those early years were not easy. “We went through some stuff.” Inetta was a bus driver whose route went through Boogie Bottom so that all her riders were white. She vividly remembers that on the day when frustrations reached a breaking point, and a riot ensued at school that two law enforcement officers accompanied her on her bus route.

Wandy noted that children today think all this happened so very long ago. She pointed out that this is why it is so important that we remember the past, understanding the struggles that have gotten us to where we are today. To be able to break free from the problems of the past, we must understand that they happened and acknowledge them.

The second half of the 30-minute show was devoted to discussing the Taylors’ book, The Imperfect Storm. The book was written last year when it became apparent that the pandemic was going to curtail both work and travel. Dr. Taylor said she and her husband realized that they could either sit and stare at each other or they could do something. They chose the latter. The book’s focus is that the pandemic, coupled with the political landscape of the time, brought to light areas of racism that had in past years been camouflaged. And while they concentrate on education, the field they know best, the problem exists in the broad spectrum of institutions that are necessary for all of us to live in this country.

“Could you explain what “systemic racism” means?” Dr. Fulton asked, noting that it is a term we hear often these days. Dr. Taylor responded by saying that systems like education, healthcare, and finance, among others, are governed by policies and practices that were often put in place long before communities of color had any voice. These practices have become so ingrained in these systems that many working within them are unaware of how they affect persons and groups different from themselves. Unless these systems completely change so that their services are equitably distributed, racism will continue. “The pandemic helped reveal all these imperfections that were already there,” she said.

She ended by saying that she and her husband solicited input from many people as they worked on their manuscript, including their four-year-old granddaughter. When asked how she thought her generation will deal with these problems, her granddaughter said, “We’ll do a better job; we’ll fix it.”

The Imperfect Storm is available from the publisher here or from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Inetta & Friends airs on WLCN-TV, Charleston, at 10 p.m. on Mondays. The show taped last weekend is scheduled to air the first week in July.