Tayari's Blog: Remembering C. Delores Tucker

Although I was too shy to admit it at the time, I was impressed with the way she stood up to folks who helped make "bitch" and "ho" household worlds. Vilified in music and in small talk, she was seen as emblematic of the old-folks who just didn't get it.

In person, Mrs. Tucker, wasn't rigid or small minded. She was elegant and intellectual. She spoke to me in the back of her limousine about prison reform, which was her main issue. (I was wondering why I hadn't heard this? Her refusal to support Tupac and other rappers taken to mean that she was anti-brother, but here she was doing the real, on-the-ground work of prison reform.) She wanted to know if I would be interested in starting a Houston chapter of an organization she wanted to start with the hopes of getting young people more involved in politics.

I could tell you here about Ms. Tucker's biography-- that she is a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, that she marched with Dr. King. But maybe this wouldn't square with the picture I will draw here. She was a handsome woman, wearing a simple but rich beige suit and her hair covered with a matching turban. On her hand twinkled a diamond almost big as a dime.

But I will leave you with this anecdote, which is the memory of her that I have carried with me since. Because of a scheduling snafu, Ms. Tucker was unable to attend the afternoon luncheon. The organizers ran around making alternate arrangements for her to get to the airport. She and I waited in the air-conditioned limo. Finally, a woman ran from the banquet hall carrying two Styrofoam dishes containing the surf and turf that was on the luncheon menu. There was one for me and one for Ms. Tucker.

"Have you forgotten the third one?" she said.
The woman who brought the plates was, well, confused. "You wanted two lunches?"
"No," said Mrs. Tucker. "I think you forgot to bring a plate for the driver. He's been with us all day, so I know he hasn't had anything to eat since breakfast."

I could see the driver's face in the rear view mirror. He looked as shocked as the woman who brought the plates.

"Oh," she said. "I forgot to bring it. I'll get it right away."

The driver turned in his seat and spoke for the first time that day. "Thank you, ma'am."

She waved him off. "Everyone has to eat."

C. Delores Tucker was one classy lady.