Leave a message in the Online Guestbook for Marona and/or her family. Messages placed in the following Comment box will be displayed on the bottom of each website page, and longer ways may appear as independent posts that are featured on the homepage of the site. Use the “WordPress Author” option if you want to only provide a comment using only a name and email address. Login to Twitter or Facebook to post simultaneously to the Online Guestbook and to these two social media outlets.
I love you so much Marona, and I hope this site can serve as a creative outlet at this difficult time.
Love you Maroroooo!! Your legacy will definitely live on through all of us that you have touched! xoxoxo
My dearest Momo. I’m not sure where to begin or end. I’m thankful that I had the chance to get to know you, to call you friend, big sister even.
I’ll forever remember your smile, your contemplative moments, your sudden bursts of song, your laughter, your passion. Because of you I am better and will continue to walk forward in that pursuit.
Occasionally, I’ll have my own bursts, like the Brewster days: Ma-roooooo-naaaa!
In other moments, I’ll listen to a song and think of you.
I heard this India.Arie song and it seemed like something you might like.
“This Love”
http://www.djbooth.net/index/tracks/radio/india-arie-this-love
This love has been tested
This love has been tried
This love has been questioned
Held to the fire
It has faced stones, the wind and rain
It has been thought to feel some pain
This love has no doubts from certainty
It has no patience in urgency
It has it’s haters, will have it’s fans
Will have it’s freedom and it’s demands
But this love, hold it, hold it
Never get rid of
Hold it, hold it
Oh, never get rid of
Hold it
This love
We’ll have glory, we’ll have shame
We’ll be praised, it will blamed
We’ll have passion, we’ll have it’s purpose
We’ll have it’s prize and it’s all worth it
At times we’ll triumph, at times we’ll fail
It can be heaven, well, it can be hell
It will right, it can be wrong
For the rest of my life I’m gonna sing my song
This love, hold it, hold it
Never get rid of
Hold it, hold it
Oh, never get rid of
Hold it
This love
This love, hold it, hold it
Never get rid of
Hold it, hold it
Oh, never get rid of
Hold it
This love
Marona, I will smile for you every time I notice (or Malika reminds me) that I’m acting like a younger sister. Cheers to the team who put together a place to celebrate your wonderfulness.
I could not be there today, but I hope we all find strength and peace during this time. #WeMissMarona
@rgdgb Much love from the Gulley clan in Detroit. With you all in spirit and in gratitude for the gift of @MaronaAmandla #WeMissMarona
My childhood memories are reflecting off the sun rays today as heaven has another angel footprints in the sky #wemissmarona
Glad to have met and known someone with such a beautiful spirit! She truly has touched many #WeMissMarona
#wemissmarona in honor of our beloved niece
Valerie Boyd lifted her voice today in honor of Marona, speaking for her Grady family. #wemissmarona
Marona,
It’s been so long. I still could believe it when I got this news. So glad we got a last chance to meet up 2yrs ago! God knew exactly what he was doing!!! My heart goes out to your family! How I miss our childhood, words can’t even express….I love and will miss you MY FRIEND. Until we meet again,,,
Marona,
I just learned today that a beautiful, vibrant, passionate childhood friend of mine passed away. While I am incredibly saddened that you are gone, I am so happy and honored to have called you a friend. After reading your obituary, I’m not surprised to see that you did amazing things with your life. You must have been such an incredible teacher! I’m so happy to see that you shared your passion, intelligence and spirit with so many people. I know you always taught and inspired me to be a better person when we were kids. You were wise, hilarious, and authentically yourself… always.
While I’m sorry that we haven’t spoken in so many years, I will always look back at our childhood antics with a huge smile on my face. Ridiculous dance parties, rocking out to Whitney Houston… the best times. I’m glad to see that you and Allison remained close over the years… two of my favorite people growing up with such a beautiful friendship!
To the Graham-Bailey Family – I send you lots of love. You are an amazing, strong family. I’m sure that you are so proud of the incredible woman that you raised!
Marona – I’ll be toasting to you tonight, my old friend. The world is a better place because you were a part of it. You are truly one of the great ones and I’m so thankful to have known you.
Love always,
Louie
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” – Buddha
Thank you so much for this web memorial and sharing glimpses of Marona’s childhood and growth into the beautiful young woman who too many us knew only too briefly as a young adult.
I think she was a Vanderbilt student when I met her along with her sister and brothers always at family gatherings in Lawrence. It was at Rance’s high school graduation breakfast that she not only helped me grasp some of the technicalities of a new camera I had purchased, but also showed me a half dozen uses that I didn’t realize were possible with the camera. The young teacher was emerging and I recognized her interest in photography and videography (she also showed me how to use the camera’s video recording functions). During a birthday celebration in Lawrence for her grandmother, Helen Moore, I marveled at the slide show presentation that Marona and her brothers and sister had put together to share with all those attending reflecting a family’s love and admiration.
It was perhaps a year or so later that I read a blog Marona wrote following a trip that she and Malika made to South Africa and fully understood that Marona was an emerging talent — a journalist and writer. I wanted to read more of what she wrote.
As her academic interests shifted beyond journalism, I fully expected that in time her ability to observe, question and distill complexity into language and imagery any reader could grasp would emerge again — and help us all understand better the work she wanted to do.
Her wish for her research to continue inspires us all to see that it does. — Mary Jane Dunlap
I love and miss you, Marona.
Thanks for being my friend.
Rest in peace Marona Amandla. Thank you for pushing me to always go the extra mile with my writing. You will be missed! @MaronaAmandla
We were very lucky to get to know Marona during her time volunteering and then working at Charis Books, the feminist bookstore, in Atlanta. We are so sorry to hear of Marona’s passing. She brought a wisdom, light, and generosity of spirit to this world and we were all made richer for knowing her. We wish your family and friends peace and light. -Your Charis Family
I am speechless on hearing this sad sad news today. My thoughts and prayers are with Graham-Bailey Family.
Marona, I loved meeting you in Paris in 2010. You were so warm, bubbly and you made me laugh with your stories of roaming in South Africa unware of the country’s crime statistics! I loved how when we looked it up on Wikipedia, you were like “oh well…” I am happy to have met you. Rest in perfect peace! xx
Marona was my wonderful scholar stepsister…Since we were both educators we often had deep conversations about the state of education in the United States. I will truly treasure those conversations for they added to my insight about what we need to create true reform for African American students. I LOVED her article from Rethinking Schools…truly insightful.
Marona, Your words continue to be the most valuable of lessons about friendship and life. Thank you so much for being my friend. I miss you.
Throughout the news commentary on the death of Nelson Mandela, I have been thinking of Marona and the visit she and Malika made to South Africa. Marona’s observations and reports from that trip represented her emerging writing talent and her excellent observation and reporting skills. She is missed in so many circles today.
Just thinking about you in the holiday season..so blessed to have you Marona….