‘What would Jo do?’ First Black woman elected to Wichita school board remembered

Josephine Brown became the first Black woman to serve on the Wichita school board in 1971 with the winning slogan, “Build a better town with Jo Brown.”

By all accounts, in her 96 years of life, that’s what Brown accomplished.

“That was her north star . . . to make a better town,” said Sheila Kinnard, the eldest child of Brown and her late husband, physician Val Brown Sr.

Former Lt. Gov. and state Treasurer Lynn Rogers, who served on the school board years after Brown, described her as “always very sure of herself but very humble” and as someone who “always had important things to say.”

“I always kind of kidded her, you know, ‘What would Jo do?’ ” he said. “I don’t think she ever wasn’t busy. She always had something going on.”

In her book “Jo’s Family History: With Pictures From the Red Couch Den,” Brown wrote that she won her seat by 37 votes against white attorney Bob Davis.

“After several recounts, I was declared the ‘new kid on the block.’ ”

Before she served on the school board, Brown already was heavily involved in the community as she and her husband regularly broke barriers, Kinnard said.

Their goal was to make Wichita “more inclusive and welcoming to people of diverse and ethnic backgrounds.”

Architect Charles McAfee gave Jo Brown advice that may have changed her trajectory “toward more significant activism,” Kinnard said.

“The way you make a difference is to get inside of the organization,” McAfee told her.

Brown had four children in Wichita schools, Kinnard said, and “it seemed very natural and normal for her to move to that space.”

At the time, Wichita public schools were wrestling with integration, Kinnard said.

“Sometimes, she would come home very frustrated. . . . Some of the people were a little bit hesitant or . . . reticent to move forward with this integration plan.”

While she may have been known for her advocacy on that issue, Brown tackled a lot of smaller ones, too, such as when parents phoned her to say their children were having various problems at school.

“She would get that energy again . . . to go out and do that work that God had laid on her heart to do,” Kinnard said.

Current school board member Melody McCray-Miller remembered Brown as Mrs. Brown from when she grew up a block from the Brown family.

“She was a sweetheart.”

Brown’s family had a Missouri heritage, and McCray-Miller said she peppered her speech with southern phrases like “sweet as a Georgia peach.”

“She always had that twang.”

McCray-Miller said Brown “was well-loved” but could be stern when needed.

“I watched her be not only outspoken but fearless as a young Melody growing up,” McCray-Miller said. “She was the first person that I thought of when I was going to run.”

Brown advised her to “look at where the needs are and focus on filling them.”

“Her advice was to be fearless.”

Rogers, too, said Brown counseled him on the importance of “listening to your gut.”

Kinnard described her mother as a loving woman known for entertaining and cooking, though it’s hard for her to name only one of her signature dishes, she said.

“Oh, honey.”

She said it depends on whether you want something “fancy or down-home soul food.”

Jalapeno cornbread always was a staple.

Brown was an inspiration to her children.

“From her impetus, we have all found our place in this world,” Kinnard said.

However, it wasn’t necessarily easy.

“When you live with trailblazers . . . they have high expectations for you.”

Former school board member Jo Ann Pottorff’s late husband, Gary Pottorff, served on the school board with Brown.

She said they both watched as Brown gained respect from many people who had never been around a Black woman previously, including at the national level where she served on a national board for school boards.

“She had respect when she talked,” Pottorff said.

Brown served in countless organizations through the decades. She listed dozens in her book.

They included the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, the Wichita Urban League and Jack and Jill of America, which nurtures future Black leaders.

Brown also helped found the Beautillion scholarship competition and directed a number of church and community choirs, including forming ARISE, which stands for African Americans Renewing Interest in Spirituals Ensemble.

“From the time she was 12 years old, she’d been playing for churches,” Kinnard said. “She found that a lot of the spirituals were being lost . . . and she wanted to make sure that that part of our heritage was not lost.”

The group has been together for 37 years and has performed all over the country and abroad as well.

When outgoing City Council member Brandon Johnson first met Brown years ago, he said he didn’t realize who she was.

“She just told me that . . . it was important to do what was right for the people, what I thought was best,” he said. “That meant a lot, especially when I realized who she was and what she had accomplished.”

As he was working on the new Carl G. Brewer Community Center that opened last month, Johnson said he wanted to find a way to also honor Brown.

“I feel like some of the women in our community who have accomplished great things don’t always get the same recognition that the men did.”

Brown was included in a surprise mural.

“She had a great time seeing that picture,” Johnson said.

“She’s such an icon, not only in our community but in the city,” McCray-Miller said.

Sheinelle Jones, Brown’s granddaughter and a co-host on NBC’s “Today Show,” said it’s easy for people to learn about important people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, but she said there are all kinds of Black heroes who accomplish so much in communities of all sizes across the country.

She said “the reality is for our country to move forward,” the nation needs more people like her grandmother.

“Imagine looking at a board and not seeing anyone like you.”

She said her grandmother easily could have stayed home to focus on raising her four children, “which is a feat in and of itself.”

Kinnard said Brown celebrated her 96th birthday on Dec. 15 and died peacefully on Dec. 31.

“God just called her home. Period.”

As Kinnard has been telling people, “Heaven has a new . . . choir director now.”

Funeral services are pending. Check back here for more information by late Friday.