Blondell with her mother ‘Nana’ Sadie Reynolds and her daughter, Brielle Autumn Brown, Esq.
Photo courtesy: Blondell Reynolds-Brown

By Constance Garcia-Barrio

Former Philadelphia City Councilmember Blondell Reynolds-Brown’s memoir, “Walking a Tightrope Backwards in High Heels” (Wordeee Publishing), sketches her early years and centers on her work in the sometimes bruising arena of City Hall politics. With a savvy that packs the pages, Reynolds-Brown could have called the book ‘A Woman’s Guide to Grace Under Fire.’

“Women can lead in spaces where others may not envision us, but the double standard that exists for women in general is intensified for Black and Latinx women elected officials,” Reynolds-Brown said in an interview.

Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Reynolds-Brown, at age 5, moved with her family to Philadelphia’s old Black Bottom, an area that once stretched from 33rd St. to 40th St., and from Lancaster Avenue to University Avenue. Reynolds-Brown’s father, who worked in construction, and her mother, a teacher, had seven children, of whom Blondell is oldest. The family managed with slim financial resources but possessed a wealth of faith and belief in hard work. Those values proved crucial after Reynolds-Brown’s mother became a widow at 37.

“My grandparents were farmers who instilled in their children the merit of hard work and perseverance,” Reynolds-Brown said, adding that her mother used to speak of “eating organic” long before Madison Avenue’s ad men hijacked the phrase.

Blondell Reynolds-Brown at two years old.
Photo courtesy: Blondell Reynolds-Brown

Reynolds-Brown recalled other special moments from her formative years.

“One of my favorite childhood memories is walking from home to the Zoo,” she said, “And every New Year’s Eve, my mother would require us to kneel around her bed while she prayed for us.”

On Saturday nights, the family would watch “The Lawrence Welk Show,” whose dancers dazzled Reynolds-Brown. At 16, while a student at the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Reynolds-Brown began working at a Gino’s restaurant to pay for her dancing classes.

“It was very, very late to start training as a dancer,” she said, but the investment paid off. During her junior year at Penn State, where she majored in elementary education and eventually earned a master’s degree in that field, Reynolds-Brown was invited to audition for the university’s Jazz Dance Theatre.

Performing in that group proved a steppingstone, after graduation, to Philadanco.

“I danced with the company for about 7 years,” said Reynolds-Brown, who also sparkled on stage in Atlantic City casinos. She segued into teaching in Philly’s public elementary schools in 1985.

In the mid-1990s, Reynolds-Brown remade her life.

“I got married, bought a house, and had a baby,” she said.

Then she used the poise and patience gained in performing and teaching to catapult herself into politics.

Reynolds-Brown with her sisters at City Hall (from left to right) Angelina, Alesia. Blondell, Yvonne and Pandora.
Photo courtesy: Blondell Reynolds-Brown

“On February 11, 1995, I announced my candidacy at a standing-room-only gathering at …District Council 1199C.” she writes.

That first campaign resulted in a narrow loss. Reynolds-Brown learned lessons from that defeat and won five subsequent elections. She would go on to serve on City Council for 20 years.

The memoir describes candidly the nuts and bolts of running for elected office.

“Money is the mother’s milk of campaigns,” Reynolds-Brown writes. “You can’t run a campaign and raise funds at the same time. You have to have a solid team of professionals with you.”

The memoir encourages potential political candidates but cautions them that campaigning exacts its pound of flesh in grueling work.
“There is no smooth runway if you are an African American or Latinx woman,” Reynolds-Brown said.

Smarts, allies, and intuition remained critical after winning, Reynolds-Brown’s writes. During her freshman year, she learned “…whom to trust, [and] which council members would take advantage of novice legislators.”

Conflict comes with the territory. “Opposition is part of the legislative process,” she writes. “Expect it. Embrace it.”

Years of teaching had given Reynolds-Brown a keen sense of the needs of children, and the birth of her daughter, Brielle in 1996, sharpened it. As a new councilmember, Reynolds-Brown, with the support of then-Mayor John F. Street, brokered the deal during sports stadium negotiations in 2000 that established the Fund for Children. Thanks to that agreement, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles donate $1 million per year per team for 30 years to pay for children’s programs and activities.

Likewise, one of Brielle’s science courses led Reynolds-Brown to spearhead creating the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, which works with partners to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.

Over the years, Reynolds-Brown has garnered awards from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Philadelphia Young Playwrights Advocate Award, Girls Inc., WDAS Radio Women of Excellence Award, the School District of Philadelphia and more. Yet, as poet Langston Hughes put it, “Life ain’t no crystal stair.”

Reynolds-Brown’s divorce hit her hard.

“After a painful divorce, you learn to live a new norm,” she writes.

The memoir also covers the “major career firestorm” that resulted in a hefty fine from the city’s Board of Ethics.

The book shares some of Reynolds-Brown’s guideposts for navigating troubled times. She turns to quotations for insights. Readers find quotes like “Commitment …transforms a promise into reality,” from Abraham Lincoln, and “In the midst of winter, I found in me an invincible summer,” from French philosopher Albert Camus.

Books also help steer her through difficulty. Reynolds-Brown mentions works like “Getting to Yes, Negotiating Without Giving In,” by Roger Fisher and William Ury, and “Learning to Trust God,” by Deborah J. Kern.

The memoir also includes her personal playlist comprised of evocative songs like John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire.”

“You can endure during tough dark years,” Reynolds-Brown writes.

“Walking a Tightrope Backwards in High Heels” is available on Amazon, at independent bookstores, or through Reynolds-Brown’s website at: https://www.moxiebrb.com/.

Reynolds-Brown will give a free book talk and signing at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia on September 17. The event begins at 7 p.m. For more information, visit: https://freelibraryfoundation.org/events/blondell-reynolds-brown-walking-a-tightrope-backwards-in-high-heels/.