Elizabeth Samuels, a 'fighter for her people,' dies at 80

Elizabeth A. Samuels could be counted on whenever there was an inequity to be challenged, her admirers recall, and she had a nurturing side that often nudged younger people forward to assume roles in their community.

Samuels, who in recent years came to be known as "Mother Liz," died April 2 in her hometown of Minneapolis of complications following a March 22 stroke. She was 80.

"If somebody's bleeding, she's going to say 'ouch,'" said Pam Blackamoore, who regarded the longtime civil rights activist as a second mother.

"She was a fighter and advocate for her people and community," said fellow activist Ron Edwards. "She was firm, but she was always a significant force for reason and reconciliation."

Blackamoore recalled Samuels marching with Somali-Americans as well as Native Americans. "She was willing to step up and say, 'That's not right,'" Blackamoore said.

Sometimes she paid a personal price. She worked for a dozen years as head of the North Side American Red Cross office, but she was fired in 1980. Officially, it was because she rejected a reassignment to her native South Side. But Edwards said that she was fired after raising ethical questions about sickle-cell anemia research on which the organization was cooperating with the University of Minnesota.

That drew pickets to the local Red Cross chapter.

Samuels graduated from South High School and studied at Augsburg College. She once worked as a waitress at Powers department store. She also worked at Insight News and in her later years for a variety of social service agencies.

For a time, she managed the apartment building on Golden Valley Road where she lived for nearly 40 years. She served on the boards of many community organizations, including The Way Inc., Ruth Hawkins YWCA, Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and Pilot City Regional Center. Friends say she was a tireless canvasser for voter registration and DFL politics.

She played leadership roles in organizations including the Coalition of Black Churches/African-American Leadership Summit and the Willard Homewood Organization.

"There really was nothing that went on in the community that she did not know about," said Menia Buckner, a former co-worker.

She is survived by her daughter, Gloria, of Chicago; and brothers John Seymore of Milwaukee and Harry Seymore of Cincinnati. A reviewal was scheduled for 9-11 a.m. Saturday at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, 2519 Lyndale Av. N., with funeral service at 11 a.m.