Miriam DeCosta-Willis

**Miriam DeCosta-Willis** (1 ga Nuwamba, 1934 - 7 ga Janairu, 2021) malamar Amurka ce, marubuciya, kuma mai fafutukar kare hakkin bil'adama. Dan asalin Afirka na farko a Jami'ar Jihar Memphis, bayan da aka hana shi shiga makarantar a matsayin dalibi mai digiri saboda tseren ta, ta yi aiki a matsayin farfesa na harsunan Romance da karatun Afirka na Amurka a kwalejoji da yawa a Memphis, Tennessee, da Washington, DC, yankin. Daga shekarun 1960, ta kasance mai aiki a cikin Ƙungiyar Ƙasa don Ci gaban Mutanen Launi (NAACP). Ta wallafa littattafai sama da goma sha biyu a duk lokacin da take aiki, galibi suna hulɗa da wallafe-wallafen Afro-Latino da tarihin Black Memphis.

## Rayuwa ta farko da ilimi
An haifi Miriam DeCosta-Willis Miriam Dolores DeCosta a Florence, Alabama, a cikin shekara ta 1934. Jikan Zachary Hubert, wanda aka Bautar da shi a Georgia, Alabama, an haife ta ne ga malamai biyu na Afirka.   Mahaifiyarta, Beautine Hubert DeCosta, ta kammala karatu daga Kwalejin Spelman da Jami'ar Atlanta, kuma mahaifinta, Frank A. DeCosta، ya sami digiri daga Jami'ar Lincoln, Jami'ar Columbia, da Jami'an Pennsylvania. Ita da ɗan'uwanta, Frank, sun girma a makarantun koleji a fadin Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, da South Carolina inda iyayenta ke aiki.

DeCosta ya fara shiga cikin gwagwarmaya tun yana yaro, yana shirya zanga-zangar dalibai a matsayin ƙarami a Makarantar Sakandare ta Wilkinson .   A shekara ta 1950, ta zama ɗalibar Black ta farko da ta halarci Makarantar Westover, makarantar shirye-shiryen kwaleji a Connecticut, inda aka san ta da "Laurie".   Masu ba da shawara na gida sun zaɓe ta don haɗa makarantar saboda ta yi kama da irin "kyakkyawan yarinya Negro" wanda Westover zai yi wahalar ƙi. 

Daga nan ta halarci Kwalejin Wellesley, inda ta yi fice a ilimi, tun daga shekarar 1952.   A kwalejin mata, tana ɗaya daga cikin ɗaliban baƙar fata kaɗan a lokacin. A shekara ta 1955, ta shiga cikin takunkumin bas na Montgomery yayin da take ziyartar mahaifiyarta a Alabama; lura da gwagwarmayar mahaifiyarta za ta yi tasiri mai dorewa a kanta. A lokacin da ta fi ƙarama a Wellesley, ta auri lauyan kare hakkin bil'adama Russell Sugarmon, kuma sun koma garinsu na Memphis, Tennessee, bayan ta kammala karatu a 1956.   Ma'auratan sun haifi 'ya'ya hudu tsakanin 1956 da 1964: Tarik, Elena, Erika, da Monique . 

## Ayyuka
Ayyukanta na tsawon shekaru arba'in a matsayin farfesa da kuma mai gudanarwa ya fara ne a shekara ta 1957, lokacin da aka hayar ta don koyar da Faransanci a Kwalejin LeMoyne .  A wannan shekarar, ta nemi neman karatun digiri a Jami'ar Jihar Memphis, yanzu Jami'ar Memphis. Maimakon haka, ta nemi Jami'ar Johns Hopkins a ƙarƙashin sunan mijinta, Sugarmon, kuma an yarda da ita a ƙarƙashin zaton cewa ita Bayahude ce, kodayake jami'in shigarwa har yanzu yana tambaya ko "mahaifiyar Bayahude mai kyau da mahaifiyar" za su bar gida kuma su shiga. Ta kammala karatu daga Johns Hopkins tare da digiri na biyu a shekarar 1960 da PhD a cikin harsunan Romance a shekarar 1967.   Ta kasance ɗaya daga cikin matan baƙar fata na farko da suka sami digiri a Johns Hopkins.

### Jami'ar Jihar Memphis
A shekara ta 1966, an hayar ta don koyar da Mutanen Espanya a Jami'ar Jihar Memphis, inda aka hana ta shiga kasa da shekaru goma da suka gabata, ta zama memba na farko na Black na makarantar. A jami'ar, ta ba da shawara ga kungiyar Black Student Association ta makarantar, ta taimaka wajen shirya zaman ofishin shugaban kasa. Mai shiga tsakani a shirya 'yancin bil'adama, ta yi aiki a matsayin shugabar Kwamitin Ilimi na Memphis NAACP a cikin shekarun 1960, inda ta jagoranci kauracewa makarantun jama'a na gida. An kama ta sau da yawa saboda shiga cikin zanga-zangar kare hakkin bil'adama, ita da 'ya'yanta an yi mata maced, kuma ta sami barazanar kiran waya zuwa gidanta. Za ta kasance memba na NAACP na dindindin.

### Jami'ar Howard
Ita da mijinta Russell sun sake aure a 1967, kuma a 1970 ta koma tare da 'ya'yanta zuwa Washington, DC, inda ta shiga bangaren koyarwa na Jami'ar Howard . 

A Washington, DeCosta ta auri lauyan Memphis kuma ɗan siyasa Archie Walter Willis Jr. a shekarar 1972.  A Howard, an zabe ta shugabar Sashen Harsunan Romance a shekara ta 1974, kuma ta kafa shirye-shiryen digiri na jami'a a Faransanci da Mutanen Espanya. Yayinda take zaune a Washington a cikin shekarun 1970s, ta shiga cikin wasu ƙungiyoyin zanga-zangar masu fafutuka, gami da 'yancin mata da ƙungiyoyin Hakkin LGBT.

### Kwalejin LeMoyne-Owen
DeCosta-Willis ta koma Memphis tare da mijinta a shekara ta 1976. Komawa a Memphis, ta shafe shekaru goma tun daga shekarar 1979 a matsayin farfesa a harsunan Romance a Kwalejin LeMoyne-Owen .  A can, ta kafa kuma ta ba da umarnin Shirin Malamai na Du Bois . 

### George Mason da Jami'ar Maryland
A shekara ta 1988, shekara guda bayan mutuwar mijinta, DeCosta-Willis ta bar Memphis don alƙawari a matsayin farfesa na Mutanen Espanya a Jami'ar George Mason a yankin Washington, DC. A shekara ta 1991, ta koma Jami'ar Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), inda ta zama farfesa a Sashen Nazarin Afirka ta Amirka da kuma darektan sashen karatun digiri. Ta yi aiki a UMBC har zuwa lokacin da ta yi ritaya a 1999.

## Rubuce-rubuce
A matsayinta na malami, DeCosta-Willis ta shiga cikin wallafe-wallafen Afirka, Caribbean, Afirka-Amurka, Afro-Latino, da Latin Amurka, tana tafiya a fadin Amurka da Ghana da Spain don bincike, kuma tana aiki a matsayin mataimakin edita na SAGE: Jaridar Masana Black Women da kuma a kan kwamitin edita na Afro-Hispanic Review .  Jami'ar Howard Associate Dean James Davis ta bayyana ta a matsayin "mahaifiyar adabi da al'adun Afro-Hispanic".  Ta kuma gudanar da bincike kan tarihin al'ummar Afirka ta Memphis. Baya ga labarai da yawa da sake dubawa, ta rubuta, gyara, ko co-edit littattafai 15.   Shahararrun ayyukan sun haɗa da Blacks in Hispanic Literature: A Collection of Critical Essays (1977), Erotique Noire / Black Erotica (1992), The Memphis Diary of Ida B. Wells (1995), Daughters of the Diaspora: Afra-Hispanic Writers (2003), Notable Black Memphians (2008), da *Black Memphis Landmarks* (2010).  

## Mutuwa da gado
A cikin 2011, DeCosta-Wills ta ba da gudummawar ɗakunan ajiyarta ga ɗakin karatu na jama'a na Memphis .  Jami'ar Memphis ta keɓe alamar tarihi kuma ta sake sunan gini don girmama ta a watan Disamba na 2020. Ta mutu a watan da ya biyo baya, a gidanta a Memphis, tana da shekaru 86.   

## Manazarta