By Megan Jungwi

A  mother’s love knows no bounds - and Nabila Nazli’s story exemplifies the saying perfectly. In November 2006, Nabila’s New York apartment caught on fire. Inside the flaming apartment were Nabila’s five children - including her 4-week-old twin sons and her five year old daughter. She managed to save all five of her children while sustaining second degree burns to her own body.

As flames consumed Nabila’s apartment, neighbors raced to her aid but could not get into the building. Her second-story apartment window, 20 feet above the ground, made escape difficult. However, her neighbors did not give up on the family and were able to stretch out a quilt as a makeshift net in which to catch Nabila’s children. Four of the children safely dropped into the quilt and escaped the fire. Nabila dropped her month old twin boys into the net one by one; then helped her older children - aged four and ten - jump out of the window.

However, Nabila’s five year old daughter, Nimrah, was too afraid to jump. Ignoring the pleas of her neighbors, Nabila refused to leave her daughter behind. Closing the door to her bedroom, Nabila was able to keep the flames at bay a little longer. Firefighters eventually found the mother lying unconscious from smoke inhalation, cradling her also unconscious daughter. One firefighter handed Nimrah to a colleague to carry down the ladder at the window, while other firefighters carried Nabila down the stairs.

The fire burned quickly and was out within an hour. Nine firemen suffered minor injuries while taking the fire down. Nabila, however, suffered severe burns, requiring skin graft surgery and months of hospitalization. The apartment was decimated and few of their possessions made it through. Yet all of Nabila’s children survived - and that is what matters most to a mother. 

The movie Backdraft features firefighters in action.

By Khyria Cepe

Who would have thought that someone who grew up surrounded by drugs and violence could someday be nominated as the United States’ first Latina Supreme Court Justice?

Sonia Sotomayor has gone from the South Bronx housing project where she grew up to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Supreme Court. Everyone is struck with awe and pride at what she has now achieved. President Barrack Obama, whose confidence in her capabilities won her the nomination, isn’t the only person to help her get where she is now. Sonia’s mother, Celina Sotomayor, dedicated her life to her children. She ensured that Sonia and her brother Juan received the best education and upbringing she could provide.  Juan became a doctor in Syracuse and Sonia became a successful lawyer.

In a heartfelt acknowledgement of her mother’s sacrifices for her, Sonia Sotomayor was quoted as saying, “I have often said that I am all that I am because of her, and I am only half the woman she is.”[1]

Celina Sotomayor never had an easy life for herself. After her mother’s death, Celina’s father left the family, leaving her an orphan at nine years old. Even at such a young age, Celina understood the value of education, and she strived to gain as much knowledge as she could. At 17, she became a member of the Women’s Army Corps of the U.S. Army, where she trained to become a telephone operator in Georgia.  Her hardships did not end there. She eventually married but had to handle the death of her husband. Alone, she juggled two jobs to support her two young kids. Her belief in the promise of good education drove her to work hard to send her children to a Catholic school.

Now at age 82, Celina has reaped the fruits of all the hard work and sacrifice that she went through on her own to raise her children. With a daughter in the U.S. Supreme Court and a son who is a doctor, one can truly say that Celina was an exemplary mother that should serve as an inspiration to many others.

By Dana Plazyk

Dr. Donda West had a great investment in higher education, having devoted 31 years of her life to teaching and improving the chances of  high school students to graduate.  In 2007, along with her son, renown hip-hop artist Kanye West, she co-f0unded The Kanye West Foundation, which was established to “help combat the severe dropout problem in high schools across the country.”

Her untimely death did not stop the realization of this dream, as Kanye West continues to fulfill it. Through the foundation’s “Loop Dreams” initiative, Kaney has set forth to establish production companies within high schools.  Their purpose is to create an interest on what exists beyond the popularity of hip-hop, by challenging students to delve into other aspects of music, from creative to managerial, while developing the necessary skills to empower themselves for their future.  And staying in school is all a part of it.

The Kanye West Foundation has also launched a series of benefit concerts, “Stay in School Concerts,” which blends community and corporate involvement to achieve the common goal of improving the length that students stay in school, especially in impoverished   or high-crime areas.  The first one had taken place in 2007 shortly before Dr. West’s death.  The second one, was to be memorable.

Last December, two other mothers come into the story.   As Wendy Abrams drives her son David to school, a segment on WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio, features a story of a student at Robeson High School, Mykelle Wheeler,  who is failing his grades.  His mother, Dorothy Wheeler, thinks of offering Mykelle two tickets to a Lil Wayne concert as a reward for getting  better grades and not skipping class.   This was a moment of inspiration for David Abrams who thinks a free concert might be a good motivation for students to do better.  He tells his mother who encourages him to try. 

In a short period of time, David Abrams and friend Zak Harris organize students from New Trier and Highland Park high schools and form SHOW (Students Helping Our World) to take on the challenge, eventually getting the support of Chicago’s Mayor Daley, former quarterback of the Chicago Bears Kyle Orton and  Chicago Public Schools, who name six possible schools to be involved in the project.  SHOW members formulate the guidelines   students must   adhere to in order to qualify for the free concert tickets , including showing marked improvement in grades, attitude and attendance.  The ultimate part of the puzzle:  The Kanye West Foundation.

On June 12, 2009, three thousand students attend Kanye West’s concert at the Chicago Theatre after receiving free tickets.  A testament to the power of conviction and the fulfillment of a wish that came true on many levels for all involved—including that of those three mothers.

By Megan Jungwi

Mary Thomas is best known for the success of her NBA playing son Isiah Thomas. However her real success was in raising nine children single handedly in one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods of Chicago. She was relentless in protecting her children from the drugs, gangs and violence in the area.

As the 1989 movie A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story (produced and directed by Lanai Chapman)  famously depicts, Mary Thomas did everything within her power to keep her children safe. One day, when her youngest child, Isiah, was 12 years old, members of the Vice Lords came to her home demanding her seven sons join their gang. Mary would have none of it and fetched her sawed-off shotgun from her bedroom. She successfully asked the gang to move along.

Mary Thomas was determined to provide her children with the best environment she could. Although her children sometimes had to sleep on the floor without food or heat, Mary Thomas knew there were worse places her children could go. At one time case workers attempted to move her family into a violent housing project. Bravely, Mary went to Mayor Richard Daley to complain and tell him that she wasn’t going to go.

Although three of Mary’s children eventually succumbed to crime, her two daughters and four of her boys turned out just fine. Her son Isiah Thomas became a famous NBA basketball player who paid college tuition for over 75 young people throughout his career. Upon retirement from basketball he continued to do charity work in anti-crime and anti-poverty programs. Isiah Thomas has given his mother credit for his success throughout his life and it is easy to see why. Mary Thomas’s story continues to be an inspiration for many mothers facing similar challenges. Quite often the most courageous mothers are those who do their best to protect their children with what little resources they have.

From the Back Court to the Front Office: The Isiah Thomas Story