Ruby Clay tries to be the resource she needed when she was young.
— Maggie Ginsberg, Madison Magazine
Ruby Clay tries to be the resource she needed when she was young: that voice whispering in a Black girl’s ear that she is enough, that she is valued, that she is destined for great things.
Before the pandemic, when Clay would gather middle and high school girls in a circle for Saturday afternoon meetings, she’d share her tough experiences so they could learn from someone who looked like them — a rarity in Dane County schools. These kids were dealing with adult issues, and she’d been there. She offered practical advice, like don’t go thinking a significant other’s behavior is romantic when they show up uninvited at your job. But mostly she would listen, and encourage her girls to do the same. They would need each other to survive.