Liberty Writers AfricaJean McGuire is recovering after being stabbed numerous times in Boston in what investigators call an unjustified attack.
McGuire and her dog Bailey were walking in Playstead Park at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 11) when she was approached and stabbed five times by an unidentified individual.
Bailey is thought to have assisted McGuire in fending off her assailant. “While Bailey was working him over, she was kicking him in the nuts.” And as he tried to flee, the dog pursued him. And [the attacker] vanished,” McGuire’s companion Jeriline Brady-McGinnis told The Boston Globe.
McGuire, 91, was injured but not seriously hurt. She was taken to the hospital and is still there. Her assailant is also thought to have been injured during the experience.
In 1981, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to serve on the Boston School Committee. She was also the previous executive director of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, the nation’s largest voluntary school integration program.
Her family issued a statement on Friday (Oct. 14) thanking everyone for their kindness. They thanked “the doctors and committed health workers who are assisting with her recovery… people in the greater Boston area, across Massachusetts, and around the world,” among other people.
McGuire’s message was also included. “As a community, we must never forget that we must come together and continue to struggle to empower our children via education.” When it comes to ‘us’ rather than’me,’ we are at our best as a people. “I adore you all, and I hope to see you soon,” she wrote.
The family is in the process of forming a non-profit organization to educate children in New England. A formal announcement will be made soon. Those moved to contribute to Jean’s legacy are encouraged to do so in the following weeks.
Liberty Writers Africa
