Alumni Spotlight: Sarah Jolie ’87

Ever since Grinnellian Sarah Jolie ’87 moved into her house in Oak Park, Illinois, she has proudly displayed her pride and Black Lives Matter flags on her porch. For eight years, her household would rotate between the flags – and in 2020, they left their Black Lives Matter flag up permanently throughout the protests for George Floyd’s murder. 

“Our goal with these flags was always to stand in solidarity,” says Jolie.  

But in July of 2021, her house burnt down. 

Though her porch and flags were still intact, the house fire tore through her floors and walls. Her house was home to Jolie, her family friends, Rob and Krista Hubers, and her young relatives, Elanor and Otto. 

Despite the fact that their house would be knocked down for repair, Jolie says that “the spirit of who we are was still there.” After the demolition half a year later, her household installed a fence and gates around the property and personalized it with their two cherished flags.  

A Crime at Hand 

A few weeks later, Jolie received a call that the Black Lives Matter flag was sliced in late January. She didn’t think much of it at the time, and simply replaced the flag for a new one.  

“Within weeks, a new flag was up, but both of them were cut again,” recounts Jolie. “That was when I realized it was intentional.” Jolie ended up moving the flags from outside the fence to the inside to protect them – but to no avail – through the gate, someone had thrown cups of paint on the flags. 

In response to the vandalism, Jolie filed police reports 27 times – in the meantime, she began ordering sets of five flags and stashed them in her basement. One of her proudest moments was her ability to replace the damaged flags quickly, so that they could be seen by as few people as possible. 

“Leaving the damaged flags is trauma for these populations. We don’t put the flags up for hate, but for support. We want people to see themselves and know it’s a safe place for them,” says Jolie. She was even conscious about how she portrayed the situation on her social media, making sure to highlight her new flags amongst the damaged ones and caption her pictures with updates. 

“There are many Latinos and Black people in our community – my niece is Latin[x] and my niece that I live with is represented by the pride flag. Even if we didn’t have [representation] in our family, they are in our humanity,” emphasizes Jolie. She ended up replacing at least 59 flags until it was time for the fence to come down. Though she installed cameras and captured the vandal on film, he was never arrested. Jolie says it is a reminder that racism and homophobia can exist everywhere, even in her seemingly progressive neighborhood near Chicago. 

“People kept saying ‘I can’t believe this is happening in Oak Park,’” says Jolie. “But it was a surprise to no one being represented by these flags – when you’re white, you get to live in a safe space. Even in the liberal enclave of Oak Park, there is hate and its growing. Which is another reason why we kept at it [with the flags].” 

Jolie, who grew up in both Oak Park and Latin America, is familiar with the muddy history between the neighborhood of Oak Park and the Black community. “I’ve known Oak Park back in the 70s, with the housing authority lowering the value of houses after selling to Black families. It was a whole process to integrate the town with the Black community.” While at Grinnell, she developed her first friendships with queer Grinnellians and witnessed protests against South Africa’s apartheid.

After graduating, however, Jolie realized how much she still didn’t know about the experiences of her marginalized friends. “I have to say that one of the things I’ve learned since I’ve graduated is how little I’ve understood the struggles of non-white students,” she remarks. “It was of the time, but it makes me sad now that I understand what was happening.” 

While at Grinnell, Jolie was an anthropology major and completed the education licensure program. She volunteered as a student of the Grinnell-in-London program, where she worked in an overnight soup kitchen that fed the homeless. “Grinnell supported and embraced who I am,” recounts Jolie.

As she’s grown older, Jolie says she has worked hard to confront her biases and become aware of her privileges. She has also become attentive to current events, particularly those dealing with race and homophobia. 

To Grinnellians seeking to pursue social justice work, Jolie advises to “stand up for it and call it when you see it.” She explains that these incidents – such as hers with the flags – can happen everywhere. “I didn’t know [before] because of my privilege, but this is still happening. You got to stand up for it. It’s not going to change. If we had just taken the flags down or kept [the vandalized flags] up, they would hurt people.” 

Currently, Jolie’s house no longer has fences and is now rebuilt – and although the porch was the last piece of her house that was fixed from the fire, her flags are still flying high. In the meantime, her vandalized flags have been sent to an artist to repurpose into something more positive.

“You need to fly the flags,” Jolie shares. “You must say the words and walk the walk.”