Jeanette Levinson Carlson, an anti-Apartheid activist and loving mother and grandmother, led an extraordinary life. In the 1950’s and 60’s, she and her husband, Joel Carlson, fought against the racist South African government through civil disobedience and legal action. Jeanette died peacefully on August 18 in Silver Spring, MD in the presence of her family. She was 91.
Mrs. Carlson was a leader of the Black Sash, an organization that protested the disenfranchisement of the Black majority. As the head of a Johannesburg chapter, she expanded its focus to include educational seminars and pro bono legal work, and raised awareness in newspapers and other media. Mrs. Carlson compelled South Africans to recognize the injustices of Apartheid. Under her leadership, the Black Sash rallied nearly every week outside courthouses and on roadsides protesting the oppressive pass laws, which required Black people to show a government issued ‘pass book’ on demand in order to just lead their daily lives.
Along with her husband, Joel Carlson, a civil rights lawyer in a land without civil rights, Mrs. Carlson believed - and taught her four children - that Apartheid meant apart and hate, and was designed to enable the oppression of Black people. She was instrumental in helping her husband as he represented Nelson and Winnie Mandela and other prominent anti-Apartheid activists.
In 1971, after their home was fire-bombed and they received numerous death threats, Mr. Carlson fled the country. Mrs. Carlson and her children ages 3 to 13, were then deported.
Jeanette Levinson Carlson was born in Muizenberg, Cape Town on June 21, 1929, the youngest of the six children of Israel and Rebecca Levinson. Her parents founded Hillel College, which offered general education with a rigorous Jewish identity. She grew up in this boarding school environment and went on to train as a preschool teacher. Her first job was with young Black students from low-income families in Johannesburg. There, she came face to face with the injustices they confronted on a daily basis. Her early career convinced Mrs. Carlson of the importance of questioning the government and helping restore basic human rights to those denied them.
Detained for questioning before her departure from South Africa, she assured security police her family would never return. True to her word, Mrs. Carlson never did, although her husband and daughter, a journalist, went back in 1994 for the historic all-race election of President Nelson Mandela.
“I put that part of my life behind me, happily,” she said years later in an interview for an essay published by her daughter. “It was so disgusting to live in that kind of environment where people were treated so badly. I had no intention of revisiting that.”
After spending time with her family in Israel, the Carlsons settled in Great Neck, NY, and she lived there for over four decades. Mrs. Carlson worked for many years as a bookkeeper and office manager, primarily for the Pied Piper Toy Store in Manhasset, N.Y. She also was a professional driver and personal assistant to a number of high-profile clients, including the children's author Seymour Simon.
Mrs. Carlson continued her public advocacy as an active member of Mothers (and Others) Against the Draft and other non-violent resistance groups. Her activism was aided by her patient, curious, and nurturing disposition. As a lifelong teacher, Jeanette passed down her strong-willed passion for a better, more just world onto her children and grandchildren. Known to those who loved her as “Beah,” she will be remembered for her love of folk music, reading, gardening, chocolate and intense devotion to her family.
One of her greatest joys was teaching her grandchildren. While no longer observant, she tutored and helped prepare her younger granddaughter, Rosie, for her Bat Mitzvah at Temple Emanuel in Kensington, MD. She taught her eldest granddaughter, Madeleine, how to read and showered her with a lifelong supply of books and journals. She cherished her time doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles with the help of her children and only grandson, Rowan.
Jeanette moved to Maryland in 2017 to live with her daughter, Meredith Carlson Daly and her family. In addition to Ms. Daly and her husband, Matthew Daly, of Silver Spring, she is survived by three other children: Gabrielle Carlson of New York City; Jeremy Carlson of Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Adam Carlson and his wife April Mills of Seattle, along with three grandchildren.
A private memorial service will be held.
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