Sandy Holman –– Life in Purple Hues

By Julietta Bisharyan

DAVIS – Clad from head-to-toe in purple and in a t-shirt that reads, “We Can Make Change,” Sandy Holman carries her life’s mission of spreading love everywhere she goes.

Better known as “The Purple Lady,” Holman is an author, educator and equity specialist with a mission to quell institutional oppression through education and love.

Holman earned her fitting nickname from a homeless woman while walking through the streets of Davis after hearing the news that she might have a life-threatening illness.

“This news you’ve been told, it’s not going to get you,” the woman told her.

The woman then told Holman to listen to a song that she had never heard of before. Once she got into her car, the song began to play on the radio. Still in shock from the news and from the unusual encounter, Holman began to bawl.

Holman learned two things that day: that tomorrow is never guaranteed and the importance of using love to build a stronger community.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Holman says. “I literally shouldn’t be here.”

Holman grew up in Sacramento and came to Davis in the 1980s as an undergraduate student. She received her B.A. in Psychology from UC Davis and her M.S. in School Counseling with a focus on Education from California State University, Sacramento.

Before moving to Sacramento, Holman spent her early years in Japan as her father was at the tail end of his military career. While living abroad, Holman experienced covert racism, though she was still too young to understand the implications.

It wasn’t until she and her family moved to the United States that she noticed her skin color had an impact on how she was perceived. On multiple occasions, while walking down the street, she would be either catcalled or would hear racial slurs thrown at her.

“It’s a strange dichotomy,” Holman recalls. “You were either sexualized or subjugated because you’re a Black person.”

Within a week of arriving at Sacramento, Holman heard girls yell racial slurs at her and her little sister: that was Holman’s first encounter with hate.

Years later, Holman stumbled upon a KKK rally while her and her friends were headed to a party, which she recounts as one of the most traumatic experiences of her life.

Overall, Holman says her experiences living in Sacramento were better than most, especially in comparison to her siblings who had darker skin than her.

“Even in the family, having different colors of skin meant you were treated differently,” says Holman.

Growing up, Holman had two career choices in mind: to either be an Olympian or a writer. In the fifth grade, she wrote a play and sent it to Walt Disney for an after-school program. She later got a response telling her to keep working at it. She abandoned her dream of being a writer, however, after hearing that she would not make a living from it.

Eventually, she settled on her second choice –– helping people. Her passion for helping others appreciate their culture inspired her to write “Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad?” which combined her early love of writing and change-making.

Published in 1995, the book teaches Black children the lessons that Holman’s grandfather taught her growing up –– that being Black is beautiful.

“If it wasn’t for my grandfather, I would have been totally lost.”

Since her school didn’t teach her about Black history, her grandfather, Rufus Holman, would teach her about all the accomplishments made by Black people in addition to Africa’s many contributions to the world that most people are unaware of.

From her mother, Holman learned unconditional love and the importance of giving back while her father taught her the gift of discernment. Growing up in Detroit as a Black man, her father had to learn to be vigilant and aware of other people’s intentions.

“My mother would trust you until she had a reason not to. My dad didn’t trust you until he had a reason to trust you.”

In 1991, Holman founded the Culture C.O.-O.P., which stands for Caring, Optimistic, Open-Minded People. She developed the organization to aid people and organizations working with diversity in education, businesses and the community. Along with her interns, Holman works to uphold the mission statement of promoting an “understanding and respect for equity/diversity, cultural competency, literacy and a quality education for all.”

Most recently, Holman, along with her interns, created a documentary titled The Cost of Darkness, which explores how a person’s skin color can affect their opportunities at grand institutions and how extensive the racial disparities in the U.S. are.

After observing the lack of equity organizations, Holman created The Culture C.O.-O.P. to focus specifically on issues through a systemic approach, such as by tackling those key institutions.

“Now, I feel like I’m doing my dream job. It’s kind of weird how it all works out,” Holman says, chuckling.

Holman’s focus now is working with the youth and helping them become change-makers in their respective disciplines. Even during a pandemic, Holman continues to spread her purple love through Zoom, whether it be during presentations for various organizations or at her weekly meetings with her interns.

“I want to be remembered for encouraging people to love themselves and others and to share power and resources with the world,” Holman muses. “And for all the young people that I’ve meant, when they heard that I’ve passed on, even if it’s just for a second, I hope most of them will be able to say, ‘I met Sandy, and she was a good person.’ That would be awesome.”

Julietta Bisharyan is a fourth-year student at UC Davis, currently majoring in English and minoring in Art History and Professional Writing. She is from South San Francisco.