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Ms. Belinda Caldwell & Ms. Katherine Council (Mama Kat)

At “Heavenly Groceries,” Mama Kat and Belinda, both lifetime residents of Chapel Hill/Carrboro and First Baptist Church members, offer food with a large serving of good humor and warmth. Mama Kat’s oldest daughter, Caroline, a leader of the local civil rights movement, moved to Canada to escape laws that barred marriage to a white co-activist.

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Ms. Belinda Caldwell & Ms. Katherine Council (Mama Kat)

Image of Council, Katherine and Caldwell, Belinda.

Citation: Marian Cheek Jackson Center, “Ms. Belinda Caldwell & Ms. Katherine Council (Mama Kat),” From the Rock Wall, accessed July 17, 2025, https://www.fromtherockwall.org/images/ms-belinda-caldwell-ms-katherine-council-mama-kat.

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Katherine Council

"My name is Katherine Council and everybody calls me Mama Kat for the simple reason that when I had my first grandchild I didn’t want to be called grandma because I didn’t want men to stop looking at me!" - Katherine "Mama Kat" Council Born and raised in Northside, Katherine "Mama Kat" Council…

Belinda Caldwell

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 Katherine Council - On growing up in Chapel Hill and changes in the neighborhood

In Molly Norwood’s interview of Katherine “Mama Kat” Council, Council begins by describing what life was like when she was growing up in Chapel Hill. She describes how open and geographically spread out the neighborhood was, how she was constantly playing with the other children in the neighborhood,…

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In this impromptu interview done at Heavenly Groceries Food Ministry, Katherine “Mama Kat” Council tells us what it was like growing up right outside of Carrboro back in the 1930’s. She recalls how for a while her family had to use a wagon to get to Hamlet’s Chapel CME on Sundays. She also discusses…

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This interview provides an overview of the place and birth of Mama Kat. Her house burnt down in 1962. She notes the change in neighbors versus before. She had children graduating from college. Her 3 kids were in college at the same time. The last baby was born with down syndrome. She recounts the…

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This interview is centered around Ms. Belinda Caldwell. She begins by describing her family history then goes into detail about her personal history to Northside. She mentions that there is a significant difference between how her kids grew up and how she grew up. Belinda had only good things to say…

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