She had passed numerous physical and psychological challenges.
Outlasted hundreds of other candidates in the only-the-best-can-survive competition.
Earned the right — the right, the honor, the privilege and the duty — to take a bullet and give her life for the president of the United States.
The fact that she was one of few females to make this journey had no impact on her selection. The fact she was the very first female of color wasn’t a factor, either.
This was at a time when D, E and I were just letters guessed on a game show.
To be sure, when Cheryl Tyler served on the secret service details for presidents George Bush (the father) and Bill Clinton, it was because she earned the right on merit.
Her story does not have a glorious ending.
Tyler, serving as the keynote speaker Wednesday night at the 15th annual Circle of Achievement awards gala of the African American Chamber of Commerce, told the audience her personal journey.
She talked about how her grit and determination led her to the highest levels of her chosen profession.
She then talked about how — and why — she felt she was prevented from reaching higher: Racism.
***
The Circle of Achievement gala, sponsored once again by Truist, is a can’t-miss event on the networking card of many. It always sells out.
Chamber founder and CEO John Harmon, never one to shy away from the reality of the situation, understands some guests may only be making an annual pilgrimage out of a sense of obligation.
That’s OK. If he’s got them for a night — he’s going to show them the best the African American business community has to offer.
That’s why the event is more than just one of the best parties of the year, it is a recognition of achievement — a recognition of all the Black business community has endured and overcome.
This year’s theme, ‘Resilience and Hope,’ addresses the present-day challenges the community faces now that many big companies seemingly are running from the community rather than embracing it in an effort to correct past wrongs.
Harmon addressed that challenge head on in the opening minutes of the program.
“This is what black excellence looks like,” he told the crowd. “This is who we are.
“If we are abolishing D, E and I, they’re not talking to us, right? Because our definition about diversity, equity and inclusion is about value. It’s never been about charity. It’s never been about marginalization. It’s never been about handouts. It’s been about transformation all the time.
“The narrative has been hijacked, but tonight we’re all united to reclaim it, because this is not just a gathering, it’s a celebration of what black excellence looks like.”
***
The honorees were diverse in their accomplishments.
Trish Littles-Floyd is the acting chair and chief administrator of the N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission.
Donata Russell Ross is the CEO of Concessions International and a board member of H.J. Russell & Company.
Jonathan Holloway is the president of Rutgers University.
Each offered details of their personal journeys of success — efforts laced with triumph and achievement.
They earned their right on stage through merit — and will serve as role models for the next generation, just as others have done for them.
Harmon reminded the audience of the obstacles Blacks in New Jersey have faced in the past (ours was the last northern state to abolish slavery) and still face today (there still has been little movement to correct the shocking findings in the disparity study).
He reminded the crowd of all the achievements of African Americans in New Jersey and beyond.
“Thomas Edison might have invented the lightbulb, but it was the son of a slave, Lewis Latimer, that added the filament that made it stay on,” he said.
He mentioned Frederick McKinley Jones, a prolific Black inventor and entrepreneur who created the first automatic refrigeration system for trucks — an invention that revolutionized the food industry and helped other industries, such as supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, flourish.
He mentioned Dr. Gladys West, a mathematician whose work on mathematical models of the Earth’s shape became the basis for GPS.
He mentioned numerous other ‘hidden figures’ whose efforts — during a time when the country was at its supposed ‘greatest’ moment — have been lost in history.
***
Getting recognition for your work has long been a hallmark of the country.
It does not always come fairly. Sometimes, it doesn’t come at all.
That’s when it’s time to stand up and fight for what’s right.
Tyler, then one of only five Black females in the agency yet someone who had been elevated to a trainer role, felt she was not getting the proper recognition she had earned through her work. Others felt the same way.
In 1999, Tyler and 57 other agents — one of whom she told the crowd had been passed over for promotion more than 200 times — finally had had enough, filing a class-action suit alleging “a racially hostile environment.”
The suit struggled to gain traction — mainly due to the government’s inaction.
The government was sanctioned on more than one occasion for failing to produce evidence in a timely fashion and refusing to produce evidence as required under civil procedure rules — despite being ordered by judges to produce evidence more than 20 times.
The suit came at a great personal cost to those involved, Tyler said.
“We lost many friends,” she said. “And to this day, I still don’t have friends that I started out with. They did not speak to us. They did not want to be associated with us, because the carrot is dangled: ‘If you want to get promoted, you don’t talk to them.’
“But that’s OK. It showed me who they were. A lot of people will say, ‘They can do this, and they’re going to stand up and they’re going to fight.’ And one thing I learned, is a lot of people don’t have a spine.”
Tyler said that is apparent today on Capitol Hil.
“When you don’t have a spine, you don’t have time to stand up for what you know is right, what you know is wrong, and what you know you live by in a moral compass world,” she said.
“I cannot tell you how to live your life. I cannot tell you what choices to make, but I can tell you, whatever choice you make, you be willing to live with the consequences.”
In 2017 — or 18 years after it was filed — the case was settled, with the secret service agreeing to pay more than $24 million in back pay.
Tyler, who details her story in her recently released book, ‘Trailblazer: The Story of the First Black Female Secret Service Agent to Protect the President and Her Fight for Justice,’ is now the president of CLT3 Consulting, the only 100% Black-woman owned security firm in the country.
***
Where does the state go from here?
Harmon talked of the efforts of Harriet Tubman, the famed American abolitionist who made more than a dozen rescue missions (that we know of) to free more than 70 enslaved people on what is known as the underground railroad.
Harmon said her discernment, wisdom and courage, exemplified the highest level of activism — that she and her white counterparts strategically collaborated to make a difference.
“We don’t have the level of threat on our life that she had,” he said. “We don’t have the level of risk, but we have the opportunity to collaborate with the people in this room to show the greatness of this state.”
It does present a lesson for the next four years, Harmon said.
“As the ground shifts beneath our feet with some of the changes that have taken place in Washington, we can’t lose sight on the fact that we live here in New Jersey, the last state to free slaves,” he said. “We can’t forget that this state, although they’ve blessed us in many ways, owes us as a people.
“We have to remind this state, the most diverse state in the country, that we are committed to you, but we need a greater level of reciprocity from you back to us.
“The recent disparity study that was done in the state lay bare the inequities in our state. But I’m here to tell you all tonight, that if we stay together like we are this evening, that if we stay laser focused on elevating our excellence and demonstrating our ability to collaborate and partner like we are doing tonight, we can do it.”
