CLEVELAND — They say seeing is believing, but what happens if you never see it?
“I didn’t even see Black people as firefighters growing up," said Brooklynn Cistrunk.
Somehow Brooklynn Cistrunk still believed and achieved.
“You don’t have to look a certain way and be from a certain place to do this job,” said Cistrunk. “I’m not a manly female but I still get the job done."
Yolanda McKay and Elan Grissom’s goal was tested by fire too.
“As a child I always wanted to be a firefighter,” said Grissom. “I never really saw anyone who looked like me that was a firefighter, so I didn’t really think it was a realistic dream for me to have.”
They had their doubters as well.
“People still told me I couldn’t do it,” said McKay. “But I’m a go against the grain type of person.”
Grissom, McKay and Cistrunk just became Cleveland firefighters within the past three years. Out of the 764 members of the Cleveland Fire Department, the three ladies are the only Black women.
According to the Cleveland Fire Chief Anthony Luke, it had been over 20 years since the department hired a Black woman to fill its rank and file.
We asked Grissom if she felt intimidated by the role based on the responsibilities and nature of being a firefighter.
“Not at all,” said Grissom. “If anything, that made me want to do it more. The faith I have in myself is that I can do this job, I can succeed in this job, and lift the heavy stuff just like the guys."
In fact, women in general make up only 2% of Cleveland firefighters according to department data.
“The females don’t see themselves in the department that they see every day,” said Luke. ”You walk into any fire station and most likely youre going to walk into an all-male crew, you see firefighters at the scene you’re going to see an all-male crew."
To change that, Luke said he's planning community events to build a stronger bond between the department and the city and public trainings are also on the table so women can see the ins and outs of the role.
“I think we can all agree that someone you feel an affinity to, someone you feel more comfortable with will more quickly be able to calm you down, get information from you and facilitate whatever you need," said Luke.
Most of all, the chief and ladies in the department say they want to increase the number of women so that all women and young girls can see themselves in firefighters and believe they can do it too.
“Sometimes people find out you’re a firefighter and say, ‘I didn’t think I could do that’, you can do whatever you put your mind to,” said McKay.
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