By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large

Not all sheroes wear capes! Firefighter Regina Wilson wears massive boots, a ginormous helmet, and a heavy fire-resistant jacket – in 80-degree heat and more.
She has been with the FDNY since 1999 – 25 years putting out fires and deflecting grandfathered-in isms like racism, sexism, misogyny, and frat-boy mentality.

Born in East Flatbush, the child of a young, drug-addicted, abusive mom, Regina went to stay with her grandmother Alma in Los Angeles. Coming back to Brooklyn as a pre-teen, changing her life was a trip to a convention at the Jacob Javits Center where a recruiter asked if she would consider joining the FDNY.

Ms. Wilson asked herself: “Why not me? Why can’t I be a Black woman firefighter.”
She is an advocate for bringing more Black women to the FDNY and more Black and brown people in general on the job. This is despite a white male-dominated department of over 10,000 that still sees the city’s 200 firehouses only having 200 women firefighters; with only 36 -40 being Black or brown.

Not one house has two Black female firefighters, she said.
There’s a way to go.

Last week, Thursday, 14th March, in Starrett City’s Christian Cultural Center, Attorney General Letitia James was heckled by firefighters chanting “Trump” during a graduation ceremony.
“Oh, come on, we’re in a house of God…Simmer down,” said AG James. None of the top brass present did anything to stop the booing said Ms. Wilson. She slammed those who “disrespected, desecrated, and violated that church. They booed her because they felt that they were privileged to do so.”

Later, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said, “We have decades of training and discipline that none of us want to see tarnished by the unprofessional behavior of a few.”
In a statement, the FDNY said, “We’re looking into those who clearly broke department regulations.”

Ms. Wilson replied, “I don’t know why Commissioner Kavanagh or many of the chiefs who were there did not discipline them. They said something in the press. But, that was too late, and too far and in-between.”

Now in her third term as President of the Vulcan Society, the national Black fraternal organization, Firefighter Wilson continues to use her platform to highlight what is needed to increase diversity, equity, and equality in the FDNY.

She told Our Time Press, “This department is 159 years old, and we are dealing with the same things that we were dealing with when I first came on a job in 1999. We are still experiencing racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia…We all came on this job with a lot of passion to help and save people, and our focus shouldn’t be on whether or not we’re working in a healthy environment.”

The former president of the United Women’s Firefighters, continued, “And what kind of ism, and how far does that ism go? How deep is that person’s hate? Issues of your own safety. I’m just very much concerned about the level of stress that people can be under in this job; dealing with suicides and domestic violence at home; or drug and alcohol abuse to try to cope with just coming to work; and the PTSD that is the overall outcome of the traumatic experience that we have working in the firehouse.”

She continued, “They come in with this hate or these ideas of what we are. And then you spend your time at work trying to deconstruct them so they can understand that not everything you see on TV is who we are.
“It’s exhausting. And then having to work,” Ms. Wilson sighed heavily.
The FDNY’s response?

“We’ve had these conversations for a number of years, and I’ve never said to you, ‘Hey, we’ve overcome! It’s getting better.’ But this is a way for us to express some of the things that are happening, and we hope that the public is listening.”

What is the fire department doing to resolve these issues?
“They’re doing nothing. I asked for the diversity and inclusion plan. There is none. There is nothing that has changed the dynamics of the firehouse. We had a climate survey, and the chiefs went around to the firehouse. Was there discrimination? What is the atmosphere of the firehouse? Some encouraged them to do better on the next climate survey.”

The veteran firefighter told Our Time Press, “The 2018 climate survey showed that women and Blacks were discriminated against 3 times more than any other group in the department. With that information, the department still has not done anything to fundamentally change and shift the course of this department.”

The FDNY did not respond to Our Time Press regarding charges of racism and sexism within the department by press time.
Ten women graduated last week to become members of the Fire Department. Only two of them are Black.

Is that progress or not?

First responder Wilson said, “It is because right up until the 2007 Vulcans and US government versus the FDNY lawsuit – we would have 3 or 4 in a class. I was the only woman in my class. So 10 in a class is not great either, for women we should be at 10 to 15% – we’re at like one and a half.”
Ms. Wilson wants the Vulcan Society “to let the City Council, the Governor, the Assembly members, and the State Senators, know that we continue to advocate for equality, for equity, and diversity within the Fire Department of New York.”

The Vulcan Society’s “goal is to make sure that we are taking care of our community with fire safety; and we keep giving back by way of charity and clothing, toys for kids and haircuts, and book bags. Just so that we can kind of take the load off of the people in our community that are struggling to make it every day.”
On September 11, 2001, Ms. Wilson’s Park Slope Ladder 105/Engine 219, responded to the collapse of the South Tower and lost 7 members.

Almost 3000 people were lost, including 343 firefighters. Every year the Vulcan Society holds a community ceremony for their 12 Black members who perished at the World Trade Center.
FF Wilson is currently working as an Operations Liaison personnel with the “New York City Emergency Management, responding to people when they get burnt out of their buildings, and helping them get back on their feet.”
Known for her spectacular voice, Ms. Wilson is also part of the ceremonial unit, singing at FDNY events. She told our Time Press, “I am doing both careers that I love to do. Who can ask for anything more?”