The Western Sonoma County Historical Society puts on a cemetery walk every fall that’s really something special. It’s always the first Friday and Saturday in October, though they had to skip last year due to the pandemic. Six different individuals who are buried up at the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn are featured in short little vignettes that capture a moment in the person’s life.
This year, the lives of Earl Baum (of the Earl Baum Center for the Blind), and John Sebring (a 17-year-old who in 1859 was the first to be buried in the cemetery), among others, were portrayed. An irregular addition this year, was a young 12-year-old girl, who unlike the others, didn’t actually live in Sebastopol or the west county, though she is buried there. Her name was Georgia Lee Moses. Her tragic death in 1997 became the subject of a song written and sung by Tom Waits, called Georgia Lee. Deja Jones, together with two others, sang the moving song beside Georgia’s grave.
Deja has quite a presence, and a remarkable voice for a 15 year old. I was really pleased when she agreed to answer a few questions, and let us get to know her a bit.
Where and when were you born, Deja?
DJ – 2:19 a.m., April 22, 2006 at Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa.
Brothers and sisters?
DJ – Two brothers, two dogs, and two turtles, but they (the turtles) died in the fire. Everything burned.
The Tubbs Fire?
DJ – Yup.
Wow. Let’s talk about that later. Your middle name is Hawaiian. Why’s that?
DJ – My mom, who grew up in Sebastopol, just has this love for Hawaii.
Have you lived there?
DJ – Yeah, for about a year, a year ago. I was in Kona on the big island, where my stepfather still lives. He’s a park ranger who takes people right up to the volcano.
The lava is amazing, isn’t it?
DJ – It’s quite pretty.
So, what do you want to be?
DJ- A firefighter, but I want to study psychology, and history, and literature arts first.
Well, given your experience with the Tubbs Fire, I get why firefighting might appeal to you.
I met you when you were representing Georgia Lee Moses in the Sebastopol Cemetery Walk that the Historical Society puts on every year. Tell us a little about Georgia Lee and what she means to you.
DJ – She was a Black girl, who grew up caring for her mom and younger sister, and who at age 12, went missing. She was found murdered about nine days later. They found her in some woods near an off-ramp of 101 in Petaluma.
What bothers me most is that her case didn’t get the attention that other cases got. I think that’s because she was Black. Also, she was last seen going off with an older man, and she didn’t even come up missing until she was already gone for six days. All that is just wrong … I can’t believe this is still a cold case and the perpetrator has never been found.
You’re only 15, so haven’t experienced many of the past deaths of Black Americans, but you were aware of George Floyd’s death. How did that affect you?
DJ – I cried so long and hard. I felt so connected to him. That could have been my dad, or uncle, or one of my brothers, or even me. It’s scary.
You’re a student at Santa Rosa High School. Do you experience racism there?
DJ – The school as a whole isn’t racist, and I generally don’t feel it there. Some white kids throw the “N” word around, and that’s weird, but as a whole, there just seems to be ignorance and not hatred.
Who are your heroes?
DJ – Well, my mother, for one. She’s raised me, and showed me how to be a strong woman and how to fight for what I believe in. Harriet Tubman comes to mind. She was a powerful Black woman who lived in a time when women in general, and Black women in particular, had virtually no power. She’s an inspiration.
Deja, I’ve been asking everyone about how climate change is registering with them.
DJ – The end of the world may not be in my lifetime. I sure hope not. If rising sea levels means that New York gets flooded, that would be so sad. I want to go to Broadway!
It probably felt like the end of the world when you got caught in that Tubbs Fire.
DJ – Oh yeah. That was in 2017. Our home was on Porter Creek Road, on a ranch. We used to have a donkey that woke us up every morning at 5 a.m.
I actually saw our house go up in flames. We got out with only seconds to spare. We took nothing.
And a few months before that, I was in a bad car accident.
2017 was just not my year.
You know, I hadn’t considered just how traumatic the fire was for young people like yourself. You were just 11. That’s got to leave a big scar.
DJ – I still can’t listen to fire alarms without freaking out a bit. But fire sirens are cool, because that means help is here.
Does fear of climate change affect your desire to have children?
DJ – Oh, I don’t want to have children, but that’s not related to the environment. I just can’t see myself as being either financially or mentally stable enough to be a mom … Maybe when I’m older and more stable. Hey, meanwhile, I’ve got homework to focus on! … But I hope my generation can really fix the political and environmental problems we’re facing.
So Deja, if you had an extra $20 to give to one cause or another, who would you give it to?
DJ – I think I’d give it to the Make A Wish Foundation. I’d want to help kids who are fighting for their lives, and help them have at least one dream met.
Well thanks for your insights Deja. You’re another one of the young people I’ve met, who makes older people like myself a lot less worried about what the future holds.
To hear the Tom Waits song, Georgia Lee, that Deja sang, just Google “Georgia Lee song”. It’s on the Mule Variations album.
The Make a Wish Foundation can be found at wish.org
