Mama Lila Cabbil

Mama Lila Cabbil, 1944-2019, was a lifelong Detroiter, water warrior, transit advocate, civil rights activist, anti-racism educator and mentor/grandmother to us all. May she forever rest in power.

Among her many life achievements, Mama Lila became a mentee and close friend of Rosa Parks, and served as president of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

Mama Lila has been a grounding moral and intellectual pillar for the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL) — since its founding, as a Racial Equity Fellow (DEAL 1), and through her final role as Fellowship Director. She was courageous in her loving accountability; she held us and everyone around us accountable and taught us all to strive for the same. It is difficult to imagine the DEAL program without her. Her presence, wisdom, knowledge, kindness and humor will be with us always.

Since Mama Lila joined DEAL at its very beginning, she made her motivations clear. She wanted to pass on her lifetime of learning to future generations. We are those generations and our time is now. Together, we will build relationships as the foundation of our collective work—a lesson we learned again and again from Mama Lila.

As our elder and a Black woman deeply committed to racial justice, Mama Lila is leaving behind a tremendous legacy. We will honor her life and preserve what she meant to all of us and this program.