Stephanie’s Story

• STL was created and organized by the friends of Stephanie Little, a Tallahassee Rollergirl who lost a difficult battle with cervical cancer.

  Stephanie June Little was born the afternoon of February 7, 1974, approximately three weeks premature. She weighed six pounds seven ounces and was born with a beautiful black head of hair and light blue eyes. Stephanie’s first name was for her biological father, Stephen. Her middle name was to honor her grandmother, June. She was the fourth person in her family named after her grandmother. Stephanie’s mother, Susan, and her stepfather, Rick, raised her in the country near Fort White, Florida. She was brought up in the church and grew up singing from the time she was old enough to stand at the alter. Her childhood was spent outdoors where she played with rabbits, horses, and bottle fed calves. She was an active little girl and enjoyed playing go-carts, t-ball, and karate.

  Stephanie was an above-average intelligent child. She completed the first and second grades in one year, and when her teachers and family recognized her advanced literacy and writing skills she was bused to a neighboring city to participate in talented & gifted programs. At the age of twelve, Stephanie and her family moved to Atlanta after the deaths of her grandparents. It was a difficult time for the family and the first time that Stephanie experienced depression. It was during this time that Stephanie was sexually abused.

  Despite the grief and abuse, Stephanie continued to excel in her classes and sports. She played Jr. Olympic Volleyball and traveled the Southeast coast when she was in high school. During the summers, Stephanie worked as a lifeguard, cook and counselor for the City of Atlanta in summer camps for the inner city children. Her heart was truly with the children and she would ride the bus to the inner city and into the projects to see that all the children got home safely. This was the beginning of her commitment to social work and service to marginalized, oppressed, and under-served communities.

  After graduating from high school in 1991, Stephanie attended Georgia State University on a volleyball scholarship. Her family moved back to Florida during Stephanie’s first year at college, and she continued to excel in volleyball receiving most outstanding player as a freshman in a tournament with North Carolina. Stephanie started playing beach volleyball in Jacksonville, Florida. Then, one day, Stephanie, a free spirit who loved the outdoors and adventure, packed her car and moved to San Diego, California. She lived and worked there for many years and continued to play beach volleyball.

  When she left California, Stephanie moved to Portland, Oregon. She’d long been out of school and wanted to complete her undergraduate degree, so she enrolled for classes at Portland Community College. In 2001, she started working at the college’s Women’s Resource Center as a Member at Large, assisting with the planning of campus events, and when her tenacity was noticed, she was quickly promoted to Chair of the student leadership board the following year. While she served on the board she worked closely with other student leadership organizations on campus to offer diverse programming to the student body. She organized voter registration drives, a weekend music and resource festival for women and their children called Mama Jam, and she wrote a script comprised of quotes from recognized feminist thinkers for a presentation during a week long series of women’s history month events. Stephanie was an enigmatic and thoughtful leader. She was a mentor to many of the women who served beside her on the board, and she was a devout friend and ally to many women both at school and in her community.

  Stephanie left Portland in 2003 and briefly attended the University of Kentucky University, where she furthered her studies in philosophy and math, and continued her work in the women’s community by volunteering to head up women centered events such as Take Back the Night. She made many friends in Lexington and was often found playing her guitar and singing bluegrass-styled hymns and folk songs with her friends. But after a couple years she returned to Portland and quickly became involved with in social services. In Portland, she immediately started working in social services, this time with women transitioning out of federal and state prisons through the YWCA of Greater Portland – Transitional Opportunities Program. In this 25-bed residential facility, Stephanie began her career with the YWCA as an on-call resident aid, but like her prior employers, managerial staff recognized her potential and she was quickly promoted. As a Skills Builder and Life Skills instructor, Stephanie created and taught a triple-tiered curriculum that helped women recognize and act upon their need for change. Women were given the tools for effective communication, crisis avoidance, self-efficacy, self-preservation, and personal advancement.

  Despite Stephanie’s quick advancement in social services, she was suffering from depression and anxiety, and became ill a few years after she arrived in Portland. She was unable to work and decided to relocate back to Florida where she could pursue treatment and manage her illness with the aid of family. Upon her arrival in Florida, she worked closely with her stepfather, Rick, in Steinhatchee where she managed a marina store. While she was living in Steinhatchee, Stephanie was active in the community and worked with the local Chamber of Commerce providing them with numerous ideas for ways in which the sleepy town could market themselves and bring in tourism. It seemed that, not matter the gravity of her illness, Stephanie would not be held down.

  Eventually, Stephanie sought out community in the neighboring city of Tallahassee. In 2009, she joined and started practicing with the local roller derby. She quickly became a part of the team and was known to her fellow skaters, as Danger S. Stephanie was adept at skating, she picked up derby skills and was competing in bouts in no time. She used her strength and sense of strategy to protect her teammates while flattening the competition. In addition to being an amazing blocker, Stephanie, once again, served as a mentor and coach for many of the newer girls on the team.

  It was over the summer, though, that Stephanie started experiencing back pain. For months she pushed through the pain, continuing to skate and bout with the team while seeking full-time employment with benefits so that she could pursue medical treatment for her lower back pain while insured. She took time off from skating to heal what she thought was strained muscles and focused instead on coaching the team. She eventually secured a full-time job, but just before she was eligible for insurance coverage the pain became so bad that she could no longer wait to be seen. Stephanie had not had a gynecological exam in over seventeen years, so she was hesitant to see a doctor about the pain that was radiating from the lower half of her torso. She was eventually persuaded to see a doctor and on October 28th, 2009, she was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. Two weeks later she had her first appointment with her doctor to discuss chemotherapy.

  For a short time, radiation and chemotherapy helped to minimize the mass of the main tumor located in her cervix, but new tumors were discovered in her abdomen and in various lymph nodes throughout her body. The doctors performed multiple treatments on her, but she was eventually released from the hospital and sent home where she lived out her remaining days in the company of family and friends who came from Florida, Kentucky, and Oregon, to see her through her last days. Stephanie was surrounded by those that were closest to her when she passed away on February 5th, 2010 just two days before her 36th birthday.

  Stephanie was an activist, a mentor, an athlete, a musician, a roller skater, a volleyball player, a daughter, a friend, and an inspiration to those around her. Her life experience from her childhood in the country with her church and family, through her adult life within the women’s community and her academic circles, influenced the way she approached the world and how she treated the people with whom she came into contact with. She respected all mankind and lived her life not to harm anyone. She studied philosophy and religion and had a deep desire to know the truth for herself, not just what someone told her.

  In her honor, Stephanie’s teammates from the Tallahassee Roller Girls formed the Spread the Love Charity. The charity is fueled by the beauty and strength that her teammates witnessed in Stephanie. Spread the Love’s mission is to help build awareness about the risk and prevention of cervical cancer. Many women who have experienced sexual abuse, like Stephanie, do not attend annual exams. Although pap smears are a routine medical procedure, it is one that is often so frightening and/or uncomfortable for sexual abuse survivors that it is avoided at the cost of their own lives. Spread the Love aims to make more women aware of the necessity of annual pap smears.

  In addition to the charity, the Women’s Resource Center at Portland Community College – Cascade Campus in Portland, Oregon is in the process of establishing the Little Lending Library in Stephanie’s memory. The smaller campus library will be in addition to main library, but will be located in the Women’s Resource Center and serve as an additional source of academic philosophical and women’s studies based literature for students in the Cascade community.

  Chelsia A. Rice