Navigating homelessness, racial discrimination, and instability throughout her youth, Hedi Rudd never dreamed that the mayor of Madison would proclaim a “Hedi LaMarr Rudd Day” decades later or that she would win honors as a photographer and community leader. “Having grown up the way I did, I never thought such a thing was possible,” Rudd says.
Rudd was born to a teen mom and a migrant worker who returned to Mexico without meeting his daughter. Rudd’s maternal grandmother spit on her as a baby for having “Mexican blood.” Rudd’s racial identity became even more complex when her mom met LaVelle Rudd, a talented Black poet and musician who created his art while incarcerated at Waupun. He adopted Hedi as his own, bringing her as “Hedi Rudd” into a Black community that embraced and raised her. “Knowing this history put the issue of racism on my mind,” Rudd writes, “and culminated in my being appointed to Mayor Sue Bauman’s Task Force on Race Relations, which changed my life.”
Another life changing step was applying to the UW Odyssey Project. Rudd learned about the free college jumpstart program from Milele Chikasa Anana, the founding publisher of UMOJA. “Odyssey people are my people,” Rudd notes. While completing the program in 2012, Rudd wrote “Odyssey is Home”:
Walking into a room full of strangers
The first day of class
I didn’t know that I was the stranger
I didn’t know my true self
Only my past
Through books, excursions, projects, and debates
A new lens emerged
To see myself anew . . .
I didn’t know I would never want to leave
I didn’t know that I would never have to
Odyssey is no longer a room full of strangers
Odyssey is home.
Rudd learned from reading Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” how limited Madison was and to search for a wider world welcoming communities of color. “Odyssey helped me to see that all things are possible.”
A lucky break came when she was handed a camera. “I saw being a ‘professional photographer’ as something that wasn’t possible for me. That changed when Ms. Milele gave me her Canon camera one day and asked me to take photos at Juneteenth. I had never used a professional camera, but after figuring out the basics, I went and gave it a try. I fell in love.” Ms. Milele never asked for the camera back, so Rudd began documenting events throughout the community. She enjoyed seeing her photos posted on UMOJA’s Facebook page and printed in the magazine. One day someone asked if they could pay her to take photos at an event. “I was shocked. But I did it and that is where my business began.”
If you walk into the UW South Madison Partnership space at 2238 S. Park Street, you will see hallways decorated with framed photos Rudd took for the City of Madison Arts Commission. “They are all photos that are special to me, candid moments of joy,” she observes. She credits photography for transforming her life and empowering her to record the soul of her beloved community. In one favorite photo, she captures the late Rockameem Bell, fellow Odyssey alum, drummer, and griot, on his porch.
Rudd has had many full circle moments being on the other side of the camera. She found herself in the spotlight last year when she was honored with a YWCA Woman of Distinction award. “As a young woman, I was often homeless and have lived at the YWCA and received support and resources that changed my life. As the photographer for the Women of Distinction Awards every year, it was incredible to be on the other side of the camera, sharing my own story.”
The YWCA recognized Rudd for her roles at Badger Rock Neighborhood Center, now known as Rooted. She writes, “When I first joined Badger Rock, I wasn’t sure how my experience with racial and social justice work would influence how I worked. As we became Rooted and focused on food systems work, I found that the lens of racial and social justice gave me the perfect insight in our work to grow community.”
Rudd describes her calling: “It became my mission to use my talent to tell the story of people of color around me in a way that traditional media often fails to do.” She hopes someday to document her father’s journey. His band, Upheaval, recorded a 45 while they were serving time in Waupun, and their story called “Lost Soul Behind Bars” led to a screenplay by a British writer. “I hope to share more about this journey in the future and hope to see the story on the big screen,” she adds.
When she is not busy serving as co-Director of Rooted and photographing events for non-profits, Rudd cherishes her role as wife to former US Army veteran Jerlito “Miguel” Weathers, who worked as a GED instructor at Omega School before suffering a stroke leaving him unable to read or write. He has helped her raise three grandchildren. Two of her children, Brandyn Bass and Simone Lawrence, graduated from Odyssey, which she calls “a badge of honor in our family.” Most recently, she photographed her youngest son, DeMarcus Williams, as he graduated summa cum laude from the UW Law School. “Seeing him at his hooding ceremony, graduation, and signing of the book at the Wisconsin Supreme Court filled me with joy,” Rudd says proudly. “His middle name is LaVelle, after my father. I know if he were alive, my father would have been crying with me to see DeMarcus LaVelle Williams become an attorney.”
Hedi Rudd plans to continue using her camera lens to document the Black and Brown community she loves and the important social and racial justice work of area nonprofits. The next time you see a Facebook posting or a magazine spread of hundreds of photos from a community event, look for her name.
