By: Nana Aduba-Amoah
Tracy Lewis is paving a way for black women in the public safety industry after being promoted to firefighter lieutenant at the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) ceremony held Wednesday morning. Lewis, 41, is the second black woman in the history of the FDNY to be promoted in twelve years.
“A lot of times you’ll get: ‘you’re a female,’” she said. “They’re wondering whether or not you can do the job. But if you’ve been through the academy and you’ve proven yourself there, that should be enough.”
Lewis has been working at the firehouse Engine Company 222 in Bedford-Stuyvesant for seventeen years and is one of nine black female firefighters in the department. Ella McNair was the first black female firefighter to be promoted in 2002, however, she later retired in 2006. Read more
