Rana Zoe Mungin

September 23, 1989 - April 27, 2020

Rana Zoe Mungin was born on September 23, 1989, to Patricia Mungin and Ricardo Goodridge. Rana spent her final moments at Select Specialty Hospital in New Jersey battling COVID-19. Sadly, Rana departed this world on April 27, 2020, at the age of 30. Rana understood her destiny at an early age. During elementary school, she knew she had to excel in academics faster than anyone else—simply because life was just too short. She once said “ I have four years in college and two years in grad school—just enough time to work on my book”. Rana attended Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities and was part of the 2007 graduating class. She later attended Wellesley College from 2007 to 2011, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Rana became RA leader at Wellesley College. Rana studied astronomy and learned to speak Japanese. With the encouragement from her writing teacher Adam Schwartz and Rana’s desire to further her education led Rana to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she obtained her Masters of Fine Arts in fiction. As a student and as a teacher, she was a powerful advocate for ending institutionalized racism and combating the disparities and inequalities faced by minorities and the LGBTQ+ comunity. Rana understood that her father was proud of his Jamaican heritage and faced barrier with cultural assimilation . She often said “ his pâtwah was so raw —it was like he just got the boat—when will he learn to talk real English”. Rana was often made fun of Jamaican heritage; asked to intimidate a Jamaican creole at U-Mass by some of her fellow classmates; while others considered her writing to be angry and aggressive Zoe continued to make a voice heard. Rana once said “ —we must hold racist people accountable for their actions. It's not okay for them to hide behind the notion we didn’t know”. Thank you U-Mass for acknowledging that Rana “ pushed the needle at U-Mass on conversations about institutional racism” and forced U- Mass to re-evaluate your program and current practices. Her love of writing led her to become an inspiring writer and educator. She taught composition to college students at UMass, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the New School in Manhattan. She later found her calling and recognized her desire to work with young people. Rana once said, “Teachers do not get paid nearly what they deserve--but I would rather be happy being poor than miserable doing a job that I hate.” Rana shifted from teaching college to middle school in 2017. She taught 6th-grade social studies at Bushwick Ascend Middle School and created her own school library for her students. She was always working to improve the social studies curriculum in hopes that her students would better understand, and therefore make informed decisions about, the world we live in today. Rana was passionate about educating the youth and empowering black and brown kids. Whether it was helping to found Bushwick Ascend’s first school magazine or pushing her students to excel at everything they do, she wanted her students to grow and exercise their voices. Rana gave her life to teaching and devoted her time and energy to her students. She was constantly buying books for her students to encourage them to develop a love for reading. Rana was an avid reader and writer. She wrote numerous poems, short stories, and was working on a novel. In 2013 she won the AWP of Intro Journals prize in fiction and published her work in Quarterly West a magazine at the University of Utah. She later published her work in the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago, and Route Nine a newspaper at the University of Massachusetts. Rana developed a love for the culinary arts, which she attributed to her mother’s influence. She was an avid chef and baker and was always trying out new recipes. Rana was also extremely creative, something she also acquired from her mother; whether it was building her own shelves or knitting something to wear. These simple DIY projects at home kept Rana happy. In her downtime, she was always planning her next getaway or posting updates in Wags and Whiskers forums group. Rana was an advocate for her community and raised community awareness because she knew that her community has being neglected for years . The schools within East New York preformed far below the national and state average. The corners lacked trash cans on the corners; therefore encouraging pollution . Rana understood the community lacked speciality health care providers in her community neighborhood. Or that minorities were more likely to go without the necessary healthcare or with out the recommended medication. Rana had strong family values. She adored her mother Patricia. They spent continuous hours together shopping, attending museums, watching movies, and taking trips to the Botanical gardens. Rana inherited the nickname “Zoe” from her mother after watching a television show. The nick name stuck with Zoe once she realized that her birth name meant “frog” in spanish. The bond between Rana and her sister Mia was fierce; they spent countless nights talking and planning for the future. They also loved going on simple road trips and family vacations together, whether it was visiting family in South Carolina or traveling to Puerto Rico. Mia always advocated for Rana’s health care, and her tireless work to get her sister the best care possible brought Rana’s story to the world. Rana often referred to her brother and best friend, Patrick, as “P.” They loved discussing the latest technology and the new wave in computer gadgets while Rana over-prepared him a well-done steak. Rana held some of her brother deepest secrets. She admired her eldest brother John for living on his own in a peculiar world. Their texts expressed their witty humor. She enjoyed helping her middle brother Ricardo Jr. with his college papers—and complaining when he sent it late. She shared a love of animals with her youngest brother Terreant. He always admired her dedication to her pets, especially her twin dogs; Rosie and Bandit. Rana spent countless hours instilling her belief in the value of education within her nephew Jamir and her niece Lyniah. With her around, there was never a dull moment. You could often find her singing Disney songs or Motown music—loud enough that the neighbors could hear her. She loved to sing in the kitchen to celebrate bargain hunting with her mother. Rana leaves behind her parents Patricia and Ricardo; her second mother, Ms. Cynthia Brown; her sisters Mia and step sister Korin (late Melinda) her brothers John , Patrick, Ricardo Jr., and Terreant; her nieces Lyniah, Alyssa, Alycia, Samai, and Destiny; her nephews Jamir, Devrin, Myrell, Drew, Quinton, and Tate; her uncles Herbert, David, Timothy, and Scott; her aunt Iris; her special cousins Katrina and Jasmin; I and her dear friends Jarena, Treanna, Nohemí, Marcela, Paufoua, Alyssa, Molly, Lauren, Caroline Belle, Caroline Stewart, Janee, Rukmani, Johnathan, Steven, Richard; her dogs Rosie and Bandit, and countless others whose lives she touched. What is written above is an incomplete testament of her life, because words can never fully capture her essence, her tenacity, her drive, or the joy she brought to those around her. Words can never begin to describe the beautiful life of Rana Zoe Mungin. The world lost a humanitarian; thus heaven gained an angel. Until we meet again. In deepest sorrow and love The Mungin-Goodridge Family