Levitation, Defiance of gravity-defying that which would hold us down!
Rising! Educating! Nurturing! Lifting! Advancing! Bettering!
Raising us up…having us come into our true selves.
THIS IS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH AND THE MESSAGE IS
“RAISING US UP Is AN ACT of STRENGTH”
History, we are recognizing those who have laid the Foundation for us…
RAISING US UP! SOMEONE WHO HAS LAID A FOUNDATION SO THAT NOTHING WOULD HOLD US DOWN!! SPIRITUALLY, RAISING US UP means, OUR COMING INTO THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF TRUTH AND POWER and RISING ABOVE ALL THAT WOULD TURN US AROUND!!
During WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, we are looking to celebrate and learn from WOMEN who are/were raising us up by DEMONSTRATING HOW TO RISE ABOVE IT ALL ….THEY CREATED A FOUNDATION on which WOMEN… HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CLIMB ON, TO DEFY ALL, AND TO RISE! DURING WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, “RAISING US UP” MEANS WE ARE CELEBRATING SOMEBODY THAT HAS/IS GOING BEYOND THAT WHICH WOULD HOLD US DOWN, SOMEONE WHO ADDED TO OUR FOUNDATION, RAISING US UP, perhaps through EDUCATION or BETTERING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CIVIC OPERATIONS OF THIS COUNTRY; moving us forward IN MANY WAYS SO THAT WE COULD USE OUR GOD GIVEN GIFTS AND TALENTS AND TRULY EXPERIENCE BEING RAISED UP!
WE are highlighting THE IMPACT OF RAISING US UP, THE POWER OF laying a
foundation……….. from which we are EDUCATED, NURTURED, AND MOVED INTO CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT. There is one woman who did much back-breaking FOUNDATION BUILDING, not only for women but for men, also. One author wrote, “THERE WOULD BE NO ROSA PARKS, MARTIN LUTHER KING, FANNIE LOU HAMMER OR BARACK OBAMA IF THERE HAD NOT BEEN A SEPTIMA POINSETTE CLARK.” She was a woman born in 1898 in South Carolina, and though she was behind the scenes, she was labeled in the movement in the 50’s, and 60's by those who were the faces of the movement as the “Mother of the Movement.” She laid a Foundation. Dr. King said, “If there is something I don’t know, ask Septima Clark.”
I could give you a whole lot of good info about Ms. Clark, but space does not permit, but here is what I do have to write. She understood and lived, “Strength is the ability to be steadfast, to be tenacious, to accomplish despite the challenges.” She studied with W. E. B. DuBois, yet most importantly, she was a teacher who early on developed methods for effectively teaching. She learned early on that practical literacy yielded self-confidence. The methods she developed 1)met the students where they were; 2)focused on creating the foundation for people to be successful in living in their communities, and for her that meant being able to pass the local literacy test and then vote; and 3)replicated herself by teaching people from the various communities across the south to use the same method in their communities.
She was invited to teach and then be the Director of the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee where she was able to teach, using her method, so that people were able to pass the literacy test in their community, vote, and become politically literate. In 2 workshops in Highlander, Septima Poinsette Clark taught many of the leaders of the civil rights movement, such as Andrew Young, Diane Nash, and James Bevel. When the Highlander School closed, SCLC, under her direction, set up schools across the south with the methods that she had developed. Her title, “Mother of the Movement” reflected her birthing the schools and training over 10,000 teachers, and by 1969, 7000,000 African Americans became eligible to vote because of her actions!
Septima Poinsette Clark added to our Foundation!
WE HAVE BEEN RAISED UP AND ARE FOREVER HELD UP BY OUR INDWELLING CHRIST, AND
THE FOUNDATION LAID BY OUR ANCESTORS……..SO AT THIS MOMENT…. SO THAT YOU CAN CONTINUE TO ADD TO THE FOUNDATION THAT WILL CONTINUE RAISING US AND OUR FUTURE RECOGNIZE AND ACTIVATE YOUR POWER OF STRENGTH!
Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Triche Atkins
ShoVal & More, NFP - Founder