On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, I am thinking about the heroic–known & unknown women–of the Civil Rights Movement: I’ve written about Fannie Lou Hamer, Claudette Colvin, Sheyann Webb & there are countless more–-Jo Ann Robinson, Ella Baker, Diane Nash, Dorothy Height . . . . Several years ago, I visited and photographed this landmark in Charleston, SC, to Septima Poinsette Clark, a founder of citizenship schools that were key training grounds for activists, including Rosa Parks who said she “benefited a great deal by knowing” Septima Clark. Called the “Queen Mother of the Movement,” Clark explained, “I learned from my mother not to be afraid.”
The marker reads: Septima P. Clark/ Expressway/By Legislative Act/in 1978/Named In Her Honor/Community Leader/Educator/Civil Rights Leader/ Dedicated 1978
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