Episode 141 - Mother of the Movement - 16:1

This week, we’re looking through our history to ground ourselves in a turbulent present. Tune in for our discussion of Septima Poinsette Clark, the Charleston-born educator and activist Martin Luther King Jr. once called “the mother of the movement.” Her story bridges the segregated classrooms of the early 20th century and the civil rights movement’s front lines. Through the establishment of hundreds of citizenship schools across the U.S., she helped thousands of Black Americans gain the literacy skills necessary to vote, transforming communities. We also consider her complex legacy as a woman who challenged not only racism but also sexism within social movements that she helped to shape.

Photo: Rosa Parks, Mrs. Septima Clark, Mrs. Leona McCauley, Highlander Folk School, December 1956, courtesy of the Library of Congress via PICRYL.

02:24 Septima Poinsette Clark: Family History & Educational Empowerment

06:00 Teaching in segregated South Carolina and the fight for equal pay

09:00 Adult Literacy & Citizenship

12:20 Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, and the Politics of Reconstruction

14:00 Workshops at the Highlander Folk School

16:00 Citizenship Schools and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

21:40 Septima Poinsette’s Civil Rights Activism: Legacy and Lessons