sustaining septima

By: Emily Warner

sustain

VERB:

1. to strengthen or support physically or mentally:

2. to uphold, affirm or confirm justice or validity

The Women’s March in Charleston yesterday looked to be a success. Walking into Brittlebank Park, I passed an array of people: toddlers, wrapped in layers and grabbing their mothers’ hands; the mothers holding signs gracefully, proudly, as if to say, we may be leaving this march, but I will hold this sign high, and my child will see; couples with children and without; groups of friends, college- or middle-aged; elderly people; people of all races; all religions –

And there were food trucks – a welcome addition to the event. The trucks, parked one behind the other in the grass, served Mexican street food, hot dogs, doughnuts, barbecue sandwiches, burgers…

To me, there seemed a correlation between the food and the motivation for the March. In the hours following the event, I couldn’t get the word sustain out of mind. Leading up to the event, I researched Septima Poinsettia Clark, and learned just why the portion of Highway 17, known locally as the Crosstown, was dedicated to and named after a woman- an African American woman- a woman, growing up in South Carolina, that I had never heard of before moving to Charleston.

BlackPast.org, an “Online Reference Guide to African American History”, proposes that Clark was the “only woman to play a significant role in educating African Americans for full citizenship rights without gaining sufficient recognition”. This seems fair, given that in the two times I took South Carolina History in school, I never learned of her. However, no matter how frustrating it must have been to be in Clark’s position, and even though her efforts were not recognized just as much as they should have been, she sustained. Like the food at the March, and the food that we eat every day nourishes and sustains our physical bodies, Clark sustained her motivation, her belief, and her strength in doing what she knew to be just. No wonder Martin Luther King once deemed her the “grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement”.

But that’s just why organized movements like the Women’s March are important. They allow younger generations to learn of and respect what so many before them have accomplished, and they allow older generations to celebrate and continue their advocacy. In short, inclusive events such as these operate and continue through sustainability.

And I know that sustaining an attitude of inclusiveness, respect, and kindness will lead to a healthy and free future.