The Role of Women in the Movement

by Kevin Emile

Cleveland Sellers made several things clear to our group when we visited Voorhees College. His most important point was that while you may see many male names at the top of the list of iconic figures in the Civil Rights Movement; females were the most relied on for several key reasons. Dr. Sellers made it known that females did a lot of organizing and made sure that everything went as it was supposed to. They also ran many meetings and the males relied on them to get things moving. It isn’t a coincidence that when you look at the history of Voorhees College, you will find that it was founded with 16 students in 1897 by a Black female who was only 23 years old. That gives you a clear example of how females shaped Black history and how that continued during the Civil Rights era. Dr Sellers taught us that the best organizing group is not the one with the most amount of people who are the most dedicated to the cause they are fighting for and who have the most heart. He told us that was how SNCC (the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) only had 300 members but they were committed to achieving their freedom no matter what the obstacle.