Women's History Month: POWERFUL FEMALE STUDENT LEADERS OF SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL

Happy Women's History Month

POWERFUL FEMALE STUDENT LEADERS OF 

SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL

THANK YOU SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL! YOU ENCOURAGED LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPED OUR SENSE OF CIVIC PRIDE AND RESPONSIBILITY.

I became a freedom fighter at the age of 7, learning from young Black Panthers in my neighborhood and joining youth groups in church. From there, I was determined never to let the works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and all the active fighters in the Civil Rights Movement be forgotten or stopped. Even at Peyton Forest Elementary School, I knew how important our communities and neighbors were to the local movement.

Like Audrey Phillips Wilcox recently shared, the body of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. laid rest in public display at Spelman College for us to never forget what he and thousands of others stood for during our childhoods. Audrey, please consider posting your photos in this group. We need to be reminded of who we were and are as a student body of leaders, parents and grandparents. We come from COURAGE! We come from THE FIGHT...THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT!

We come from SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL.

In Mr Johnson's homeroom class in 1972, I had to make a decision about who I would become at Southwest. Mr. Johnson supported and encouraged my sense of civic duty and responsibility. It was students--especially FEMALES-- like Evelynn Newman, Sheila Quarterman, Jennifer Freeman, Evangeline Brown Evangeline Colbert, Valya Souder, Valya S. Lee and countless others who gave me peer encouragement to STAND FOR FREEDOM and serve my class and the student body. We were not afraid to speak up as women, Blacks or people during those days.

WE ALL MADE OUR COMMUNITIES BETTER BY BEING STRONG.

So I'm saying to Southwest High School, we are the ones who must RISE again to correct the ills in this nation, this state, and this CITY. And yes, we MUST CORRECT the ills of this millennial generation. We cannot allow this generation--fully distracted by gangster culture; fast money; the degradation of women and the disrespect of our historical fight--to ignore the decades long battles of the Civil Rights Movement. For this millennial generation has emerged as a "Strip Club Addicted Court of 80% Poverty Dwellers." They are not US. Further, I don't believe they reside on the same mountaintop referenced in our valorous Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dream.

I'm back, Atlanta. Thank you Jennifer for sending us posts on how to get involved on the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board. I will become active. I will also rejoin the Atlanta Democratic Party. Stacey Abrams will have my support and Keisha Lance Bottoms will have my watchful eye (and actions). Additionally, Southwest Atlanta must regain its position on the world stage. My focus will be on growing and supporting Black entrepreneurship. I will look to Maynard BMaynard Scarborough and Gina Rogers for direction on Education and Community Services.

Also, I will rejoin the Atlanta NAACP. They need our help and input. In other words, now that I have joined Facebook and learned in 2017 where my energies should go in 2018, I am resolving to return to the level and sense of civic pride and responsibility I had when I was at Southwest High School. I pledge once again my civic and social involvement to the people and city that made a path for me.

It's one thing to complain about the state of my Atlanta community. It's another to actively try to improve it. I was active in civic and social fights in other cities where I resided. Now it's time to once again join the fight for Atlanta.

My original 2018 mantra: Stand up for freedom. Sit at the table for equality. Take a knee against oppression.

I hope to see my fellow WOLVES in the new Civil Rights Movement.

I ain't scared. I'm back.
Vanessa Brantley, Ph.D.

*Vanessa Brantley  Style395.blogspot.com, March 24, 2018, “Women's History Month: Powerful Female Student Leaders of Southwest High School,” Volume 13, Blog 1a [vol. 13, 1a-1c].