Rooted in Love: Resist White Supremacy

Join us for the first in a series of Zoom presentations and discussions titled Resist White Supremacy: Thoughts and Actions, Every Saturday in September. The forum on Sept. 5th will be led by Dr. Gwendolyn Zohara Simmons and Chanae Jackson.

Gwendolyn Zohara Simmons Ph.D, who is a retired professor, organizer, activist, and public speaker, will be discussing "The Enduring Legacy of White Supremacy".

Chanae Jackson, A local activist/organizer, will be addressing The Gainesville Police Department, and The Alachua County School Board.

Bio of Speakers:

-Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Ph.D. is a retired Professor Emerita in African American and Religious Studies and affiliated Faculty in Women Studies at the University of Florida. She obtained her BA from Antioch University in Human Service, her MA in Religious Studies & her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa.

Simmons became active in the Civil Rights Movement during her freshman year at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in 1962. She became a SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) field secretary two years later in the summer of 1964 when she joined hundreds of other college age volunteers who traveled to Mississippi to work in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. She was assigned to Laurel, Mississippi where she became one of three women Project Directors in the State, working there for a total of 18 months. After leaving Mississippi, Simmons worked in the NY Office of SNCC organizing High School and College Friends of SNCC groups. Her stint in NY was cut short when Julian Bond was denied his duly elected seat in the Georgia State Legislature to help organize the Julian Bond Re-election Campaign in his legislative district. After Bond's Re election, Simmons and a group of those who had worked on his campaign formed the Atlanta Project of SNCC, which became the organization’s first major Southern urban project. It was in the Atlanta Project that the foundation for the Black Power thrust in SNCC was laid when the group wrote a Position Paper on Black Power that would later be published in the NY Times and labeled as “SNCC’s Black Power Manifesto.”

Since her years with SNCC, Simmons has served as an organizer with the National Council of Negro Women, serving as their Mid-West Field Director for their Project Woman Power and later with the American Friends Service Committee, where she held a number of program and administrative jobs for over 20 years. She returned to college in the late 80s to resume the college education she had left behind to work full time in the Movement, completing her academic studies in 2002.

Simmons primary academic focus was on Islamic Law and its impact on Muslim women. She conducted research for two years as a Fulbright and NMERTA scholar in Jordan, Egypt, Palestine and Syria (1996-1998) on the Shari’ah’s impact on women, contemporarily and the women’s movements in those countries to change these laws. She taught Courses on Islam, Women and Islam, Modern Islamic Thought, Islam in American African American Religious Traditions and Race Religion and Rebellion. Additionally, she taught Courses on the Civil Rights Movement, on Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X among other African American Studies topics. Simmons is a prolific public Speaker on College and University Campuses as well as in Community Forums. She is featured in several films on the Civil Rights Movement and on Women & Islam. Additionally, she has written numerous articles and essays on the Civil Rights Movement and on Women & Islam.

-Chanae Jackson is a Gainesville Native that is a mother of 3. She has spent her life using her personal and career experiences to serve others. Her versatile professional track record, high ethical standards, and collaborative community engagement efforts MAKE her the trusted resource for those she encounters.

Chanae’s commitment, collaboration, and entrepreneurial spirit are why she has successfully created a brand of activism that is known for compassion, empathy, credibility, and dependability. Her brand-the Accidental Activist truly encompasses Chanae’s passion for the community.

Chanae carries the values of integrity, diligence, and servant leadership in everything she does. Professionally, she owns multiple businesses- Assurance Holdings Property Management & Notary Signing Services, Oasis Homecare and Companion Services, Converge Creative Solutions, and the Sani-Team Professional Cleaning Services.

Chanae has served her community in varied ways- As a Co-Founder of the Black Parent Support Network and Gainesville Raise up, her goal is to bring awareness to current social issues, address where gaps exist, and work to offer new solutions for the existing social issues.

Chanae has previously served our community as a United Way Certified Financial Coach, a member of the Alachua County Education Taskforce, a member of the Alachua County Human Rights Advisory Board, the Chair of the Alachua County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center Advisory Board, the Chair of the City of Gainesville Community Development Advisory Board, and Vice-Chair of the City of Gainesville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

Chanae dreams of a world where equity would breed equality and heal our nation.

When you think of Chanae – THINK….negotiator, thinker, marketer, teacher, reader, collaborator, & leader