Keep Moving from this Mountain: Unpacking the Future of Spelman College

“Thank you, President Manley, members of the faculty, and students of Spelman College.”

On April 10, 1960, 65 years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King rose to the podium of Sisters Chapel to deliver one of the lesser-known speeches of his career. Upon invitation from President Manley, and at the peak of the Spelman Sit-In Movement, his presence was especially anticipated. Unlike the majority of Dr. King’s addresses, there is no audio or video recording of this historical interaction, only a transcription which remains sacred— a moment only shared between the students and faculty crowding the chapel. “I would like to use as a subject for my address this afternoon, ‘Keep Moving From This Mountain,’” he began.

Delivered six years into the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King’s address encouraged Spelmanites not to stray from the path to justice. Even as the weight of Jim Crow laws hung over them, defining a world where Black people were ostracized from society, bearing the brunt of the relentless racism that permeated the nation. Despite this reality, Dr. King did more than ask Spelmanites for their perseverance—he implored them to believe in their power and to understand that each protest, sit-in, or walk-out ignited a spark. He knew the fight wouldn’t be easy; he knew the path ahead was uncertain, littered with defeats, but he also knew it was theirs to walk. And so, as those young women sat in Sisters Chapel, poised to make choices that would change the world, he reminded them to “keep moving, for it may well be that the greatest song has not yet been sung, the greatest book has not been written, the highest mountain has not been climbed.”

Today, “Keep Moving from This Mountain” exceeds in importance, as the young Black scholars of our nation face yet another series of attacks. Students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are feeling the impact of the policies being swiftly implemented by the 47th administration with Federal Pell Grants, scholarships and educational resources on the chopping block. In only a few months into Donald Trump’s presidency, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs have lost nearly a billion dollars in funding, and the administration remains persistent in seeking ways to withdraw aid from key programs that support HBCUs. With the President’s recent signing of an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education, the future of our institutions seems unpromising—but even in challenging times, the resilience of those who came before us can serve as a powerful source of inspiration.

At Spelman, our legacy consists of women who have accomplished many firsts. Alice Walker, the first African-American woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, Marcelite Cecile Jordan Harris, the first African-American female general officer of the United States Air Force, Clara Stanton Jones, the first African-American president of the American Library Association, Ruth A. Davis, the first woman of color to be appointed as Director General of the United States Foreign Service, Janet Harmon Bragg and Kamora Freeland, both the first and the youngest African-American women to hold a commercial pilot license, and even the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, our Interim President, Dr. Roz Brewer are all Spelman women. Fortunately, scholars who arise from our institution share the unique quality of overcoming adversity, almost like second nature. 

I write this article understanding that, at this time, it is easy to feel unmotivated. It is easy to want to give up. It is easy to feel swarmed, afraid or worried. Like all of us, I too dread the effects of these changes. However, we cannot as students part of a consortium that makes up a majority of our nation’s Black doctors, lawyers, engineers, chemists and so on, afford to sit in this feeling of defeat. This is also not to urge our community to jump into careless action, but rather a call to evaluate how the challenges that weigh on us reflect those we have faced throughout our history and to know that it is in our essence to prevail.

To my Spelman Sisters, on this journey, it is expected to experience times of uncertainty, setbacks and defeat. However, in the words of Dr. King, “If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.”