The Power to Read and Write/Right to Resist: Literacy Politics from Septima Poinsette Clark

The enduring legacy of Septima Poinsette Clark—teacher-activist, literacy strategist, and warrior of resistance—has been insufficiently researched from a literacy politics perspective. Framing her approach to literacy instruction as acts of political dissent, I center her unwavering belief that education is a liberatory force, and that reading and writing are never neutral, but rather, powerful tools for resisting oppression and claiming civic belonging in the pursuit of becoming a first-class citizen . Through the lens of the Citizenship Schools literacy education program and the transformative pedagogy she both practiced and championed, this article illuminates how Clark's literacy work functioned as a blueprint for political engagement and educational justice, particularly for Black American adult learners who had been denied access to formal schooling. The current political era is extraordinarily challenging, and many scholars and practitioners are seeking methods, models, and examples that enable literacy research to meaningfully and positively impact the lives of underserved communities. This article is a revised and expanded version of my presidential address delivered during the 75th Annual Conference of the Literacy Research Association. It honors Clark's work as a freedom teacher whose pedagogy was rooted in community-based instruction; a political visionary who understood literacy as a bridge to civic engagement; and a steadfast advocate for educational justice who linked individual learning to collective emancipation and empowerment. Her vision remains urgent. It embodies the core of social justice education and calls on all of us—scholars, teachers, advocates, and freedom dreamers—to stand at the intersections of literacy, democracy, and liberation, and to continue the work she began.