“This Is Exactly What’s Needed”

In these excerpts from two oral histories conducted by Matthew Clark and Juliette Barbera, Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons traces her personal history from growing up in Memphis, through joining SNCC, to embracing that organization’s turn toward Black Power. Dr. Simmons was born in 1944 and grew up as Gwen Robinson. After her involvement with the sit-in movement at Spelman College, she became a leader in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and the National Council of Negro Women. Along with her husband, Simmons briefly joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1967 to 1972. Her experience there and subsequent critique of the NOI influenced her shift into academia, particularly her study of Islamic feminism. Soon, she became a Professor of Religion at the University of Florida, where she worked until retiring in 2019.