Students in the Modjeska Simkins School’s spring session have been meeting every Monday night and many Sunday afternoons since March 2. The stalwarts who completed the challenging course (not everyone does) celebrated their achievement on Saturday at a commencement ceremony with family, friends, and alumni. This year, 36 students graduated from the school.

It was clear that this session bonded the class, and many of the graduates are already planning their next meetings to talk about projects they want to join or launch. 

“This year’s class was energetic, enthusiastic, and eager,” said lead instructor Dr. Robert Greene II, who teaches history at Claflin University and joined the Modjeska School staff in 2019. “They reminded me why I enjoy doing our version of a Citizenship School that focuses not only on history, but also on the kind of engaged citizenship that learning the true, unabashed history of South Carolina should foster.”

The school is a project of the SC Progressive Network to teach civics and a people’s history of South Carolina. Network board member and Modjeska School graduate Cecil Cahoon delivered the commencement address. “Our state has been the incubator of inhumane ideas, the place where malignant seeds of public policy are germinated for propagation to other capitals of the South and the rest of the nation,” he said. “This is not hyperbole. Doctor Greene and others have identified scores of examples in your Sunday deep dives and Monday evening classes. In example after example, our state has fought above its weight to train its sister states of the South and to infect the nation with more of its peculiar malices — all the way to and including this present moment.”

The antidote is us, an engaged, educated, community of fellow travelers committed to making “good trouble.”

SC Progressive Network Executive Director Brett Bursey said this session of the school has been especially gratifying. “The students’ testimonials at our graduation indicate that the school is working exactly as we had hoped when we launched the school in 2015. Be sure to listen to Cecil Cahoon’s commencement address. He so clearly articulates the essence of the community we are building to win our individual and collective radical revolution of values.”

The students who accepted their diplomas on Saturday shared with each other what the last many months has meant to them.

Josh Dunn said, “It’s been transformative. It’s given me a lot of courage and made a lot of my excuses a lot less palatable, and it made me really fired up.Thank you to everyone who made this experience wonderful for me. I remember how I felt the first class when I walked in. I’d only really interacted with these ideas in books. Coming here has been really, truly life-changing. I just feel really grateful to be a part of this bigger community, and I’m really excited to see what kind of change we can make.”

T. Todd Simon said, “I have gotten so much out of this school, but I think the biggest thing I’ve gotten out of this program is the connections that I’ve made. I’m grateful and honored to be among so many people doing such good work here in South Carolina.”

Stephanie Marrone is a former history and civics teacher who moved to Columbia three years ago. She said, “Since we retired here, this is the my favorite thing that I’ve done, coming to this school. I didn’t think I could learn so much at the age of 62. But I did.”

Irene Rigby said that while her husband, Cecil, was taking the course last year on Zoom, she was watching the food network in the next room. She could hear enough of the lectures, though, to be intrigued. She applied for the spring semester and “got a different kind of meal from this school, something that the food channel couldn’t give to me. I ate this meal every Monday, and got nourished in wisdom and justice and righteousness.”

Nichel Dunlap-Thompson said, “Dr. Greene is amazing. I’ve never heard a lecturer able to keep the audience engaged in the manner he did. As Brett has always told us in every communication, it is about justice — racial justice, economic justice — and it is past time for a radical revolution. I stand in solidarity with you all ready to get back into the fight, regardless of what those consequences may look like. As long as we’re fighting on the side of right. As long as we’re fighting for a democracy that represents all people, as long as we’re fighting for climate justice and economic justice that we know all workers — all people — are entitled to, then we already have the victory.”

Gabbi Zurlo was skeptical, at first. “I showed up on Mondays, vowing after each class that I was too behind these experienced organizers, too anxious, too rural, too uneducated, too alone, too frustrated, that there was no way I can make any difference. As scary as it was to walk into this room every Monday night, Dr. Green’s tutelage reminded me that this history, these stories, are our stories, and that while Modjeska was right, that this is no sitting down time, there’s always time to listen. Oppression will attempt to divide and conquer. Doubts will slow our steps. We will get tired, and at times will seem to be no way. But we will make a way out no way. We are the swerve toward justice, a better South and a better world. We have all we need to look back and push forward, to be the swerve towards a future that will make Ben Tillman roll over in his grave.”

Dr. Greene said, “I look forward to seeing what our graduates do—for each other, for their fellow citizens, and for the state of South Carolina.”

Congratulations to the class of 2024!

• • •

• Watch the graduation HERE.

• Cecil Cahoon’s commencement address is HERE.

• Our photo album is HERE.

Longtime social worker, community activist, and Network Cochair Marjorie Hammock died on Saturday at age 88. She fell ill on a jazz cruise in the Caribbean last month, but was home in Columbia when she transitioned.

We dedicated our first-Thursday jazz workshop to her, as she loved jazz and was a regular at GROW. Friends filled the room to share stories and toast her memory. It was a bittersweet evening. You can see pictures of the gathering in our Photo Album.

Marjorie was deeply loved for the important work she did and the many lives she touched. She was hired in the late 70s to set up the Department of Corrections’ first social work office, and spent many years counseling inmates and implementing new protocols. Her vast range of experience made her able to comfortably relate to those on any rung of the social ladder.

You can listen to an oral history she recorded in 2019 HERE. It’s a fascinating look at her long life from the time she was born in Atlanta, through her formative years in Connecticut, and her college experiences at Spelman and Howard universities. She also talks about her professional life and her political awakening.

The Network benefitted from Marjorie’s leadership for some 15 years. “She is irreplaceable,” Brett Bursey said. “You can’t buy the kind of respect she commanded among her fellow social workers, South Carolina legislators and academics, and grass roots activists. We were fortunate to work with her as long as we did, and our organization’s roots are deeper and healthier because of her.”

Always an advocate for young people, Marjorie was a huge fan of the Modjeska’s Simpkins School. She attended seven sessions, and enjoyed handing out the diplomas at graduations.

If you’d like to honor her memory by making a donation to the school, you can do so HERE. Your contribution will go toward paying stipends for guest speakers and scholarships for students.

The Modjeska Simkins School kicked off its spring semester with an orientation session on Saturday, March 2, at GROW in Columbia. With 52 new students and 12 graduates auditing (a perk extended to everyone who completes the course), it is the largest class since the school launched in 2015.

Classes will meet on Monday nights through the end of June at 6:30 in-person in Columbia and in Charleston at the ILA Hall, as well as on Zoom. Sunday Deeper Dives are optional for students and open to the public. To receive notices of the public programs, sign up for the SC Progressive Network‘s email list HERE.

“The incoming class is impressive,” said Brett Bursey, who along with Dr. Robert Greene II will facilitate the spring session. “We look forward to getting to know them over the next few months.”

The youngest student this year is 16. The oldest is pushing 80. That rare inter-generational, inter-racial mingling enriches the diversity of the class and makes for deeper dialogue. Students learn from each other as well as from the instructors and guest presenters.

One student at a time, the school is building community and fueling South Carolina’s movement for social justice. We can’t wait to get started!

See pictures of the orientation in our photo album.

It’s been nearly 50 years since Brett Bursey met Modjeska Monteith Simkins at the Harden St. branch of Victory Savings Bank and opened an account for the Grass Roots Organizing Workshop (GROW). They struck up a friendship and close working relations that endured for the next 18 years of Modjeska’s long life which began in 1899.

Modjeska was 20 years old in 1921 when the Monteith family helped start the bank with $2600 in deposits. Victory Savings, now Optus Bank, was the state’s first Black bank and one of the nation’s few Black banks that made it through the Depression. Victory Savings helped many families, farms, and businesses keep going during the darkest days of Jim Crow. 

Modjeska was engaged in the founding of the NAACP State Conference in 1935, which was one of the most active and aggressive in the South. Her outspoken manner, progressive politics, and leadership saw her pushed out of the State Conference in 1957 when her name was intentionally left off the ballot. It was the height of the Red Scare and social justice organizations and activists were deemed communists by politicians who whipped up hysteria to suppress activism.

Modjeska, known for “making a way out of no way,” started the Richland County Citizens Committee and remained active in local, and legislative matters. She participated and spoke at GROW events ranging from anti-apartheid pickets at banks selling South African gold Krugerrands, to anti-nuclear protests at the Bomb Plant in Aiken County,

In 1996, GROW organized the SC Progressive Network to foster a statewide movement of shared values that is gaining momentum in these days of uncompromising nationalism and white supremacy. 

In 2014, when our office was in the historic Modjeska house, plans were made to start a school to teach effective citizenship and the Modjeska Monteith Simkins School for Human Rights started classes in 2015. The next year, in the archives at Howard University, we discovered that Modjeska had started a Leadership School in 1946, from the same house, with the same curriculum on good jobs, education, healthcare and racial justice we were teaching 70 years later. South Carolina’s history of resistance has been continually erased, preventing new generations fighting the same problems from gaining ground. The Modjeska Simkins School has started taking applications for the 2024 session, teaching the inspiring history of resistance to the same problems we face today. 

Optus, the latest iteration of Victory Savings Bank, manifests the long and closely held tradition of social justice as “mission-centric,” to community banking. The Network moved its main account to one of the big banks when Community Bank, the previous iteration of Victory Savings, went into federal receivership. Brett met with Dominik Mjartan, the president of Optus, and promised to return when the necessary full-service banking operations were attained. Today, SC Progressive Network is depositing $250,000, the majority raised in the last few months from individual donations, to launch a sustained, nonpartisan DemocraSC Campaign to reconstruct democracy. Today’s deposit evidences our appreciation and trust in Optus’ ability to meet our banking needs and their shared commitment to our mission. We encourage like-minded organizations and individuals to join us in transferring accounts to a bank that shares our values.

As we face the most serious challenge to democracy and equality since South Carolina led the nation to war to preserve slavery, we quote Modjeska Simkins, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is no sitting down time.”

The Modjeska Simkins School, the crown jewel of the SC Progressive Network’s projects, is now accepting applications to its spring session, which runs March 2 through June 22. Classes meet on Monday evenings online and in-person at GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave. in Columbia.

“The Modjeska Simkins School remains a bulwark for truth against disinformation,” said Robert Greene II, Assistant Professor of History at Claflin University and lead instructor for the Modjeska School since 2019.

“This year’s session comes at a pivotal time in the history of our state, our nation, and our world,” he said. “Historical truth is under attack as never before. Freedoms and rights once taken for granted are now under siege, threatening to reverse the great social movements of the 20th Century. 

“At the Modjeska School, we believe in not only learning history for the sake of knowing our past, but learning how to think critically and how to think democratically. Contrary to popular belief, there is a tradition of human rights—exemplified by Modjeska Simkins herself—in South Carolina.”

This is the 10th year the school has offered its unique curriculum to students of all ages and backgrounds interested in deepening their understanding of South Carolina’s complex history and in learning ways to be more effective voters, citizens, and community organizers. To date, the school has graduated 259 students.

Each session of the school is different, with updated course material and new guest speakers. What remains the same is the intensive, immersive experience that is unlike any other course being offered in South Carolina.

For more information or to apply, see modjeskaschool.com.

We welcome donations of any amount. Click HERE to support the Modjeska Simkins School and help us provide scholarships.

A night of purpose, celebration, and unwavering dedication unfolded at GROW in Columbia as the SC Progressive Network held a fundraiser to celebrate its newly appointed Interim Executive Director, Brandon Upson’s, 38th birthday. The event on Friday, Dec. 15, raised an astounding $42,212.

Reflecting on the evening, Upson said, “The Network stands firm as an anti-partisan, no bullshit force, fighting tirelessly for freedom, human rights, social justice, and economic opportunities for every South Carolinian. This accomplishment is a testament to our growing support and our collective commitment to these ideals.

“To lead an organization with such a profound legacy within the progressive movement is a tremendous honor,” Upson said. ‘Yet, this $42,212 raised tonight is merely the start of our journey. There’s much more work ahead.”

The funds raised will fuel the Network’s landmark initiative, the Missing Voter Project. Initiated in 2004, this project engages and empowers young Black voters who are registered to vote but are voting infrequently or not at all. With a goal of reaching more than 150,000 young voters, the Network aims to increase this group’s civic awareness and participation.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter emphasized the crucial role of the Missing Voter Project. “There is no other initiative in our state doing the strategic work to engage, empower, and motivate young people to vote like the Missing Voters Project,” she said. “There’s no wonder why so many are seeing this initiative as a worthy investment. These organizers are doing the work to save the future of our democracy.”

Outgoing Executive Director and a founder of the Network Brett Bursey said, “I picked up the torch of social justice from Modjeska Simkins in 1974, when she was 75. She was the state’s leading revolutionary, who manifested Dr. King’s call for a ‘radical revolution of values.’ Now I am 75, and am passing the torch to Brandon, knowing that he has deep roots in South Carolina and a strategic understanding of the long road to equality. I look forward to focusing on the Modjeska Simkins School and supporting Brandon as he takes the Network to the next level.”

The Network honors the support, unity, and dedication of its members and supporters who contributed to this monumental achievement. Together, they stand as a beacon of change, driving towards a more inclusive and just society.

More photos in our Flickr photo album.

Brandon Upson, SCPN Executive Director

As the winds of change sweep across South Carolina, we find ourselves at a critical crossroads. The recent surge in local elections of extremist groups like Moms for Liberty has eclipsed the voices of progress, leaving our state fractured and our democracy hanging by a thread. In this landscape, where the once-solid Democratic strongholds of Columbia and Charleston have flipped, and the representation of Black voices dwindles, we must recognize that salvation lies in the hands of the next generation.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” His words ring true today as we witness young and minority communities lose faith in the power of their vote. The vibrancy of our democracy hinges on their engagement, yet their disillusionment grows with each passing election cycle.

We have front-row seats to the consequences: the ascent of radical factions within the Republican and Democratic parties has overshadowed common-sense idealism. As the Art of War teaches us, one must understand their adversary to overcome them. Our state’s Democratic Party stands at a critical juncture, wielding influence primarily within its internal echelons rather than resonating powerfully across our state’s broader political landscape.

Partisanship must yield to pragmatic leadership in this pivotal moment as the planet faces existential threats and our freedoms teeter on the edge. The traditional playbook has failed us, and it’s time to rewrite the script. It’s time to listen, truly listen, to the voices of working-class people, the marginalized, and the disenchanted—our missing voters.

The solution lies not in perpetuating the same tired rhetoric but in nurturing a new cohort of leaders—innovators unbound by the constraints of conventionality. South Carolina needs fresh ideas, leaders who can bridge divides, and disruptors who deny the confines of party loyalty for the greater good.

The loss of equal representation across our state, through racial and partisan gerrymandering should serve as a clarion call for change. Disillusioned by being taken for granted, young Black voters seek leaders who authentically champion their causes rather than using them as mere election pawns.

It’s time to rebuild the trust that has been eroded by years of neglect and failed promises. For those of us who have been engaged in grassroots organizing, we’ve heard young voters repeatedly say, “My vote doesn’t count.” And to this point, in too many cases, they are absolutely correct. Especially when we see years of racist redistricting tactics used to weaken the value of a Black vote to 3/5 of that of a white vote in our state. If we are going to rekindle the belief in the power of the vote, we must start by making the vote of young Black and African Americans truly matter — and we have a plan for that.

As the new South Carolina Progressive Network Executive Director, I stand committed to this cause. We must orchestrate an organized effort emboldened by passion and driven by purpose to empower and motivate the youth. It’s not just about winning elections; it’s about reinvigorating democracy from its very roots.

Together, we can reclaim South Carolina, not through the lens of political parties but through the unity of purpose. It’s not just a battle for votes; it’s a fight for the soul of our state. Let us march forward, not in the shadows of complacency but in the light of resilience and determination.

The time for change is now.

On Saturday, the Network’s board and key allies met in Columbia and online to get acquainted and to map plans for the coming three years. The meeting, a mix of business and fellowship, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the 27-year-old organization’s history.

Brandon Upson, the Network’s interim executive director, said the retreat “was inspiring. I’ve never seen a group with the diversity we have work so seamlessly together. We pushed each other to think bigger, and came out with a very clear direction of where we’re going next.” 

Outgoing Executive Director Brett Bursey said, “Our transition has been slow and deliberate because we wanted to do it right rather than right now. We worked hard to update our 25-year-old bylaws and to tap new leaders to take the Network to the next level. The payoff of that process was evident on Saturday.”

The Network’s staff and boards of our Education Fund and individual members were joined by Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and staff from her emerging Gilda Cobb-Hunter Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership, as well as organizers from the Union of Southern Service Workers and Campus Workers United. These organizations are collaborating to expand the capacity and maximize the reach of the Missing Voter Project, the program the Network launched in 2004 targeting key communities with unique messaging and data specific to neighborhoods across South Carolina.

“I was pleased to see such a strong presence from the labor movement as well as elected officials and freedom fighters from different parts of the state,” said Mary Geren, who is spearheading fundraising for the Network. “It was awesome to see and feel the enthusiasm in the room for this next chapter of the SCPN’s mission to promote social justice in every corner of South Carolina! The work won’t be easy, but with such a talented and dedicated team, it is achievable.”

The afternoon was spent brainstorming, setting timelines, defining priorities, and outlining strategies to expand funding and membership. Business included confirming five new members to the board: Anson Foster, Jeanne Hammock, Chris Salley, Allison Terracio, and Lee Turner. We also welcomed Fellows Kwalee Bryant and Charlotte Martin, recent graduates from a three-month training with the USSW. You can see full list of board, staff, and advisors on our web site.

After the meeting wrapped, everyone was invited to share a meal prepared with love by Columbia chef and Network member Joe Turkaly.

Some of the Network’s more seasoned board members are relieved to see the forward momentum after building renovations and pandemic restrictions put our work on pause for several years. Treasurer Shannon Sylvester — who most of our members know as Shannon Herin, but who just recently married fellow Modjeska Simkins School graduate Richard Sylvester —left the meeting excited and hopeful. “It was inspirational. There were lots of energized, new faces. Like, wow! I felt like I visited the future.”

The SC Progressive Network is pleased to welcome Brandon Upson as our new interim Executive Director. The Aiken native has a wealth of experience in South Carolina politics and grass roots organizing, and is uniquely positioned to expand our reach and maximize our capacity.

Upson will oversee the political education arm of the Network’s portfolio, with a special focus on the nonpartisan Missing Voter Project‘s work with under-represented communities.

“I’m really excited about where we are, and in the possibilities of where we can go.” Upson said. “I want to move the Network forward and upward without losing the identity and the spirit of the organization.”

Brett Bursey, who has served as Executive Director since co-founding the Network in 1996, will focus on research and policy work, as well as manage the Modjeska Simkins School, the Network’s leadership institute.

“Brandon has come to share the vision that has guided my work since I began organizing 55 years ago,” Bursey said. “We’ve taken the time to get to know each other, and I trust that he can take what we’ve built over these many years and take it to the next level.”

Upson said, “I don’t take this lightly at all. It takes a lot to build an organization, to put everything you have into that organization — the blood, sweat, and tears — and then pass it on to the next generation. I join the SC Progressive Network family with great reverence and excitement. To have the opportunity to build upon the great work that has helped fuel four decades of the South Carolina progressive movement is an honor.”

Upson’s 13 years leading electoral campaigns and legislative caucuses brings critical skills to the Network. He knows first-hand how the political system works in South Carolina, how it doesn’t, and what we can do to reform it. He also has plans for finding new revenue streams, using skills he honed while helping raise $2.1 million for nonprofits in the last four years.

Upson’s roots in the Palmetto State run eight generations deep. He graduated in 2013 from the College of Charleston, where he met his wife, Monica. They live in Tega Cay with their young children Cossette, Sophie, and Patrick.

Upson is an Army veteran who served in Iraq, where he was awarded a Commendation Medal and was his Company’s Soldier of the Year in 2006. He was NCO of the Year in 2008.

Upson’s hiring comes after a lengthy transition period during which the staff and board revamped the Network’s 25-year-old bylaws and laid plans for installing new leadership and expanding our staff.

Network Co-chair Marjorie Hammock said Upson’s background and skills make him a great fit for the Network. “I’m very impressed with him,” she said after his recent presentation to the board where he outlined his proposed plans for the coming year. “He seems committed to keeping true to our original mission while bringing new energy and ideas. I am thrilled.”

Upson’s background will help advance the Network’s anti-partisan, “inside/outside” strategy. Last spring, he ran a spirited campaign for SC Democratic Party Chair, a race he nearly won. (You can watch his convention speech here.) He founded the nonprofit Amplify Action, dedicated to “rebuilding political power within marginalized communities across the South through the voter registration and civic mobilization of Black men.” In 2020, Amplify registered more than 39,000 Black men and mobilized more than 450,000 Black voters in the South to get to the polls. That background will serve our Missing Voter Project well.

Network board member and union organizer Russell Bannan has worked closely with Upson on labor-related matters and said, “There is no better man for this position.”

Upson plans to focus at first on election protection and the Missing Voter Project, which he sees as a long-term engagement process in targeted communities. “Instead of going wide,” Upson said, “we need to go deep.”

Upson promises “big ideas and bold actions” in the coming year, and invites members and allies to get involved like never before. “Now is our time to take ownership of our work and advance our cause. We all know what’s at stake. Let’s do this — together.”