Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
Born	August 9, 1944 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma mater	Antioch University, B.A. Temple University, M.A., Ph.D
Occupation	Senior Lecturer Emerita
Organization	University of Florida, retired 2019

Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons (born August 9, 1944, as Gwendolyn Robinson) is an American activist and a retired professor. She is known for her work in the Civil Rights Movement. She was a member of important groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Nation of Islam (NOI).

Simmons also taught at the University of Florida until she retired in 2019. Her studies looked into Islamic feminism, which is about women's rights in Islam. She also researched how Sharia law affects Muslim women. She earned several important awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship.

Early Life and Education

Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1944. Her grandmother, Rhonda Bell Robinson, raised her. Gwendolyn learned a lot about her family's history, including that her great-grandmother had been a slave. This history taught her about the lasting effects of slavery.

Her family really believed in education. Gwendolyn was the first person in her family to go to college.

College Years at Spelman

In 1962, Simmons started college at Spelman College. Soon after, the school's dean told her that her natural hair was "embarrassing." This was one of many disagreements she had with the school. Her involvement in student activism grew during this time.

Later, in 1989, Simmons earned her bachelor's degree from Antioch University. She then went to Temple University. There, she earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in Religion, focusing on Islam. She also got a certificate in Women's Studies. Her Ph.D. research was about how Islamic law affects women in Jordan and Palestine.

Student Activism and Civil Rights

Gwendolyn was inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement by her professors. They helped her see how the current fight for rights connected to past struggles of African Americans. Other important people who influenced her were Howard Zinn and Vincent Harding.

Simmons started volunteering at the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) office. She worked with leaders like John Lewis and James Forman. She mostly did office work to avoid drawing attention from her family and Spelman College. She also joined the Committee on Appeal for Human Rights.

In 1963, she was chosen to represent Spelman on SNCC's coordinating committee.

Protests and Arrests

In January 1964, Simmons was arrested for protesting at a restaurant in Atlanta. She spent a night in jail. The dean at Spelman put her on probation for breaking school rules about protests. But this did not stop her.

A few days later, she was arrested again at another restaurant protest. This time, she spent three nights in jail. Spelman's president took away her scholarship. Her friends and other students marched to the president's house to support her. Because of their support, Simmons was allowed to stay at Spelman, but she was on strict probation.

During the spring of 1964, Simmons helped prepare for the Freedom Summer Project in Mississippi. She also helped with materials for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Freedom Summer in Mississippi

Simmons decided to volunteer for the Mississippi Freedom Project in the summer of 1964. Spelman told her family, who were worried about her safety. Mississippi was known for Ku Klux Klan violence. Her family tried to stop her from going.

But Simmons found a way to get money from SNCC and traveled to Mississippi. She went to Oxford, Ohio, for training first. There, she helped train other volunteers.

In Mississippi, Simmons was sent to Laurel, a very dangerous area. She was often afraid and faced police harassment. When her project director was jailed, Simmons took his place. She became one of only seven women to lead a Freedom Summer project. Under her leadership, volunteers ran a Freedom School, opened a day care, helped people register to vote, and started a library.

Civil Rights Activism

SNCC Work (1964-1966)

After Freedom Summer, Simmons chose to stay in Laurel, Mississippi. She lived in nearby Hattiesburg because Laurel was too unsafe. She directed SNCC's Freedom School project in Laurel, creating lessons for the schools. As a young, Black, and female leader in SNCC, Simmons faced both racism and sexism. It was during this time that she began to see herself as a feminist.

In 1965, after 18 months in Laurel, Simmons returned to Atlanta. She had seen a lot of violence. A SNCC leader suggested she take a break. She worked as a fundraiser in SNCC's New York City office.

A year later, in 1966, Simmons returned to activism in the South. She became a co-director of the new SNCC Atlanta Project. This project focused on helping the Vine City neighborhood. It was an early example of the Black Power movement, working to improve the community and get people involved in politics. Simmons also continued her work with freedom schools.

Simmons used her time on the Atlanta Project to think about civil rights strategies. She helped write a paper about Black Power. This paper discussed her frustrations with white SNCC organizers. She felt they sometimes disrespected her authority. She believed white activists should work on racial justice issues in white communities. This way, they could work alongside Black organizers.

Simmons also joined other Black women in SNCC who were concerned about relationships between Black men and white women. They felt this sometimes showed a rejection of Black women.

In the late 1960s, Simmons moved to Philadelphia. She worked for the American Friends Service Committee for 20 years. She also served as treasurer for the National Black Independent Party.

Nation of Islam (1967-1972)

While in SNCC, Simmons heard Malcolm X speak on a recording. She was deeply moved by his message. In 1967, she officially joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) and became a Muslim.

While in the NOI, Simmons also worked as a coordinator for the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in Chicago. Later, she and her husband, Michael Simmons, moved to New York. They joined Minister Louis Farrakhan's Mosque No. 7.

Simmons sometimes went against NOI teachings. For example, she used ellipses (...) in her writing, even though NOI leader Elijah Muhammad saw them as an attack on Black families. She also chose not to wear the special uniform and headscarf. She did not want her religious expression to make her organizing work harder.

Simmons also had other concerns about the NOI. She felt they focused too much on money, which was hard for poor members. She also disliked the strict, military-like structure and the use of physical punishments. She left the organization in 1972.

Islamic Feminist Research

Starting in 1971, Simmons followed the teachings of Sufi Sheikh Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. He was a famous leader of Islamic mysticism. She was one of his first American students. He gave her the name "Zoharah." She is still an active member of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship and Mosque.

As a scholar, Simmons researched how Islamic law affects Muslim women today. She traveled to Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. She lived in Amman, Jordan, for a time to do research for her Ph.D. paper.

When she taught at the University of Florida, she focused on race, gender, and religion. She especially taught about African American religious traditions and women's connection to Islam. She wanted to show the difference between the religion of Islam and different cultural ideas. She believes that Islamic feminism reminds people of the respect for women found in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad's teachings. She feels this respect has been forgotten in more modern interpretations.

Personal Life

Gwendolyn Robinson met Michael Simmons, another Atlanta Project organizer, in 1965. They started a relationship after she recruited him for a political campaign. When they joined the Nation of Islam, they were required to marry to continue living together. They have one daughter, Aishah Shahidah Simmons, who makes documentary films about feminism.

Writings

• "Striving for Muslim Women's Human Rights--Before and Beyond Beijing," Syracuse University Press (2000)
• "Racism in Higher Education," University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy (2002)
• "Are we up to the challenge? The need for a radical re-ordering of the Islamic discourse on women," Oneworld Publications (2003)
• "African American Islam as an Expression of Converts' Religious Faith and Nationalist Dreams and Ambitions," University of Texas Press (2006)
• "From Muslims in America to American Muslims," Journal of Islamic Law and Culture (2008)
• "Mama Told Me Not To Go," Pearson Prentice Hall (2008)
• "Martin Luther King Jr. Revisited: A Black Power Feminist Pays Homage to the King," Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (2008)
• "From Little Memphis Girl to Mississippi Amazon," University of Illinois Press (2010)