Greenville Eight member authors book challenging young activists

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Arrested before her 18th birthday, a Greenville woman has written a book about the doors it opened and contributions we enjoy today. Dee Dee Wright was a member of the Greenville Eight, students who in the 1960′s challenged segregation and discrimination. Their actions led to freedoms and law to protect even the people today who protest current injustices.

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“It’s nothing that you can really articulate. It’s how you feel,” said Dorris “Dee Dee” Wright, civil rights activist and author.

Wright is describing the prospects for Black teens in Greenville in the 1950′s and 1960′s.

“Greenville was pathetic, the most a (Black teen could aspire) to do was be a cook, be a maid or perhaps babysit somebody’s children,” she said.

Wright attended Sterling High School one of five Black high schools in Greenville County, where she and her socially conscious peers prepared for a world, that wasn’t necessarily prepared for them.

“We were the catalyst, (employers) could not fire us because we didn’t work, we were going to school, so it was very important that we took on this fight that we felt that needed to be done,” Wright said.

The fight was breeching the social etiquette code, blatant dehumanization, and challenging the status quo at a time when law enforcement enforced it by arresting Black youth in public spaces like your local library.

“People have to do what is right and righteous,” Wright said.

She fought for change along with Rev. Jesse Jackson and six other friends who were part of three demonstrations in 1960 alone. Fighting for equal access to public accommodations in libraries, restaurants, even churches.

“We wanted to see what kind of God that they were serving because our god said that all people are loved,” Wright said. “All people are welcome, so that is why we challenged that system.”

A young teen’s journal, memoir and pathway to service now available in the book, The (W)right Thing to Do. Rev. Jesse Jackson authored the prologue.

“We were bumping against the limits of a system -- we crashed a wall,” said Rev. Jackson, Rainbow PUSH Coalition founder and president.

“You always have to be able to fight for what you believe in,” Wright said.

At the intersection of downtown Greenville’s Washington and Main Streets a memorial honors Wright and her peers. And etched in stone is a civil rights affirmation that reads “The students of Sterling High School were the driving force that promoted the change of institutional segregation in Greenville County.” But these Black progressives were also responsible for other legislation.

“It was like traffic signs telling us (constantly) where we could and could not go,” Wright said.

She was instrumental in Edwards v. South Carolina, a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal for states to criminalize peaceful expressions against “unpopular views.” A historical marker still stands in the state capitol.

“You need to be judged by the content of your character. And not by the color of your skin,” Wright said.

Her change-maker attitude served her well in education, social services and local government. Today, she adds author to her titles. Her challenge to young activists is to find direction, establish a code of conduct, know your rights, and don’t get caught up in the lights and cameras.

“If you can touch one – we say, ‘each one touches one,’” Wright said.

You can find The (W)right Thing to Do here https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dorris-deedee-wright/1141312057

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