by Marcus Harden

(Black History Today is published in collaboration with Rise up for Students.)

“It’s not about supplication, it’s about power. It’s not about asking, it’s about demanding. It’s not about convincing those who are currently in power, it’s about changing the very face of power itself.”

—Kimberle Williams Crenshaw

The fictional character of Clair Huxtable broke through color lines as “America’s Mom.” If you grew up in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, you saw in Phylicia Rashad a brilliant, strong, caring, graceful, and beautiful mother. It went beyond just the aesthetic because of what she represented for the Black community and Black women in general. She was the Black mother and professional that many of us knew existed but so many failed to see.

Upon first meeting Sue Beyers as a young professional, I thought she was fiction come to life. Sue is a Seattle native with deep roots in the Central District and the South End (a rare feat). She is a graduate of Garfield High School and followed that up by deepening her education at Evergreen State College and gaining her master’s from Pacific Oaks College.