Endorsements

“Sophia Bracy Harris is a visionary reformer whose story and voice is both compelling and timely in this era of unjust inequality which threatens the lives of millions. There is much to be learned about how we find our way in this inspiring reflection on resistance and love.”  

- Bryan Stevenson, Founder/Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative and author of the New York Times best-selling book Just Mercy

“Thirty years ago when Alan Gleitsman asked me who should receive his first-ever Gleitsman Award for People Who Make a Difference, I said: Sophia Bracy Harris. Then, people were talking about the importance of early childhood education, but only Sophia was traveling through the rural south, writing messages on shirt cardboards, holding meetings in living rooms and churches, and making this happen where it was needed most. For that and an entire lifetime of reasons, I’ve been hoping she would tell her story. Right now, it’s needed more than ever before. Sophia is not only a rare and trusted bridge between the neediest and the most able to create change, she knows how to bring them together as allies and friends. I’ve always thought she should write a book, and that book should be a movie or television series. Her story personifies history in the way that it grows deepest and most lasting, like a tree, from the ground up.”

- Gloria Steinem, writer, political activist, and feminist organizer

“Sophia Bracy Harris is one of the many unsung southern women civil rights leaders. For more than fifty years, she has led the fight for quality access to childcare for all of Alabama’s families. Her story will inspire a new generation of activists to learn from her legacy and take up today’s continuing struggles.” 

- Leymah Gbowee, Peace Activist, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient

“Finding My Own Way is the beautifully told story of Sophia Bracy Harris, whose resilience is matched only by her brilliance and passion to make a difference in the lives of others. I was touched by Sophia’s life long before her memoir was written. In the words of the late Robert Kennedy, Sophia sees life not as it is and asks why, but rather dreams of things that never were, and asks why not. Her inspiring memoir challenges us to ask the difficult questions, to push back against systems of inequity, and our own complacency. Finding My Own Way shows how an ordinary individual can go on to achieve extraordinary things when their steps are motivated by the desire to serve others.”

- Martha Hawkins, author, speaker and owner of Martha’s Place Restaurant

 “Sophia Bracy Harris’ story is one of courage and defiance, soaring highs and crushing lows, and the determination to try all over and over again. A woman who fought against barriers of race, class and gender to rise to national prominence as an advocate for marginalized children and communities, yet often—as many great leaders do—privately wonder if they are ‘good enough.’ Her story empowers anyone with the great responsibility of leading change to confront the negative internalized messaging often passed down in childhood. It provides the tools they can use to tell themselves a different message—one that communicates that they are worthy and whole. This is a must-read book for all interested in leadership, resilience, organizing and transformative change.”

- Dorian Warren, President of Community Change, MSNBC Contributor

“Sophia Bracy Harris’ coming of age story is the perfect book for this explosive moment in America and the world. This organizer, mother, and visionary shares her deep understanding of racism, honed from her Alabama childhood, integration of Wetumpka High, the firebombing of her family home, and her lifetime of advocacy for black children. Sophia’s gripping journey toward justice could be a road map for today’s fierce young leaders.”

- Kit Miller, President of Orchard House Foundation

“The gripping autobiographical narrative of Wetumpka native Sophia Bracy Harris recounts the trials and tribulations of growing up and maturing in civil rights Alabama. In excruciating detail, Finding My Own Way offers a judicious treatment of the relentless fury and impact of second-class citizenship.”

- Richard Bailey, Ph.D., Author/Historian

“Starting fifty years ago, Sophia Bracy Harris has paved the road in Alabama- the heart of the Bible Belt- to a new society based on equity for all. Her tireless leadership changed the lives of children and their families in the state with the sixth highest poverty rate in the nation. In her new memoir, Sophia recounts how one black woman created social justice and opportunity for so many. Her story will be a source of inspiration for generations to come.” 

- Michael Seltzer, Distinguished Lecturer, City University of New York

“Sophia’s story is a story for the white suburban housewife, the inner-city black kid, the undocumented farmworker and the returning war veteran. It is a story for all of us. While facing racism, oppression, hatred, and poverty Sophia’s story is one of inspiration, grit, love and community: an indispensable guide to connecting and inter-connecting with that universal light shining within each of us and among all of us.”

-Rebecca Adamson, Indigenous Economist, First Peoples Worldwide

“As one of the few black students at Auburn University in the late 1960s, Sophia did as she always had: she transcended challenges through hard work, practicality, determination, and an unrelenting focus on her life’s vision of helping those who needed her. Without an obvious template, Sophia followed her heart to achieve greatness through servanthood. Her story is both inspiring and instructive for those in every generation.” 

- George Littleton, Communications Director, Auburn University

Finding My Own Way is a compelling account of one woman’s journey to wholeness. In it, Sophia Bracy Harris has provided a roadmap to survival. Having faced the trauma of serious illness throughout her childhood, and prone to illness even into adulthood, enabled Sophia to find and create the weaponry she needed not only for the protection and caretaking of Alabama’s children but equally important,  to fight for her own well-being. Sophia has generously shared her stories of struggle and endurance as a young black woman in rural Alabama growing and becoming in the decades that included the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and 70s. Like the child of divorce who is convinced she is the reason her parents parted ways, Sophia blamed the family’s poverty on her sickness and the ever-present need for medical care and carried that guilt around during her childhood and growing years. One gathers from reading her book that Sophia is the mother of daycare overall in Alabama. Fresh out of college, she proceeded to break new ground in this arena as a very young black woman. Working with grassroots women she formulated, educated, and nurtured a politically aware cadre of women owners of childcare centers who would eventually step up to the plate and demand their rightful portion from state and local officials. If you have ever been the recipient of chauvinism, black male chauvinism, or just Deep-South-one-of-a-kind-culturally-embedded chauvinism, practiced by your dear male friends and coworkers — or even if you have yet to experience it — the chapters which include her work with the Alabama State Legislature will galvanize your interest. In her youth,  Sophia experienced the firebombing of her parents’ home and the resulting upheaval to her large family, but she also witnessed the response of neighbors and others who helped her family to adjust and stay on their own land, loyal and steadfastly rooted in rural Redland, Alabama. Similarly, not once in the forty-five years she served as director of FOCAL did Sophia seriously consider giving up. The same passion she expended in her advocacy work was equally matched by the fervor she gave to caretaking and protecting others. Often with a war raging in her own body from a medical condition, she persisted in helping to address the socio-economic needs of her constituency and others in the childcare movement in Alabama. Finding My Own Way is a must-read for young activists, community organizers, childcare advocates, policymakers, politicians, historians, women’s history advocates, almost anyone who is a knowledge seeker. It is especially important if you need to know how to pick up and keep on going when the going gets tough. One senses by the end of Finding My Own Way that Sophia Bracy Harris, although formally retired, has certainly not thrown in the towel; we have not heard the last from her. As the song goes, she is curious enough to believe (she’ll) “…run on, see what the end’s gonna be.”

- Billie Jean Young, Actress, Speaker, Author and Human Rights Activist

This time it’s different - and it’s got to be - as America must choose between a more just society at the twilight of an alleged democratic experiment or a police state targeted toward maintaining the status quo.  This time people of color have seized the high ground as shock troops, leaders and architects of change.  If you want to know how we got here - Sophia Bracy Harris’ Journey to Fullness is a must-read.  One that puts grits in your stomach and grist on the bone.  She grew up in poverty on a cotton farm in rural black belt Alabama, became a vanguard in the first wave to integrate the schools and paid the price of the fire-bombing of her family home and resulting emotional scars. For context, the nation stands at a crossroads with over 6,000 documented lynchings, Jim Crow, and systemic racism.  And a majority white population in utter denial; angry over the fact that demographics mean their diminished superiority - their power, economics and you name it.  Oh, but whites have always feared black empowerment.  They envied their ability to sing, dance, jump higher, run faster, and feared their strength in the face of state-sanctioned terror.   All the while, they failed to understand that, despite the lack of opportunity, people of color possess an innate intelligence and the human experience that gives them an understanding that few in the majority will ever comprehend. Sophia - a pioneer in black and women’s liberation - overcame the boot on her throat.  Through sheer grit, determination, she fought self-doubt, lack of opportunity, the abuses, to become a national leader in the African American and women’s movement. The walls of hate abound.  Modern day lynchings - George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor - expose the wounds. Nationally, calls for an authoritarian-style state gain strength.  Beaten down advocates for the biblical call to love thy neighbor seemed to have gone passively into the night.   We need to understand its origins and the steps needed to reverse its trajectory.  The passion of women and people of color, in leadership positions offers a counterbalance.   And Harris sets the table for a blueprint to self-actualization and a better society.

 - Joe Keffer, Labor Rights Organizer