Voting Does Count

Abstract

This short article tells the story of Esau Jenkins and his fight to register voters in Charleston-an effort which eventually carried him all over South Carolina and the United States. Esau Jenkins's formal education stopped at the fourth grade, but he never stopped learning or trying to change things for the better. When he realized that many of the merchants to whom he sold Johns Island produce were Greek, he learned enough Greek to salute them in their own language as he dealt with them. Possessed of a restless, questioning mind, Esau Jenkins was often heard to ask about practically everything, from changing a tire to devising means of combating obdurate racism, How can we make this work? Esau Jenkins ran for the school board and almost won. There was never another election. He was later appointed to the board, and presently Ms. Septima Clark occupies that position. Esau Jenkins, Ms. Alice Wine, Mr. Jesse Buncum, and several others formed the cooperative which was known as the Progressive Club. With training received at Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, people began to seek and find solutions to their own problems within the community. Oppo-