Tyeesha Aiken: Not Grassroots, but from the mud
Organizing in Rural South Carolina
The term grassroots doesn’t quite fit as a description for the kind of work Tyeesha Aiken does down in Colleton County, South Carolina. A veteran, a farmer, a mother and a survivor, this homegrown heroine fights to ensure that her community receives the most basic of necessities, such as access to broadband internet and adequate school meals. Throughout her fight, her activism has remained wonderfully gritty. Tyeesha’s social justice advocacy requires her to roll up her sleeves, to walk miles and miles of country dirt roads. If you take that roadtrip to meet her, in a town called Ruffin, no less, you’ll notice that the streets are lined with a number of quaint, modestly outfitted homes and businesses. You’ll also notice a not-so-modest Confederate flag flying from an old government building. This part of the Palmetto State is not unlike many others. Which means its history of doling out its share of race-based, economic violence and inequity provides activists like Tyeesha with a specific kind of skill set. One that enables her to masterfully outwit and out work those hellbent on using some of the dirtiest tricks white supremacy often employs.
“So if you’re searching for a way to describe her work, it isn’t grassroots. It’s ‘out the mud’.”
Nearly each day Tyeesha takes to Facebook Live and connects her fellow community members with an outline of that day’s latest news. She’s ½ activist, ½ citizen journalist. A dedicated notetaker, Ms. Aiken keeps a daily record of current events. Gathering the details of an important legal case, local initiative or key political race, she dispenses information with no filter and usually with the hashtag #staywoke. It’s this honest, no-frills commentary that has helped her earn the trust of so many. Her signature candor is like a bridge between the information her followers want to know and a chance at achieving some semblance of justice. Tyeesha’s pursuit of equity for Ruffin is largely framed by her lived experience. Bone breaking experiences. Yes! - -her personal story of survival and self-sacrificing activism can literally be described as bone breaking.
While fighting for more recreational spaces for local kids to enjoy, Tyeesha and her family spent time carefully surveying a “new” blacktop basketball court that local officials had finally constructed. While playing with her son on the basketball court, its new, but, shoddy uneven surface gave way. Tyeesha subsequently tripped and fell so hard that she broke numerous teeth and suffered a number of scrapes and bruises. For her, this was just another painful reminder of just how much, or how little, those charged with governing her town cared for her community. The glaring lack of effort put into providing the most basic of needs for the kids of Ruffin is consistent with how this area is maintained by its elected officials.
Like with the countless confrontations Tyeesha has had with the powers that be in Colleton County, she was able to recover from her fall with the support of, who else, but the community she serves. She’s a servant leader and people powered. During a recent Black Lives Matter rally she coordinated at the old Colleton County Courthouse, Tyeesha expressed an interest in running for a seat on her local school board. She was met by a roaring support by those in attendance. Whether she throws her hat into the proverbial political ring or not, Ms. Aiken is already a part of the change her area needs. She’s been loyal to the soil throughout her fight for justice. She’ll likely benefit greatly from it.