This letter is a testament to the tangible, quotidian impact Mary Ann Pollar’s Rainbow Sign had in the community as well as an illustration of the organization’s broader political and educational vision made manifest. Indeed, it seems like every initiative advanced by the Rainbow Sign pointed to both the political function of education and the educative nature of politics.
For high school graduate Trumilla Stancil, Mary Ann Pollar’s ability to hold space for Black women’s political organizing among and simultaneously host a breathtaking roster of African American artistic and civic giants might have made the difference between dropping out and receiving a diploma. For Pollar and a generation of adult Black women active in political organizing, it was vitally important to support students and particularly young Black women like Stancil in order to model a coalitional politics based on dignity and mutuality and raise the next generation of artistic and civil leaders in the process.