Sheila Sanders
“Some people were leaders, but they weren’t obvious leaders. They were quiet leaders, people who were independent and didn’t have to depend on somebody for their income.”
Jackson and Rivers joined Sanders and Dr. Edward E. James II as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the City of Sarasota. They successfully pushed for single member district voting that opened the way for African American representation on the Sarasota City Commission.
Sheila Sanders has a sweet smile but don’t mistake it for weakness. She organized a boycott of Sarasota Federal Bank as a third grader at Booker Elementary School. At that time, her class learned money management by filling out savings deposit slips for their pennies, dimes and nickels, but the students could not take tours of the bank as children from other schools. Sanders persuaded her classmates to send deposits to Palmer Bank where they could tour. Her actions foreshadowed future activism. The teenager proactively participated in the NAACP accompanying leaders John Rivers and Maxine Mays to local and state meetings. Sanders learned about the political process by reviewing the agenda of school board meetings and attended the meetings by taking the city bus. “Some things won’t be said just because you’re sitting there. I learned I didn’t have to concern myself with ‘being as good as,’ by sitting and listening. I was already better.”
