When six-year-old Oveta Glover looked across her Charleston street, she did not understand why she could not swing on the school playground on the other side. For three years, her parents worked to open the elementary to her and other African American children. Oveta and her family endured slurs, intimidation, and threats of violence so intense that the children had to move from the city for a time. In August 1963, Oveta Glover walked into the school with her father, who held her hand and reminded her to “square your shoulders.”

Today, she recounts her experience and why that moment still matters.