Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Shirley McClerklin-Motley
Hi Dr. Shirley, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I had many obstacles against me. My mother died when I was 9 years old and the oldest of the four younger children. We were relocated to Harlem, NY. Needless to say, we got into everything imaginable. However, the very people who some avoid decided to become my extended family. They made sure I stayed in school because they all said that I didn’t belong on the street. When I was 14 years old I was well on my way to becoming an alcoholic. Had it not been for God putting people in my life who actually threatened to “kick the s–t out of me the next time I was seen roaming the streets, I don’t know what I would have ended up doing. Although I was an adolescent, I had so much anger in my heart against God because I blamed him for my mother’s death. However, I never forgot my mother’s teachings and eventually took them to heart. You see, she was adamant about all of us staying in school, and after so much turmoil I heeded her words. After graduating high school I became pregnant and got married. It was the worst mistake of my life!! My husband was abusive, and we lived a life of domestic terrorism. Eventually, I got the courage to leave him and relocated to South Carolina. When I got there, someone reported me to the Department of Social Services as an unfit mother because we were homeless and the report said that I was abusive. Praise God, he delivered me from that. I didn’t attend college until I was 37 years old. I majored in social work and was on the Dean’s list. I was also on two national honor societies. I moved on to receive my Masters Degree and received a Minority Fellowship. Next, I completed my Ph.D, in Human Services and a specialization in Social and Community Services. I never forgot my tumultuous childhood, and spent my entire adult life helping children and adolescents. I worked at the SC Department of Social Services as a Program Director. The door was opened for me to help set up a Bachelor of Social Work Program at a university in Hartsville, SC, and ultimately, I became Department Chair. I was fortunate to pass a Secret Service Clearance, and was one of two professors chosen from South Carolina to attend the Affordable Care Act Hearing at the White House. When I retired, it was impressed in my heart to write a Biblical Commentary about the Book of Revelation. The first volume entitled Reflections and Musings From the Book of Revelation: The Age of Apocalypse Volume 1. I am presently working on volume 2, which should be sent to the publisher in December 2024. I have received many awards during the course of my life, and there was a story published about me and others being a 2024 Whose Who Among Professionals in the Wall Street Journal. I also received the 2024 Whose Who Distinguished Humanitarian Award for my work with children in the United States and Sierra Leone, Africa.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As previously stated, the road most certainly has not been smooth. My children and I were homeless and destitute. Without a college degree, it soon became obvious that I would not be able to care for them and keep them together. When I was in school, I had to attend at night because I was working two jobs. There were times when I was up for days without any sleep between juggling work, parenthood, and school. Sometimes I had to study by candle light because we had no electricity. I had to walk to the gas station and fill jars with water to flush the toilet and wash up because the water had been turned off. One year all we had to eat from Christmas to New Year was a pack of ham flavored beans and a red velvet cake that a lady from the church gave us. When we did get a place to live, there was no furniture. Although we got food stamps, there were no pots, plates, or cutlery. My husband never paid any child support or alimony. Each time the court found him, he quit his job and moved. My oldest daughter had to watch her younger siblings while I worked and went to school. Some people criticized me for leaving my children alone while attending night classes. There were no online classes during that time, and if there were, I did not have access to a home computer.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I began as an administrative assistant. After receiving my BSW, I began working for a non-profit agency while working on my MSW, which I earned as an Advanced Standing student ranking fifth in my class. My field supervisor was a director at the Department of Social Services, and offered me a job as a program director I, which I took!!! Later, I was promoted and ultimately began doing Targeted Case Management in the county offices. One day I received a call from my former supervisor and she offered me a job teaching full time. She was implementing a new BSW program and wanted me to assist her because she knew that I was proficient in research. We completed the self-study and the BSW program was implemented. In turn, I became a member of the accreditation organization’s site team and conducted site visits at colleges and universities seeking initial or reaccreditation. I was promoted to the Program Director of the BSW program, and ultimately promoted to Department Chair for five years. I helped organize international travel and teach courses on international social work in Cuernavaca, Mexico and London, England. I have lectured at numerous colleges and universities. I am a researcher, and one of the things that I am most proud of is the research done on domestic sex trafficking of minors with social workers in South Carolina and the replication of this research in North Carolina. I am most proud of my children’s success because they defeated the statistical odds. My youngest daughter is a Chiropractor, my oldest daughter has a D.Ed, my middle daughter has two Masters degrees, and my son is an electrician. Without the presence of a dad in their lives, living with a single mother, living in poverty, and being without so many of life’s necessities, God helped them defeat the odds.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as never, ever, giving up. Never accepting any of the negative, vitriolic things others say to you. Never allowing yourself to buy in to the stigma associated with poverty. Success is getting a good education even if the resources are not there. Success is never complaining about life and allowing life to live you, but you must live life and always have more than one plan of action. Success is saying to yourself on a daily basis “I am MORE than a conqueror!”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shirleymcclerklinmotley.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheHoneyInTheRock
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHoneyInTheRock
- LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/shirley-mcclerklin-motley-ph-d-137429b0
- Youtube: https://www.YouTube.com/TheHoneyInTheRock476
