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Soar With the Angels, Dorothy Irene Height (3.24.1912—4.20.2010)
Black women are the backbone of every institution, but sometimes they are not recognized as even being there, even in the civil rights movement.
There was a myth across the South that the only two free people were the white male and the black woman, and that black women had better chances at jobs. Well, that was because they scrubbed floors.
We've got to work to save our children and do it with full respect for the fact that if we do not, no one else is going to do it. We're not going to allow ourselves to be told that we cannot function, that we dysfunction.
Frederick Douglass said, 'In the struggle for justice, the only reward is the opportunity to be in the struggle." You can't expect that you're going to have it tomorrow. You just have to keep working on it.
—National Council of Negro Women President and Chair Emeritus Dorothy Height in her own words, as excerpted from I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America, by Brian Lanker
Today, we lost the backbone, our spine—an angel who's sole concern was standing up for us and our babies when, it seemed, no one else would. With a strong voice. No fear. Lots of mettle. And God by her side.
Soar with the angels, Dorothy Height. Activist. Feminist. Leader. Visionary. Beautiful. And loved.
Posts
Thank you for an enlightening post. I learned something about someone I did not know of until today.
ReplyDeleteI related to your words on what women do for their children. Thanks for dispensing with the myth about black women. In the UK this myth still exists but as you put it, women do what they have to do because they are not going to wait on anyone else to do what needs to be done for their children. Respect!
She will rest in peace and God will say "Job well done my good and faithful servant".
ReplyDeleteThank you Denene for introducing me to someone that I didn't know about until today. I'll be doing some research on her asap. Rest in peace beautiful lady! I'm sure you had something to do with why this brown butterfly can hold her head that much higher now and let the world see a piece of me in all my glory...thanks for always having our back.
ReplyDeleteBTW... great post yesterday Denene( I just read it this morning). While I was reading it I felt and heard so many black women voices mingled with yours. I'm 32 years old and I have finally just learnt how to appreciate my curves. I too feel like having my 2 little brown girls gave me that push I needed to exhale in all my black woman loveliness.Our curves are beautiful, we just have to take care of them and yes that does mean working out and eating right most of the time :)
i am what i am because she did what she did. thanks dorothy for answering God's call.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, she is a fine example of Purpose Fulfilled when it comes to really utilizing God's breath in us while on earth. She makes me proud to know her name.
ReplyDeleteMy sweet sweet Soror. There aren't very many who were alive before it all began. Dr. Height most definitely was a WOMAN to be proud of and on top of that, she was a black woman who did all she did given the limitations folks attempted to put on her due to the color of her skins and her gender. She will be forever missed.
ReplyDelete