Yesterday Dr. Dorothy Height passed away at the age of 98. Now the sad thing about this is that a nice majority of those reading this probably don't even know who I am talking about.
Dr. Dorothy Height was like the Big Mama of the Civil Rights movement. Family, this woman was beyond amazing. She served as the president of the well respected National Council of Negro Women for over 40 years. This woman was truly a trailblazer. She was one of the fighting voices behind the integration of the YWCA and the implementation of better programs to help cater to young women and children.
Dr. Height was not all talk either, she was accepted into Barnard but when they told her , "O sorry we met our black quota" she simply said well okay and didn't let that stop her and ended up going to NYU..(shout out to NYU & NYU-Poly). She earned both her Bachelors and Master's degree in Social work from there.
And don't get it twisted please understand that Dr. Height fought as much for the rights of Blacks as she did for the rights of women general. She had to go up against opposition by some of our own famous African-American leaders such as Bayard Rustin.
See ya'll gotta understand being Black is hard enough. And being a Black female was even harder because females in general were considered to be below men on the whole structure of life at the time. In my opinion it went like
White Male---> White Female---->Black Male----> Black Female
But hey feel free to speak otherwise... Either way Dr. Height always kept it moving straight to the top and maintained her poise and grace doing so..She always supported what she believed was right and ALWAYS stood by her opinions and what was right. As if helping in the progression of the Civil Rights movement and equality for women was not enough, she even served as the National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
So ladies and gents, this woman was no joke! Some of the opportunities I have as a Black female can be related to her work as an activist of equality and social justice. Be grateful everyone and I hope I blessed ya'll with some real knowledge today.
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