I can not continue to share bios on women that have impacted me or that I have met. I have had the opportunity to meet Dr. Height before she passed.
"Dorothy Height was one of the most influential women in the civil rights movement. Born on this day in 1912, she joined the National Council of Negro Women at 25 and began a life-long fight for equal rights for both African Americans and women, speaking out against lynching and for reforms to the criminal justice system.
In 1957, Height was appointed president of the National Council of Negro Women, which she led for 40 years. As head of the Council, she instituted a variety of social programs aimed at improving the quality of life of African Americans in the South. Height is also credited with being the first person in the movement to view the problems of equality for women and equality for African Americans as a whole, merging issues that had been historically separate. Her focus on political mobilization was vital for African American women who were not able to engage in politics at a level on par with their white counterparts. A powerful speaker, Height fostered dialogue between black and white women and was an effective mediator during disputes in planning meetings with leaders of varying philosophies. She was the only woman to serve regularly alongside the male leaders of other movement organizations on major projects, forming a bond with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Although she was not featured as a speaker during the March on Washington in 1963, Height was one of the event’s chief organizers and represented the only women’s organization recognized in the March.
For a lifetime spent trying to help people, Dorothy Heights was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Dorothy Height passed away on March 25, 2010 at the age of 98."
“When you're a black woman, you seldom get to do what you just want to do; you always do what you have to do.”
-- Dorothy Height