PROGRAM SUCCESS – MAY 2010
PAGE 37
REMEMBERING ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN OF ALL TIME
Dr. Dorothy Irene Height
By Roy Paul
Guest Columnist
North and the South to come together and form
alliances.
Dorothy Height is one of the most powerful people in
American history. Her influence on national policy and
civil rights impacted generations from 1930 to 2010 and
will continue to
impact
future
generations. She
met
with
Presidents
Franklin
D.
Roosevelt
to
Barack Obama as
well as advised
President Dwight
Eisenhower
to
desegregate
schools
and
President Lyndon
B. Johnson to
appoint African
American women
to
government
positions.
Dr. Height also worked as a social worker in the 1930’s
helping to resolve riots in Harlem. She played a vital
role in the advancement of school desegregation, voting
rights and workplace equality. Essentially, she helped
American history
get to where it is
today - social
justice
and
equality for all
Americans.
How does Dr.
Height’s pursuit
of social justice
and
equality
impact
my
generation and
y o u n g e r
generations?
Besides
the
obvious privilege
of the right to
vote, pursuit of
higher education,
While the names
w i d e r
of Rosa Parks
and Dr. Martin In this March 14, 2008 file photo, Dorothy Irene Height, sits in opportunities in
Luther King, Jr. front of her featured story board inside the “Freedom’s Sisters” m a n y
professional
are recognizable exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati.
fields, we are
all over the (AP Photo/David Kohl)
free to choose
world,
Dr.
how we live our
Height was on
lives. Because of Dr. Height’s unwavering passion and
the front lines of the Civil Rights movement and
commitment to equality and social justice, she will
Women’s Liberation movement decades earlier. She
always be remembered.
helped the African American community become more
independent.
Beyond being President of the National Council of
Negro Women, Dr. Height was on the national staff of
the YWCA as well as served as the national President of
Delta Sigma Theta. She established hands-on programs
including “Wednesdays in Mississippi” that created
opportunities for black and white women from the
Roy Paul is a youth political commentator, speaker and
analyst. He graduated with a BA in May 2010 from Queens
College in Queens, New York. Paul has been quoted in the
Mid Hudson Valley News and Times Herald. He is available
for interviews, quotes, bylined-articles, and speaking
engagements on political commentary, education issues, and
pop-culture. For all inquiries, please contact Roy’s publicist
at [email protected].