Talking with Activist Dorothy Irene Height
Trademark stylish hat in place, legs crossed at the ankles just so, Dorothy Height spoke to a campus audience with clarity and the wisdom cultivated after watching -- and helping to shape -- decades of change in America.
Height's appearance, billed as "A Conversation with Dorothy Height" in which she sat opposite Ron Walters and answered questions, was an opportunity for many that couldn't be missed. "It is such an honor to have her here. I left work early&because I wanted to sit up front," said Janice B. White, with the Department of Resident Life.
Nearly 200 people came to the Colony Ballroom last week to hear the 92-year-old Height talk about her civil rights work, the role of women in that struggle and what she thought of today's state of affairs. Walters started by asking Height about her relationship with Mary McCloud Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt, both of whom Height said, "outside of her mother, were the greatest impact on my life."
Bethune's name was mentioned often as Height talked about the example she followed while learning to become a leader. She is probably best known for her 40+ years leading the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Founded in 1935, the NCNW was the first national coalition of black women's organizations dedicated to improving the lives of all women. Height also spent several vital years with the YWCA and was named the first director of its Center for Racial Justice in 1965. She gave another decade to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., as its national president. At one point, she held pivotal roles in all three organizations simultaneously.
No matter what organization she's worked through, Height's focus has been on improving lives, and giving the world positive examples of her fellow African Americans. In response to Bill Moyers' controversial "The Vanishing Family: The Crisis in Black America" that aired on television in 1986, Height did what she said Martin Luther King Jr. exhorted: she "put the people to action on their own behalf" and created the Annual Black Family Reunion celebration. Held on the National Mall, the well-attended and celebratory event observes its 20th anniversary this year.
Walters moved the discussion to the NCNW's international work. The organization has organized a number programs to empower women in Africa. Height says the outreach is a natural extension of NCNW's mission. "The essence of our work is helping people to help themselves. I've learned the importance of our being willing to work with people where they are."
Height's appearance was organized by the Offices of the President and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, with co-sponsorship from the associate provost for equity and diversity, Nyumburu Cultural Center, the University Honors Program and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Kappa Phi Chapter.
Height on:
How young people should learn to be leaders: "You have to be willing to volunteer...knowing that in helping others you find you help yourself." "Take your tasks seriously and yourself more lightly."
Black women: "Don't take yourselves so seriously as being so strong...you have to acknowledge that we have weaknesses and strengths..." "We African American women seldom do just what we want to do, but we always do what we have to do and we know how to get it done."
Advising presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bill Clinton: "I was fortunate to learn a lot from Mary McCloud Bethune on how to deal with powerful people... You cannot sit out until you get the one you'd like to have."
Condoleezza Rice: "Not since Mary Bethune...has an African American woman had the ability to move into the position of secretary of state of the United States. I may not agree with all of her political positions, but it's not for me to judge what she's going to do. But there are very few women of any race who have those qualifications. We have to recognize that."
The National Council of Negro Women's international efforts: "There is no foreign place over there. It's one world. We work with women and their governments, realizing that unless women are involved in it, there is no development."
The nation's efforts at spreading democracy: "To be at the place where we have to work harder to get the vote and get votes counted, how can we expect other countries to [follow our example] if we can't manage our own votes? It's part of the [civil rights] movement's unfinished business."
Her greatest achievement: "In three weeks I'll be 93, and I'm still at it."
http://www.outlook.umd.edu/article.cfm?id=1825
Hybrid Mode
