BLACK FAMILY REUNION FOUNDER
Dr. Dorothy Height
“My 97-year-old is feeling 97 today,” said Tony on March 9, nine days before Dr. Height was admitted into the Howard University Hospital and two weeks before her 98th birthday.
Dr. Height had canceled all of her other appointments that day, but this 4 o’clock meeting had slipped her mind. She decided to go ahead and meet with the first-year students from the Howard University School of Communications’ Annenberg Honors Program and their professor, Hazel Trice Edney, editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service.
Although not feeling well, once the “Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement” was rolled into the conference room of the National Council of Negro Women, the eager faces and pointed questions seemed to give her new energy. This writer and the communications students meticulously documented the historic moment in their class journals – not knowing that it would be the last. Dr. Height died in April at the age of 98.
“Sitting in the same room with Dr. Height was, in and of itself, an awesome experience,” writes Janae’ Martin. “I felt like she had so much wisdom, and it flowed from her mind naturally, smoothly like it only can from a person who has applied that wisdom continuously throughout her life.”
Wearing a purple suit and her matching trademark hat, Dr. Height was especially passionate about making sure the ladies in the class were empowered with the self-esteem they would need to withstand pressures in a society still largely run by males. She shared heavily from her experience of having served amidst male-dominated civil rights leadership, which included her “big six” peers - A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, and now U. S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).
She spoke fondly, even reverently, of the men and women that she served alongside, noting that they always respected her mind though the social order of the day was to exclude women’s public participation in some activities.
Student Chanice Brown outlined this advice that Dr. Height gave on how to move to the front lines. “It is not self-serving. You are not there as Susie Q. You have a voice. I never failed to speak up,” Brown quoted Dr. Height in her journal. “Lose your distance if you think your presence means something. We have to be there on whatever the subject is.”
On how to gain respect, even from those who are oppressing you, Dr. Height continued, “I never liked to be the weak lady. I do my homework. I get my homework done so I don’t feel inferior or unprepared … Women on the quest for equality can’t be wimpy or wishy washy.”
Dr. Height told how 20 women gathered and wanted a woman speaker at the March on Washington. But, the men did not allow it.
“They claimed that it was not a women’s rights issue, it was a civil rights issue,” read Janae’ Martin’s journal entry quote of Dr. Height. “For this reason, Dorothy and the women in the quest of equality made sure that they got a seat on the stage during the event. ‘Know when and how to make your cause clear,’” she advised us. “‘Unity does not mean uniformity.’”
Height recalled the ceremony that day, and that the only woman’s voice was Mahalia Jackson singing the National Anthem.
Later, she shared her first encounter with Dr. King.
“I met Dr. King when he was 15 at dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Mays (Benjamin Mays, then president of Morehouse College) … Dr. King was trying to figure out what he wanted to become. Law… Divinity… He had analyzed the fields. You never know when you’re talking to people who they are going to become,” Dr. Height recalled.
She said her most important social skill was the ability to listen to people from all walks of life with genuine interest.
“Therefore, she was able to learn from both the ‘powerful and the poor,’” noted Martin in her journal. “She told us to control our biases, even for people who give you a hard time. Also, she never shied away from a big job or a big task. Mostly, she said her biggest advantage was just being comfortable with herself, who she is, and her abilities.”
Kylee Coney quoted what Dr. Height shared as her greatest lesson for life: “The greatest accomplishment is that I found a purpose. And I’m still working on it.”
(This story is by Hazel Trice Edney, NNPA Editor-in- Chief, and students of Howard University’s Annenberg Honors Program.)
