Black Women in America – Part 35
Jesus Christ is the answer!
Politics is only a tool.
My friends, I almost left this category – Politics – out of my list of Black Female Firsts. My daddy always warned me to avoid discussions of religion, gender, and politics. It is very hard to find anyone you completely agree with. However, there were unjust, ungodly Jim Crow laws in this country that needed to be changed. They were changed legislatively. And so, we should honor the politicians or those who fought in the political realm who worked to change the wrongful discrimination against minorities.
I do not agree with all of the causes of the three women whose stories follow. I am staunchly Pro-life. I believe that the justice and freedom that these women fought for should extend to unborn women. I believe in the biblical covenant of marriage that God set up when He created Adam and Eve.
With that understanding, this week we will honor the work that three women did which resulted in the gradual movement toward justice for minorities even if I cannot subscribe to all of their beliefs.
Coretta Scott King probably could have achieved a high political office had she really wanted to. But she has maintained national and international influence. We will also cover two other Black Female Firsts in politics – Condoleezza Rice, First National Security Advisor, Secretary of State (b. 1934) and Shirley Chisholm – elected to congress (1924-2005).
Coretta Scott King – A Legacy of Leadership (1927-2006),
“Nonviolence is the only credible response to the violence we’re seeing around the world.” Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King is best known as the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coretta became a political leader in her own right after her husband’s assassination. She worked hard to continue his legacy of non-violent social action, but she also worked hard on her own to end injustice to African Americans and all women.
Coretta Scott was born on April 27, 1927, in Alabama. She knew about racial injustice from an early age. She had to walk five miles to attend the elementary school at Heilberger while white students rode the bus. She was the valedictorian of her class in Marion, Alabama and received scholarships toward higher education.
Her mother, Bernice McMurry Scott was musical and encouraged Coretta in her studies. She attended an AME Zion church. Coretta sang in the choir and later studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Music played an important part in her life in the early civil rights movement.
While in school, Coretta met Martin Luther King, Jr., a doctoral candidate. She was not attracted to him at first, but later they started dating and married in 1953. After she graduated they moved to Montgomery Alabama. Martin became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Their church became a center for civil rights activity. Because of the roles they took in the civil rights movement their home became a target for violence. Coretta got used to receiving death threats. Nevertheless, Coretta stayed by her husband’s side throughout his career when she was not at home taking care of their four children.
As we have mentioned before, the civil rights movement largely excluded women from leadership positions. Undaunted, Coretta began to support women’s rights causes. She “lamented how she was too often seen but not heard, admired but not considered in her substance. ‘I am made to sound like an attachment to a vacuum’ … Not simply an accessory of her husband’s, Coretta’s activism complemented and at times led Martin’s politics. Her memorialization as wife and helpmate, and the corresponding backgrounding of her lifelong political commitments, misses the wider critique of social injustice that underlay her life’s work.”[1]
As stated in the introduction, I do not agree with all of the causes she championed, but I think we can still admire her fortitude and courage in the face of the racial and gender prejudice that was leveled against her.
In keeping with our theme of Black Women Firsts – Mrs. King became the first woman to deliver a Class Day address at Harvard. She also became the first woman to preach a statutory service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
After Martin’s death, Coretta founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change to preserve the memory of her husband. In 1982, it was opened to the public. She also led the campaign to have his birthday declared a national holiday. It is celebrated in over 100 countries.
Coretta Scott King suffered a heart attack and stroke in August 2005. She died on January 30, 2006, from complications with ovarian cancer. Her funeral service was televised and lasted eight hours. 14,000 people attended including U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton and most of their wives. Barack Obama who was a senator at the time also attended. She is buried alongside Martin in Atlanta, Georgia.
Shirley Chisholm – First Black Female Elected to Congress (1924-2005)
You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm
“Unbought and Unbossed,” was the campaign slogan of Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm when she ran for president with the Democratic Party in 1968. For those friends who called her “Fighting Shirley” this was very appropriate.
Shirley was the oldest of four daughters born to immigrant parents, Charles and Ruby Seale St. Hill. Her mother had been a seamstress in Barbados and her father a domestic worker in Guyana. When they came to the U.S. they settled in Brooklyn. Shirley proved to be a brilliant student, winning prizes for her debating skills in Brooklyn College. She graduated cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in 1946.
While studying for her master’s degree Shirley taught in a nursery school. This led her to her work for children in day care centers, child welfare, and early education. She got involved in politics when she was advocating for children. She joined the League of Women Voters, the Urban League, and the Democratic Party.
Shirley was elected to the New York General Assembly in 1964. Then in 1968 she campaigned for the House of Representatives to represent Brooklyn’s 12th Congressional District. She was elected and served seven terms until 1983. She made use of her position to champion bills for equal opportunities for employment, improved services for women and children, and she protested the war in Vietnam.
Though I appreciate her courageous fight for freedom, I am sorry to say she did not think equal rights included unborn women. Today we know that black babies are especially targeted by Planned Parenthood for abortion. The vast majority of abortion vendors are set up in minority neighborhoods. I wonder what Shirley might say today in recognition of the fact of Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood) tied eugenics to racism?
In 1972, Shirley was the first black woman to seek the democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. Like Dorothy Height and other prominent black women during this era, Shirley recognized that she faced a “double handicap” as both black and female. But she did not let these obstacles stand in her way as she was determined to pave the way for others. Though she was underfinanced, and the predominantly male Congressional Black Caucus constantly opposed her she managed to garner 10% of the vote.
After retirement from Congress in 1983, Shirley taught at Mount Holyoke College. She cofounded the National Political Congress of Black Women. In 1991 she moved to Florida. In 1993 President Bill Clinton nominated her to be the ambassador to Jamaica, but she had to decline due to poor health. She was however inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame that year.
In her latter years her health declined. She suffered several strokes in 2004. She passed away on January 1, 2005, at her home in Florida. She left a tremendous legacy of educational and governmental service. In November 2015, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Shirley the Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House.
Condoleezza Rice, First National Security Advisor, Secretary of State (b. 1954)
“… you can come from humble circumstances and you can do great things.” Condoleezza Rice
Most of us remember Condoleezza Rice as the first black female U. S. Secretary of State (2005-2009). But Condoleezza was a first in other areas including the first African American woman provost of Stanford University (1993-1999) and the first black female national security advisor (2001-2005).
Condoleezza was born in Birmingham, Alabama on November 14, 1954. Her parents, Angelena Rice and Rev. John Wesley Rice were educators. Though many were discouraged by the Jim Crow laws and institutionalized racism, her parents encouraged Condoleezza to strive for the excellence for which they knew she was capable.
Condoleezza was also a gifted writer, educator, scholar, athlete, and musician. She began piano lessons when she was only three years old. She was a figure skater. Though she eventually ended up in politics, she maintained an interest in music and sports. Condoleezza was an avid reader and student, and she received exceptional grades in school.
Her playmate, Denise McNair and three other young girls were killed in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. This had a profound effect on Condoleezza and her family.
When she attended the University of Denver, she abandoned her dream of being a concert pianist and turned to international studies. She obtained her bachelor’s degree and then went on the get a master’s degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame. She received her PhD from the School of International studies at the Unvirility of Denver.
Later Condoleezza pursued an academic fellowship at Stanford University. It was here that she became the first African American female provost. She quickly became recognized as an exceptional scholar. She specialized in Soviet studies and foreign relations. This along with her fluency in Russian led to her appointment as first black female national security advisor.
Condoleezza became highly sought after as a political expert in foreign affairs. As Secretary of State under the Bush administration, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States to be in the presidential line of succession. Condoleezza championed democracy. She traveled extensively to other countries as a diplomat for the Bush administration.
When asked about her stance on abortion, Condoleezza replied that the issue was not a political one and declined to give her opinion. It is tragic that she did not use her power and influence to help unborn babies. I am sad that God allowed these women to get into high office where they could have done so much but left it undone.
Condoleezza never married. She maintained her relationship with Stanford University for over thirty years where she taught. She has written a number of books and articles and obtained many honorary degrees. She still practices the piano and sometimes plays with a chamber music group.
Conclusion
These women can be appreciated for their perseverance in the fight for a better life for minorities. After many posts I often say that the women left a great legacy that should be emulated by young women. Sadly, I cannot say that I want my granddaughters to look to these women as ones that they can emulate in all ways.
[1] By Jeanne Theoharis in the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/03/coretta-scott-king-extract
