Week 4: Women’s History Month
When I was 20 years old, I headed east to Washington, DC in search of Dorothy, the incomparable Dorothy Height. I believe I’d paid something like $5 for a student membership in The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), and I wanted to see how my money was being spent. After all, I’d heard her say directly to me (and the hundreds of other black women at a luncheon) that the doors of the NCNW were always open.
So, I marched my young behind to 1318 Vermont Avenue Northwest, dressed in blue jeans, sneakers, a tee and a windbreaker, unashamed and asking to speak with Dr. Height. She wasn’t there, but her representatives were and within an hour I’d volunteered to be a part of a court intervention program for teen delinquents though I was a conviction away from being a delinquent. And I’d serve as a volunteer in that capacity for a few more years.
That’s what kind of impression Dr. Height left with me. And she continues to leave an impression.
Marcia Wade’s article on BlackEnterprise.com, NCNW, Ashley Stewart Campaign to Empower Black Women, Girls, is accompanied by a photograph of Dr. Height (Chair/President Emerita, NCNW) at a press conference in her trademark hat and discussing NCNW’s continued commitment to mentoring young girls and women. The brilliance of the campaign is that 1800 women of all colors joined the NCNW to support the program and also receive significant discounts with the retail chain, Ashley Stewart. (Click HERE to learn more about the campaign and support it.)
NCNW has now relocated to 633 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, not far from the White House but even closer to the spot where two slave sisters, Emily and Mary Edmonson, boarded a schooner to escape slavery. The Edmonson sisters were the muses for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. And in the words of Dr. Height, “it seems providential that we stand today on the shoulders of our ancestors with an opportunity to claim this site and sustain a strong presence for freedom and justice.”
March 24 is Dr. Height’s 97th birthday. I take off my hat to her.
Best, Robin
Robin Caldwell
[...] Community Service, Dorothy Height, NCNW, Robin Caldwell, We Are Listening | March 24 was Dorothy Height’s 97th birthday. To celebrate our living legend, who is the president emerita of the National [...]
Serve & Celebrate « BLACK paPR Report
March 25, 2009 at 6:26 am
Dr. Dorothy Height is a woman to be admired for sure! It sounds like she has experienced the struggles of educational inequality firsthand but in the wonderful way of women, keeps hope alive by focusing on change.
Adria Richards, ButYoureAGirl.com
March 26, 2009 at 7:24 pm