Most Americans now recognize the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, but fewer know that three women – Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi – founded it, despite a male suggesting otherwise.
This is not the first time that women have led movements for racial justice in this country, nor is it the first time that popular culture presumed leadership of men. In recognition of Women’s History Month, let’s take time to appreciate these rebellious women.
I have certainly met much more discrimination in terms of being a woman than being Black, in the field of politics.”
Shirley Chisholm, 1972
The first African American woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm served from 1969 to 1983, and was part of the founding of the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Women’s Political Caucus. In 1972, she became the first woman to seek the presidential nomination of a major political party as she ran in the Democratic primary.
In her 2018 Washington Post column, Vanessa Williams asserted that, “When [Chisholm] got to Capitol Hill, she challenged institutional customs, pushing her way into spaces that had been the reserve of white men, making friends and enemies on both sides of the aisle by following her own political playbook.” Kwesi Foli added “Chisholm encountered racism, misogyny, and death threats throughout her political career. She had to deal with disdain from black male political leaders. But through it all, she was her own woman, unbought and unbossed, which is why the phrase became her 1972 presidential campaign slogan.” (The Undefeated, January 25, 2017)
Chisholm’s focus on addressing poverty and improving education remains a critical issue 50 years later. Her courage and commitment inspire us, and the limited recognition she receives today reinforced the need for this post.
Despite all too common portrayals of Rosa Parks as a tired older woman, or a deferential one, she was equally unbossed and rebellious.
To get a glimpse of her decades-long commitment to justice, consider this wonderfully succinct summation from Jeanne Theoharis, The Real Rosa Parks Story Is Better Than the Fairy Tale: The way we talk about her covers up uncomfortable truths about American racism (NYT Feb 1, 2021, roughly a 6-7 minute read).
If you want to probe deeper, draw from the following:
- Beyond Members: Women as Anchors of the Movement – Pete DiNardo, March 1, 2018, 90 minutes though can fast-forward through the introductions. The lecture starts with an overview of Rosa Parks and then covers Pauli Murray, Ella Baker, Jo Ann Robinson, Daisy Bates, Dorothy Height, Septima Clark, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer, Anne Braden, Constance Curry, and Joan Browning. Beyond being simply members, women played a substantial role in leading local and regional efforts. This talk traces the contributions of women to the freedom struggle, selecting a few to examine in some depth and then tracing, via brief vignettes a variety of Black and white women from the Movement.
- THE REAL ROSA PARKS AND THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT – with Emilye Crosby (90 minutes) Hassan Jeffries, Episode 9, Season 3, “Teaching Hard History” podcast
“Beyond Rosa”
- Black history is often shunned — like the book I wrote Martha S. Jones, Washington Post, February 9, 2021
- IDEAS: The Black Women Who Paved the Way for This Moment: Today’s protests build on a long tradition of activism. June 9, 2020, The Atlantic, Keisha N. Blain, History professor, University of Pittsburgh
- ‘Vanguard’ Spotlights the Black Women Who Fought for the Vote Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times, September 2, 2020
- We Were the Last of the Nice Negro Girls: In 1968, history found us at a small women’s college, forging our Black identity and empowering our defiance Anna Deavere Smith, The Atlantic March 2021 issue, published February 9, 2021
- Pittsburgh: A ‘Most Livable’ City, but Not for Black Women
- Pittsburgh is the worst place for black women to live in for just about every indicator of livability, says the city’s Gender Equity Commission Brentin Mock, CityLab, September 20, 2019
This opinion article was written by Pete DiNardo, a high school teacher in Mt. Lebanon and founding member of M.O.R.E and its Anti-Racism Education Committee (AREC), and originally published by M.O.R.E on March 12, 2021.
