Height still pushing for Blacks, women's progress

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Dr. Dorothy Height sits demurely in an office chair that seems more like a throne as it swallows her 97-year-old frame. Yet, her legacy is overwhelming.The living icon of civil rights history still comes to work every day in her spacious office that sits in the vista of the U.S. Capitol on Washington's famed Pennsylvania Avenue. It's the headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women of which she is chair and president emerita.

And she maintains regular work hours, running the day-to-day operations and contacting major fundraisers of the four million member organization that advocates on issues of African-American women. She's been heading it since 1957.

In an interview with the NNPA News Service, Height talked about how she cares for herself, issues of the day, and her vision for the future.

"While I haven't taken the best care of myself, I haven't abused myself either, Height chuckles in her purple dress and matching church hat. "I think part of it is that I've always had a positive outlook and a sense of purpose in life. I was asthmatic as a child and, even at that time, they didn't think that I could grow to be 16. And here I am at 97. I think it is, I tried to keep active and study and move ahead. I think working with people has helped me."

That has been a lot of work. Her office is like a shrine to everything she's contributed to society. Like many offices of accomplished executives, her desk is an organized clutter, overrun with stacks of paper, books, a Washington Post, event souvenirs and other items mailed to her as gifts.

There is no computer, just a telephone - and awards everywhere. There's a display case dedicated to all things Delta Sigma Theta, her sorority, which she once served as national president (1946-1957).

Among her major awards is the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest citizen award in the nation. There is also the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom From Want Award, a Congressional Gold Medal, and the coveted Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. She's also been enshrined in the National Women's Hall of Fame. She interprets it all with one word purpose.

"That purpose means you have some sense God put you here to do something," Height says. _Once you start on something you discover that's your life's work. That's very different from having a job or a position or an office.

Often called "godmother of the women's movement," Height is now focusing on the rising incarceration of African-American women. "I'm working hard on that," she said.

Height is concerned that girls are going into the criminal justice system at a rate higher than boys, many going in for serious crimes and some leaving children behind. "Those are the mothers of the future," Height said. "If you look at that pattern, you can't feel hope for the future."

She wants to use NCNW's broad reach to organize women all across the country to mentor young girls. "I owe a lot to my early childhood and youth the opportunity to be a part of organizations and groups," she said. I think that's what is needed today."

Height's dream is to see more African-American women take leadership and trailblazing roles. Of the Big Six civil rights leaders, A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Whitney Young, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, and John Lewis Dr. Height was the only peer not allowed to speak during the 1963 March on Washington simply because she was a woman.

Today, Height is treated as civil rights royalty, receiving standing ovations and enthusiastic applause just about everywhere she goes. She says that the present generation must continue the work of those that came before.

"We simply have to keep going; realizing that we have to keep working to open the doors that need to be opened," she said. "Today, one of our problems as a people is that so many of the present generation go through the open doors but they don't know how they got opened. We have to help this generation understand how those doors got opened and why they cannot rest until they've got them fully opened.

We have a generation that has to learn how to tackle issues of the day and do it in such a fashion that it builds more sense of community and strength. We build on our history to make tomorrow a better day for our children. We have to be prepared for this day. That's what is so great about Barack Obama. He was prepared for this day and he's showing it everyday.