Height still pushing for Blacks, women's progress
Pharoh Martin/NNPA National Correspondent
Issue date: 9/27/09 Section: Cover
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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.
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