"In her memoir, Dr. Height reflects on a life of service and leadership. We witness her childhood encounters with racism in her hometown of Rankin, Pennsylvania; the thrill of New York college life during the Harlem Renaissance; and her first battles as a young welfare caseworker during the Depression. We see her march through Times Square in protest against lynchings. We sit with her onstage as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech. We meet the extraordinary people she knew intimately throughout the decades: W. E. B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, Adam Clayton Powell Sr. , Langston Hughes, W. C. Handy, and many others. And we watch as she leads the National Council for Negro Women for forty-one years, working tirelessly to join people in the women's movement to those in Civil Rights Movement. " "After the fierce battles of the 1960s, Dr. Height focuses her attention on troubled black communities. She devotes her energies to organizing and educating at the grassroots, fighting to combat rural poverty, educate about AIDS, discourage teenage pregnancy, and promote black family values. In 1994, her efforts are officially recognized. Along with Rosa Parks, she receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton. "--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
