Mahalia Jackson
(Public domain image.)
The following was submitted by Girls for Gender Equity.
Dear Community,
Today and every day we recognize the many Black women activists part of the Civil Rights Movement who are seldom celebrated.
We remember Mahalia Jackson, who famously shouted “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” during the 1963 March on Washington, which led to Martin Luther King Jr.’s improvisation of including the “I Have a Dream” refrain in his iconic speech. We also recognize Ella Baker, Daisy Bates, Claudette Colvin, and the continuum of Black women whose dedication towards resistance was integral to the Movement:
Ella Baker was an essential figure in the organization of the founding conference of the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Daisy Bates published a weekly paper that advocated for civil rights, known as The Arkansas Press and she was instrumental in desegregating schools in the state immediately after Brown v. Board of Education.
In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin resisted giving up her seat on a crowded Montgomery bus for a white passenger. Claudette not only inspired the planned protest conducted by Rosa Parks later that year, but her testimony in Gayle v. Browder helped to end transportation segregation in Montgomery.
As women with intersecting and overlapping oppressions, Black women were frequently marginalized within the Movement itself—despite these women being true leaders through their roles as organizers, mediators, and vocal advocates in their local communities. So on January 15th, while we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. and his work toward racial equality, we also want to recognize the Black women whose resistance, care, and dedication led the fight toward civil rights.