Freedom’s Sisters Get their Due

Black women’s contributions to this nation have been largely obscured and rendered nearly obsolete in history books.

 But the truth of the matter is that without Ida B. Wells fighting the lynching of black people, without Harriet B. Tubman’s efforts of freeing the slaves, without Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm being unbought and unbossed and without Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, this country would not have progressed the way it has.

 Those are just a few names of women doing their thing without fear of consequences. They made it happen. On the other hand, you have Coretta Scott King serving as the quiet strength behind Dr. Martin Luther King.

Fannie Lou Hamer got tired of being sick and tired of black people not having a say at the voting polls.Myrlie Evers-Williams kept the civil rights flame burning, despite the murder of her husband, the late Medgar Evers.

 The uncompromising Dr. Sonia Sanchez took political activism to another level. Dorothy Height was the unsung icon in both the women and civil rights struggles. There are thousands of stories powerful black women sacrificing their lives for the betterment of their people, forcing change within a society that has been reluctant to progress and equality.

 A national traveling exhibition on these individuals and so many other black women who have made an impact in their communities and this country is finally giving them their due.

The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles is the latest stop for the monumental exhibition, which will be displayed prominently through the first week in January. The exhibit aptly called Freedom’s Sisters, highlights the legacy and the work of 20 black women. Made possible by a grant donated by the Ford Motor Company, Freedom’s Sisters also salutes living legends such as former Black Panther insider Kathleen Cleaver, Sanchez and Evers-Williams.

The opening night of the exhibit opening turned out to be a success as celebrities such as actors Blair Underwood and Holly Robinson Peete and talk show host Kevin Frazier came out to salute the many iconic women who have left an imprint on world. Besides Underwood, Robinson-Peete and Frazier, the daughters of Malcolm X and Dr. Ralph Abernathy (Donzaleigh Abernathy) and came out and supported the event as well.

“These are sisters who had to do more with so much less,” said Robinson Peete. “Whenever I am around sister Myrlie…She always makes me raise the bar for myself. I feel like I can do more, be better.

“I am always challenged by women like the Harriet Tubmans, like the Myrlie Evers (Williams), because these are women, who, at a time when everything was against them, they excelled and they made a difference. I think we lose sight of that these days.” 

The Freedom’s Sisters exhibit also honors 43 local women making a difference, including Los Angeles Times reporter Sandy Banks, newscaster Pat Harvey, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, sculptor Artis Lane and attorney Constance Rice. The women honored are considered to be pioneers and leaders for social change, being at the forefront of fighting discrimination and racism, battling injustice and climbing over the walls of inequality.

What’s even more engaging about the exhibit, designed for educational purposes, is that the young people have a direct way of connecting themselves to the past. Students in the fourth through eighth grade can participate in an essay contest that will generate $10,000 to all winning entries. The only catch is the essay must state what the student is doing to follow in the footsteps of the Freedom’s Sisters.

This is what bridging the past to the future is all about. Sanchez, widely known for her brilliant poetry and her involvement in the Black Arts Movement, taught the first African American studies class in the country. During a questions and answer session with the media, Sanchez, responding to a reporter’s question, said black Americans need to get back what they used to do to provoke change. 

“What we’ve all got to do, my brother, which we have moved away from, is push up for peace and activism,” Sanchez said. “We need to be sitting in the Congress where these people act a fool. We need to do what we used to do. We elected this president (President Barack Obama) and [think] everything is okay. It’s not okay.”

Dennis J. Freeman

Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com