Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last week, I came before this body to speak of the loss of a great leader from Memphis, TN, by the name of Benjamin Hooks. It is with a heavy heart that I come to the floor of the Senate again for the loss of a distinguished American. Early this morning, our Nation lost a strong leader and a great civil rights pioneer. I ask my colleagues to join me for a moment in reflecting upon the leadership, passion, and selfless dedication that defined the highly consequential life of Ms. Dorothy Height. She began her career in the 1930s as a teacher in Brooklyn, NY. She became active in the United Christian Youth Movement shortly after it was founded. It was this cause that would first carry her to national leadership, though she was quite a young lady at the time. In 1938, Dorothy was selected by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to help plan a World Youth Conference. She rose to this task with poise and determination and made a strong impression on the First Lady. Later, Dorothy was asked to serve as a delegate to the World Congress on Life and Work of the Churches. Also, in 1938, she was hired by the YWCA and quickly began to rise through the ranks of the national organization. It was around this time that she caught the attention of Mary McLeod Bethune, founding president of the National Council of Negro Women, or NCNW, who recruited young Dorothy to join the fight for women's rights, one of the central issues that would become the cause of her life.…”