July 13, 2014
Rise Up Again
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
(TriceEdneyWire.com) – I come from a long line of women who rose up to meet the challenges of their time. My mother rose to the challenge of rearing 9 children after my 11th birthday without the benefit of our father in our home. Daddy left my mother with stair step babies, but she never made excuses for not being able to provide for us. At the age of 92, she is still there for all of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren! On her birthday last year 57 of us showed up for the celebration. This past Mothers’ Day, about the same number showed up to honor her because she has always risen to the occasion for us. Raising 9 children caused her a lot of pain as she struggled to give us opportunities she never had, but she did it anyway.
I met Dr. Dorothy I. Height when I was 17, and I continued to go to her for advice up to the time she passed away. I knew she was always one who rose up for our community. She challenged us to do what was necessary as she taught us, “We Black women don’t always do what we want to do, but we always do what we have to do.” It was true when she said it. It’s still true today.
Fannie Lou Hamer rose up for us knowing it might cost her life (and it almost did) when she went down to that court house in Mississippi to register to vote. When confronted by her boss for doing so, she just told him, “I didn’t do this for you. I did this for myself” and the rest of her story is history.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett rose up when she could no longer take the lynching of her people. She paid dearly, but she knew that was possible when she spoke out against that horrible practice—yet she did it anyway.
Rosa Parks rose up for our right to be treated with dignity on public transportation. Thanks to her we can ride any bus today to get where we need to go. She understood the risks, but she did it anyway.
Sojourner Truth rose up to help all women gain the right to vote, while working against brutal slavery. When on a mission for her people, she feared no one. She was the first Black woman to sue a white man who stole her child. She knew this act was dangerous, but she did it anyway and won her case.
Harriett Tubman rose up to lead many of her people out of slavery. She returned many times to get more and led them safely to freedom. Every trip carried dangers, but she went anyway.
I could go on about Black women who rose up for us, but now it’s time to look to the future with a new group of women rising up as these women did. We are faced with one of the most critical elections in history. We have a lot to lose if we don’t rise up to make a difference. Black women always make a huge difference in elections. When we vote, we vote in the best interest of our communities—but we must challenge more to get involved before November 4, 2014. We must help in getting someone registered to vote. We must donate what we can to those running for office, who can be trusted to work for the challenges we still face in our communities. No matter what others do to prevent us from voting, we must use our skills to get voters to the polls. We must rise up just as our sisters before us did when it was far more dangerous to do so.
(Dr. E. Faye Williams is President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women. 202/678-6788--www.nationalcongressbw.org.)