CIVIL RIGHTS LEGEND -Dorothy Height Celebrates 98th Birthday in D.C. Hospital

On March 24,the Civil rights legend Dorothy L. Height celebrated her 98th birthday  while recovering from a brief illness at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.,

Deemed as the “godmother of the civil rights movement,”She  has received many significant national honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom award, the Congressional Gold Medal and the NAACP Spingarn Medal.

Dorothy Height was the only female identified as an equal among the “Big Six” in the United Civil Rights Leadership with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Whitney H. Young and Floyd McKissick. 

While serving as president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, Height is also the driving force behind the Black Family Reunion, an annual celebration that honors African-American family values. 

“In my lifetime, I have witnessed the evolution of desegregation, the spread of civil rights and the rise of possibilities for people regardless of race and sex. I have also recently witnessed the passage of our health care bill, something people of all different races and genders can applaud,” Height said in a statement. “It is my pleasure to spend my 98th birthday celebrating these tremendous changes in our country’s history and revel in how far we have come to be where we stand together today.”