Pauli Murray

Pauli Murray (1910-1985)

If you could think of all of the qualities not accepted at the time for women in the 1900s what would you think of? Well, not only was Pauli Murray a person of color, she was also queer, and it's not unknown that being a woman at the time was hard enough in the 1900s. Women were not necessarily accepted for who they are and Murray spent her life educating herself and trying to prove that she could be whoever she said she wanted to be and that it isn't wrong to be who you are. She proved to be a woman of determination and until she was old and gray she fought for what she believed was right for women everywhere; proving that women coming from all spectrums can fight for what they believe is right.

Pauli Murray was born in Baltimore, Maryland on November 20, 1910. After losing her mother when she was only 3, her father could no longer care for Murray and her siblings, leaving it up to other people in the family to take care of Murray. From a young age, Murray was influenced by her elders to have a strong commitment to racial equality and to also have pride in her own multicultural heritage. She looked up to the people around her and saw the true light; that she could be proud of who she was. Years later, after graduating valedictorian at Hillside High School, Murray gained a full scholarship to Wilberforce University. However, Murray didn't want to go to Wilberforce University. She had her heart set on going to Columbia University. Unfortunately, this university was one, that was not accepting women at the time. This was quite common, and although she had her heart and her mind set on this university, she had no choice but to move on. She ended up entering Hunter college in 1928 and graduating in 1933. She then went on to study law at Howard University Law school. She was in fact the only woman in her graduating class, coining the term "Jane Crow" for the sexism she experienced at the University. She came out of law school as not only a civil rights activist but was now fully committed to both racial and sexual justice. Murray went on to have many other life accomplishments including becoming an educator, a lawyer, and an activist throughout her life journey.

For 15 years, Murray struggled to make an income with her degree from law school. She was a female black attorney, who would want to hire her? At the time: No one. After years and years of struggling, someone gave her a chance. A chance to write and make a difference. She was instructed to write a pamphlet on laws discriminating people of color. Instead she wrote what was known as "the bible" of segregation laws. It included over 700 pages of laws discriminating against Black Americans, Native Americans, and other non-white Americans. This book even helped to win the court case "Brown vs Board of Education". Alongside this amazing work that she did for the sake of civil rights, Murray completed several other literary works including two autobiographies and some law articles from her law school days. Murray proved to be very intelligent from her many years of schooling, publishing two scholarly books; States' laws on Race and Color, and Constitutional Law of Ghana. In addition to these scholarly books, Murray also published two separate autobiographies: Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, and Song in a Weary Throat. She continued to make an impact on Women's literary work by publishing a volume of poetry as well:Dark Testament and Other Poems. As you can probably tell, she was an avid writer and poet, committing her skill as a writer to press on issues that she genuinely wanted to share with the world. Her life story was interesting and although she faced many struggles throughout, she didn't fail to make an impact on the world and become legendary in regards to racial and sexual justice. It is no surprise that she went on to do great things as a women's rights activist, involving herself in several campaigns.

Murray in the National Organization for Women

Murray was apart of many social movements for civil rights and women's rights in the 20th century. She marched twice in the March of Washington of 1963. This was a great day for Murray although it was a bitter sweet moment after the passing of another great women's rights activist, Eleanor Roosevelt. Despite her age, Murray continued to educate herself and graduated from Yale in 1965. She befriended another great woman who wanted to do something great. Her name was Betty Friedan and together they would launch the National organization for Women. Otherwise known as "NOW", this group of women pledged to destroy the restrictions of freedom and equality for women. However, Murray resigned from the board in 1967 because of complications with white feminists ignoring the fact that feminism works differently for black women. She went on to be a feminist church activist, gaining a new spiritual awakening in the process. Before her friend falling ill, Murray had never thought about death before and so she became interested in religion. To some of the churches that she was apart of, she became known as the first black woman to join those churches, which was a big step for her. After this she then became the first black woman to be ordained at an Episcopal church. She continued on her religious path as a priest, preaching Martin Luther King Jr. and all that he fought for in civil rights. In addition to that, Murray also took a feminist theological approach to how she preached and it did well for all of the liberal feminists entering the churches around the 1970s.

Murray was a powerhouse, preaching what she believed in until the day that she died. She educated herself in many different aspects, making it easy for her to teach other people what she had learned throughout her life's journey. It is quite odd to think that if it weren't for her contributions to women's rights and civil rights, we wouldn't be where we are today. She helped to spread the word about many social issues at the time and it made a huge impact on how we view things in today's society. We may still have a lot more room to grow, but these contributions really made a difference nonetheless.

Works Cited:

Dorrien, Gary. “Race, Gender, Exclusion, and Divine Discontent: Pauli Murray and the Intersections of Liberation and Reconciliation.” Cross Currents, vol. 67, no. 2, June 2017, pp. 373–399. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/cros.12250.

Pictures:

Unknown. "Pauli Murray (1910-1985)". Found, BlackPast, 09 September 2019. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/murray-pauli-1910-1985/

Unknown. "Murray in the National Organization for Women". Found, National Organization for Women, 09 September 2019. https://now.org/about/history/finding-pauli-murray/