Marian Wright Edelman (born June 6, 1939) is an American activist for the rights of children. She is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund and has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans her entire career. A graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, Mrs. Edelman began her career in the mid-1960s when, as the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1968, she moved to Washington, D.C., as counsel for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Poor People's March. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm, and served as director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University.
As founder, leader and principal spokesperson for the CDF, Mrs. Edelman worked to persuade Congress to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are disabled, homeless, abused or neglected. A philosophy of service absorbed during her childhood undergirds all her efforts. As she expresses it, “If you don’t like the way the world is, you have an obligation to change it. Just do it one step at a time.”
She continues to advocate youth pregnancy prevention, child-care funding, prenatal care, greater parental responsibility in teaching values and curtailing children’s exposure to the barrage of violent images transmitted by mass media. Edelman serves on the board of the New York City based Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty and its scourge. Source Wikipedia.com and about.com
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Divine Women of Our Time is a series to remind us of the rich culture we come from and to celebrate black history month. I will profile strong women that have been apart of building a culture, paving ways for those after them and who have made a memorable impact within their industry. These women were not only leaders, but they were role models for many people at an appointed time. Most of these women are still with us thankfully. Rightfully so, I want to celebrate them while they are here and can understand that there relevance is appreciated as apart of our rich history.
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Divine Women of Our Time is a series to remind us of the rich culture we come from and to celebrate black history month. I will profile strong women that have been apart of building a culture, paving ways for those after them and who have made a memorable impact within their industry. These women were not only leaders, but they were role models for many people at an appointed time. Most of these women are still with us thankfully. Rightfully so, I want to celebrate them while they are here and can understand that there relevance is appreciated as apart of our rich history.
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