WASHINGTON, D.C. – This Black History Month, NOW is excited to engage our grassroots in efforts that will move the country forward on racial justice issues. With a new administration in place, we know we must prioritize making progress towards ending police brutality, protecting Black trans and queer people, ensuring the health of Black mothers, and generally affirming, in both our words and our policy, that Black Lives Matter. In light of this new opportunity under the Biden administration, it’s also essential to recognize the people on whose shoulders we stand.
Throughout the month, NOW will be highlighting Black women who have made a significant impact on the lives of women in this country. These are feminist champions who hail from all backgrounds of the African diaspora – many unsung heroes and activists with whom you may not be familiar. We know these stories are not untold but are instead largely unheard. We commit to listening even more every day and using this learning to fight for racial justice across the country.
We’ve started this series with Pauli Murray, who was one of NOW’s co-founders. She led restaurant sit-ins in Washington, D.C., laid the legal foundations for Brown v. Board of Education, which ended the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine and was the one to suggest an NAACP-like organization for women, leading to the founding of NOW. You can learn more about her and her groundbreaking work here.
We’re proud to celebrate such amazing women from Black history, and throughout the month we will continue to highlight these Black feminist trailblazers across NOW’s social media platforms. We are committed to honoring their legacies and will do so by continuing to follow their examples in fighting for women’s rights and racial justice each and every day.