Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist

by Terry Catasïs Jennings, Rosita Stevens-Holsey, Ashanti Fortson (Illustrator)

Overview

Pauli Murray was a trailblazer who spent her life fighting for civil rights and women's rights. Writer, lawyer, activist, priest, Pauli was a champion for justice. Her extraordinary life is immortalized in this riveting biography told in verse.

"Pauli Murray was brilliant, outspoken, and committed to achieving dignity and equality for all under the law. Rising from poverty, Murray challenged pervasive race and sex discrimination and helped launch the two most important movements of the Twentieth Century: civil rights and women's rights. This new biography capsulizes important events and accomplishments of an iconoclast who would not take 'No' for an answer. Young readers will be drawn to the story of Pauli's bravery and pivotal role in history." — Christian F. Nunes, President, National Organization for Women

"This is a compelling biography of an 'unsung force'-an inspiring and transformative figure who broke barriers pivotal to both the civil rights and women's movements."—Horn Book Magazine

"This inspiring biography in verse aims to promote the life and work of the lesser-known yet influential Black civil rights activist and feminist."—Booklist Reviews

Pauli Murray was a thorn in the side of white America demanding justice and equal treatment for all. She was a queer civil rights and women's rights activist before any movement advocated for either—the brilliant mind that, in 1944, conceptualized the arguments that would win Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka; and in 1964, the arguments that won women equality in the workplace.

Throughout her life, she fought for the oppressed, not only through changing laws, but by using her powerful prose to influence those who could affect change. She lived by her convictions and challenged authority to demand fairness and justice regardless of the personal consequences. Without seeking acknowledgment, glory, or financial gain for what she did, Pauli Murray fought in the trenches for many of the rights we take for granted. Her goal was human rights and the dignity of life for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781499812510
Publisher:	little bee books
Publication date:	02/08/2022
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	446,245
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Rosita Stevens-Holsey is one of Pauli Murray's nieces, and an ambassador for the Pauli Murray family. She feels it is an honor to be part of enhancing and promoting her aunt's legacy, and her responsibility as a family member to do so. Rosita lives outside of Washington, D.C.

Terry Catasús Jennings came to the United States with her family after fleeing Cuba after the Bay of Pigs invasion. Today, Terry resides in Reston, Virginia with her family. She is the author of the upcoming picture book La Casita de Esperanza/The Little House of Hope and the Definitely Dominguita chapter book series.

Table of Contents

Part I Why? 1

An Arrival in the Making 2

On the Tail of Halley's Comet 5

The Activist-Was She Born or Was She Made? 10

The Bottoms-The Influence of Place 12

Childhood-The Influence of Family 23

Proud Shoes-The Influence of Heritage 38

Shades-The Influence of Color 48

Part II The Reluctant Activist 59

Trying to Get Away-Hunter College 60

Activism Forged on the Anvil of the Great Depression 83

First Steps 95

A Cruel Blow 99

Taking a Stand 110

A Sharecropper's Life in the Balance 120

Finally, a Decision 139

Part III The Activist in Training 143

Howard Law 144

Learning the Law 148

Taking the Reins-Protests 158

From Jim Crow to Jane Crow 164

The Idea That Changed the World 170

Part IV Action 181

The Forgotten Bet 182

One Person Plus One Typewriter 192

An Activist Dressed in Lawyer's Clothes 195

Why on Earth Didn't You Tell Me? 203

Part V Jane Crow 209

Change in Direction 210

For the Gals Who Will Come After 214

It Had Happened Before 218

The Women's Movement 223

It Took More Than the Civil Rights Act of 1964 231

National Organization for Women 234

A Man Trapped in a Woman's Body 241

Part VI The Legacy of Activism 249

An Unsung Force 250

A Human of Worth 255

Authors' Notes 259

Acknowledgements 261

Timeline of Pauli Murray's Life 262

Endnotes 269

Bibliography 274

Editorial Reviews

The remarkable life of Black activist, attorney, and Episcopal priest Pauli Murray (1910-1985) is presented in an engaging, extensively documented nonfiction account in verse. Drawing heavily on Murray's autobiography, poems, and other writings, the book spans her entire life and identifies her influences as she became determined, from a young age in Jim Crow North Carolina, to learn and help others appreciate the true history of her people. After enduring great hardship in order to graduate from Hunter College, her efforts to get ahead were thwarted by the Great Depression. She began a lifelong passion for writing to newspapers and public figures about social issues, which she called "confrontation by typewriter," and was very successful at making those messages heard by people in power, including President Roosevelt. Later, at Howard University Law School, Murray was a strong proponent of overturning Plessy v. Ferguson because "separate could never be equal." In the later chapters, the authors acknowledge the limitations of language employed at the time, speculating that today "transgender / is possibly / what Pauli would call herself...Pauli's pronouns may have been / they/them/their." This is a compelling biography of an "unsung force"-an inspiring and transformative figure who broke barriers pivotal to both the civil rights and women's movements. Appended with photographs, authors' notes, a timeline, source notes, and a bibliography.

Horn Book Magazine

"This inspiring biography in verse aims to promote the life and work of the lesser-known yet influential Black civil rights activist and feminist."

Booklist

2021-10-13
Born in 1910, Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray was a poet, a lawyer, an activist, a priest, and so much more that is deserving of praise, remembrance, and long-overdue celebration.

The story begins with the death of her mother and a 3-year-old Murray finding a home with her aunt and namesake Pauline in Jim Crow–afflicted Durham, North Carolina. Collaborators Catasús Jennings and Stevens-Holsey, Murray’s niece, provide a thorough account of their subject’s life, from her first exposure to systemic injustice through to her steadfast persistence in fighting the racial and gender inequities she dubbed Jane Crow. Unfortunately, the work uses stilted verse stanzas organized into less-than-effective sections, drawing for readers an awkward contrast to Murray’s own brilliant poetry, which is quoted here. The writing presents factual details without much consideration of poetic language or rhythm, and certain segments feel like historical discursions from the meaningful focus on Murray’s life. Nonetheless, the inclusion of too-often-unrecognized details of Murray’s accomplishments in education, law, and activism, combined with the harsh sociopolitical context she emerged from, make for an undeniably potent story. Murray spent the last decade of her life as an Episcopal priest, which the authors curiously mention only briefly. Ultimately, this work presents thoughtful components of a portrait of this queer, Black, heroic figure.

An undeniably worthy subject deserving of a stronger biography. (authors' notes, timeline, endnotes, bibliography) (Verse biography. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews