re this particular American January holiday … …

http://tinyurl.com/79a44a8 and http://www.ted.com/talks/eve_ensler_embrace_your_inner_girl.html and http://tinyurl.com/79a44a8 and sexism specifically within and permeating throughout ... still ... the southern christian leadership conference:

Quotations on patriarchy from ms bell hooks:

"What had begun as a movement to free all black people from racist oppression became a movement with its primary goal the establishment of black male patriarchy." --- bell hooks

"Why is it that many contemporary male thinkers, especially men of color, repudiate the imperialist legacy of Columbus but affirm dimensions of that legacy by their refusal to repudiate patriarchy?" --- bell hooks

" ... ... Yet, Dorothy Height practically forced the men of the civil rights movement to accept her. And they did, but, more as adornment. Her presence and participation gave credence to the illusion that the men were not the chauvinists they surely were. She was relegated to the background and sidelines as much as possible, silent on final statements as the men reserved the stage and limelight for themselves. In many photo-ops, she was at the table, but mostly for show, sometimes seemingly playing peekaboo, peering from behind someone or something.

She was not allowed to speak at the March on Washington in 1963, although she shared the podium with the others and can be seen, in the background, as Dr. King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. Had she been given the opportunity on that August day, her remarks would not have needed toning down, as was the case with John Lewis, the SNCC chairman, whose original text was regarded as much too militant. Height seemed to accept that role without complaint, part of her persona and modus operandi. Reportedly, she was more vocal and involved in behind - the - scenes planning and negotiating sessions, which played to her tremendous strengths.

In fact, many of the women were smarter than the men. In 1972, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm outmaneuvered black male politicians by jumping ahead of them in announcing her candidacy for Democratic nomination for president, just as they were meeting to select one of their own as "favorite son." They were furious with her, but the move made her the first black female to make a serious run for the highest office. As she repeatedly reminded all during the campaign and in her autobiography, she was "unbought and unbossed." The men deemed her very unruly.

There were many black women leaders during the movement at the local level. Gloria Richardson was out front of a militant movement in Cambridge, Maryland, that shook up Maryland's Eastern Shore. Daisy Bates, head of the Little Rock NAACP, gained fame when she guided the successful integration of that city's public schools. Ruby Hurley was in charge of the NAACP's regional office in Atlanta during the height of the movement. And who can forget the riveting testimony of Fannie Lou Hamer of Mississippi at the Democratic National Convention in 1964?

Dorothy Height joins not only those women, but a long list of strong women of history that includes Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune and Ida B. Wells - Barnett. She overcame the men of the movement by outliving them (with the exception of John Lewis): Dr. King, Roy Wilkins, NAACP;
A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; James Farmer, Congress of Racial Equality, and Whitney Young, National Urban League. Her longevity was her best revenge."

Paul Delaney, a longtime reporter and editor at the New York Times, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists this summer." --- 12 May 2010, http://www.theroot.com/views/dorothy-height-and-sexism-civil-rights-movement?page=0,1