When you have a song (and escaping quarantine) stuck in your head, consider how it connects to the history and work of Black women that we should’ve learned about in school.
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (South Carolina) was an educator, civil and women’s rights activist, philanthropist and government official. Born near Mayesville, SC, Bethune started a small school for African-American girls which eventually became Bethune-Cookman University and set the educational standard for today’s Black colleges. Among her many accomplishments, Bethune was the founding president of the National Council of Negro Women in 1935. She also served as the director of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, and eventually went on to become Vice President of the NAACP.
Bridget ‘Biddy’ Mason (California) was born an enslaved person in 1818 in Mississippi. She went on to win her freedom and the freedom of thirteen of her family members in a California court in 1856, and soon after moved to Los Angeles. Mason worked as a midwife and nurse, saving her money and purchasing land in what is now downtown Los Angeles. She became a prominent landowner, philanthropist, and the richest woman in L.A. by the 1860s. Mason donated to numerous charities, fed and sheltered the poor, visited prisoners, and was integral in founding a traveler’s aid center and elementary school for Black children in Los Angeles.
EVERYTHING can be connected to the incredible strength of Black women. Be curious, ask questions, educate yourself.
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (South Carolina) was an educator, civil and women’s rights activist, philanthropist and government official. Born near Mayesville, SC, Bethune started a small school for African-American girls which eventually became Bethune-Cookman University and set the educational standard for today’s Black colleges. Among her many accomplishments, Bethune was the founding president of the National Council of Negro Women in 1935. She also served as the director of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, and eventually went on to become Vice President of the NAACP.
Bridget ‘Biddy’ Mason (California) was born an enslaved person in 1818 in Mississippi. She went on to win her freedom and the freedom of thirteen of her family members in a California court in 1856, and soon after moved to Los Angeles. Mason worked as a midwife and nurse, saving her money and purchasing land in what is now downtown Los Angeles. She became a prominent landowner, philanthropist, and the richest woman in L.A. by the 1860s. Mason donated to numerous charities, fed and sheltered the poor, visited prisoners, and was integral in founding a traveler’s aid center and elementary school for Black children in Los Angeles.
EVERYTHING can be connected to the incredible strength of Black women. Be curious, ask questions, educate yourself.
