Description An Activist’s Guide to Listening, Learning and Leading. In Living With Purpose, Dorothy Height, brings a century of her experiences and insights to address one of the most pressing questions we all must face—how we can fundamentally connect with our true purpose in life and act upon it. She shares with us the first hand lessons she has learned from teachers from all walks of life—from people in our history books like Eleanor Roosevelt, Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, Mary McLeod Bethune—and equally from so those known only to a few, from a young boy in rural 1950s India to the mothers of the young girls killed in the Birmingham church bombing. Dr. Height helps us understand what we need to do on the inside to set the table and how to effectively work with others to move forward powerfully. LIVING WITH PURPOSE is a must read for all who believe in their power and potential to make a difference in the world. As the only woman leader among the United Civil Rights Leadership (which included Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, John Lewis and James Farmer), Dr. Height played a critical role in helping her colleagues put aside their factional differences and forge a united front. Dr. Height headed her beloved National Council of Negro Women for five decades, but began her association with the organization as a volunteer under her mentor Mary McLeod Bethune in 1937. With NCNW, Dr. Height devoted her energies to advancing quality of life issues for African American women and their families, impacting health, education and economic empowerment. Many African American women who have achieved high positions of leadership are quick to acknowledge a profound debt to her efforts. Dorothy Height’s first book, a memoir entitled OPEN WIDE THE FREEDOM GATES was published in 2003 by Public Affairs.
