Forgotten Women: Revisiting Lizzie Jennings (100 Years Before Rosa Parks) Mickey Z.

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Public domain

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust
July 11, 2020

In light of recent events and in the name of honoring forgotten women, I’d like to revisit a story I’ve written about a few times -- including in one of my books! Lizzie Jennings made history in my hometown 166 years ago this week.

Most Americans know who the prominent male civil rights figures are and have been. MLK, Jesse, Malcolm, and even Al Sharpton are iconic household names. One of the very few black women to attain such a rarefied status is Rosa Parks -- and even then, her legacy is founded on willful sexist misperceptions.

The men of the civil rights movement, we’re told, had strategy and vision. Parks merely made a spur-of-the-moment decision to not to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was an old and tired woman who could’ve never imagined such a furor.

Before we move on to meet Rosa’s spiritual predecessor, let’s clarify: Parks spent 12 years leading her local NAACP chapter and had trained at Tennessee’s labor and civil rights organizing school, the Highlander Center. She was a strong, smart dissident with vision and endurance.

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https://worldnewstrust.com/forgotten-women-revisiting-lizzie-jennings-100-years-before-rosa-parks-mickey-z