[NEWS] Remembering ongoing work of women in the civil rights movement

From: WHYY

Many years ago, as we tried to articulate the essence of our mission at Project HOME, we began using the phrase “None of us are home until all of us are home.” We understood our work as being in the tradition of the civil rights movement, when it was frequently said by Dr. King, Fannie Lou Hammer, and others, that “none of us are free until all of us are free.”

While the immediate goals of the movement were to dismantle the Jim Crow system of legalized discrimination, its broader vision was to help America fulfill its ultimate promise of democracy and equal rights. We likewise believe that our work to end homelessness and poverty is part of a broader vision of healing our society, to bring about authentic “liberty and justice for all.”

The women and men of the civil rights struggle were asserting not just the constitutional rights, but also the inalienable dignity of each person, including those who had been relegated to the social margins. We too are ultimately asserting the dignity of each person and inviting people to come together in a beloved community in which we share our gifts and celebrate our common humanity.