NYT: Constance Baker Motley, Civil Rights Trailblazer, Dies at 84

[DeepModem Mom]

Constance Baker Motley, Civil Rights Trailblazer, Dies at 84
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: September 29, 2005


Constance Baker Motley, a civil rights lawyer who fought nearly every important civil rights case for two decades and then became the first black woman to serve as a federal judge, died yesterday at NYU Downtown Hospital in Manhattan. She was 84.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said Isolde Motley, her daughter-in-law.

Judge Motley was the first black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, as well as the first woman to be Manhattan borough president, a position that guaranteed her a voice in running the entire city under an earlier system of local government called the Board of Estimate.

Judge Motley was at the center of the firestorm that raged through the South in the two decades after World War II, as blacks and their white allies pressed to end the segregation that had gripped the region since Reconstruction. She visited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, sang freedom songs in churches that had been bombed, and spent a night under armed guard with Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was later murdered.

But her métier was in the quieter, painstaking preparation and presentation of lawsuits that paved the way to fuller societal participation by blacks. She dressed elegantly, spoke in a low, lilting voice and, in case after case, earned a reputation as the chief courtroom tactician of the civil rights movement....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/nyregion/29motley.htm...

[Melinda]

1. Surely Judge Motley is walking with Dr. King again.

"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I have been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now.

I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land.

I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm not fearing any man.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord"

-MKL Jr

This pioneering woman exemplified God's goodness on earth through all she accomplished for people of color. How proud her brothers and sisters must be! Well done, earthly Angel of justice, peace, and love; I hope to meet you one day in "the promised land".

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Thank you, Melinda, for this wonderful post. Well said! nt

[Karenina]

8. Thank you, Melinda!

After all these years I've been on DU, your post is one I could report to my family. Thank you!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. Rest in Peace

Your Honor...

[Karenina]

4. Thank you for posting.

It's a weird experience to log onto DU and receive the first news of a family member's death...

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Karenina, do you mean our progressive "family"...

or was this wonderful woman part of your "real-life" family? If so, my condolences to all.

[Karenina]

10. First cousin...

[DeepModem Mom]

11. You must be very proud to be part of that family! nt

[lumpy]

5. This country was blessed

by the very being of this wonderful woman.

[Karenina]

12. And so was my family.

Thank you for your acknowledgement and last kick for cousin Connie and her considerable contribution to the American citizenry.

[kostya]

6. Please kick the story rating on Yahoo! News, she served as a

shining example of what earnest activism can achieve!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050929/ap_on_re_us/obit_ba... ;_ylt=AtSSGMgQ6hLwqSBARqsF1uis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-

[Karenina]

7. Yes, please do...

[noiretextatique]

13. in honor of two great women

DU can and should better than this...