22 • May 12, 2022 - May 18, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
IN
THE
CLASSROOM
Dorothy Pitman Hughes, author, entrepreneur, and powerful voice for women’s rights By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews
velopment. “Too many women were being forced The recent convergence to leave their chilof Roe v. Wade and Mother’s dren home alone Day connects ineluctably while they worked with the feminist moveto feed their famment and Gloria Steinem. ilies,” she anAnd thinking of this iconic nounced upon woman brings to mind founding the Dorothy Pitman Hughes agency. Together and that classic photo of with Steinem, she them with their fists in the co-founded the air, claiming a victory for Women’s Action women in all walks of life. Alliance with the Dorothy was born in 1938 specific mission in Lumpkin, Georgia, but to promote nonshe spent some very producsexist, multiracial tive time and leadership in children’s eduHarlem. She was 10 years old cation. With this when her father was beaten in place the duo and left for dead on the famcontinued to tour ily’s doorstep. To the family the nation with and local officials it was a vitheir several mescious hate crime, and probasages of equalibly the cowardly work of the ty and women’s Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, New York 1971 Ku Klux Klan. (© Dan Wynn Archive and Farmani Group, Co LTD) rights. It was this brutal and disDorothy was turbing experience that set Dor- speaking engagements, in fact, among the signers of the Ms. Camothy on a life of activism and to often sharing the podium with her. paign “We Have Had Abortions,” a improve the social and political For their next venture, and once year before Roe v. Wade became possibilities of the oppressed, par- more at the urging of Dorothy, law, citing an end to the “archaticularly African Americans and Steinem founded Ms. Magazine, ic laws” that limited reproductive their plights. where the photo with them with rights for women. This interest was In 1957, she moved to New York their balled up fists raised high delivered widely at various forums City and began working as a do- gained public traction and was cir- and into classrooms at City Colmestic worker, sales lady, and a vo- culated in the media. That iconic lege, the College of New Rochelle, calist, all the while raising money photo was originally taken by Dan and Columbia University. for civil rights protesters in need of Wynn for Esquire magazine and In 1992, she co-founded the bail money. By the late ’70s, with it symbolized the racial solidarity, Charles Junction Historic Preserthree children, she began organiz- even as Dorothy expressed some vation Society in Jacksonville, Fla. ing a multiracial cooperative day concern about the possible vio- where she continued her war against care center, called the West 80th lence they might incur with such a poverty by developing community Community Childcare Center, an picture of resistance. Later, anoth- gardening and food production. Her endeavor later profiled in New er photographer Dan Bagan would entrepreneurial dream was realized York Magazine by columnist Gloria create, at Dorothy’s insistence, an with the launching of the first African Steinem. This would begin a lifelong homage portrait of the two friends American owned office supply store friendship with Steinem, in which at an event celebrating Steinem’s in Harlem, and thereby becoming a Dorothy would play a vital role in 80th birthday in 2014. member of the Stationers Associagetting Steinem to take her message Meanwhile, Dorothy continued tion of New York. Her store, Harlem of women’s rights to the streets. her community service with the Copy, was opened in 1983 on 125th To ensure the advice she extend- organization of the first shelter for Street. Five years later she began ofed to Steinem, Dorothy agreed to battered women in the city and at fering HOS stock at $1 a share to travel with her on the same time co-founded the New individuals, York City Agency for Child De-
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corporations, partnerships and nonprofit organizations focused on African American children. Her various ventures were later published in “Wake Up and Smell the Dollars” (2000) that advocated small business ownership to other African Americans, all in the interest of self-determination and selfreliance. This pursuit morphed perfectly into Congressman Rangel’s Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, funded by the Clinton administration that set aside $300 million for economic development in Harlem. Eventually, she was a member of the Business Resource and Investment Service Center (BRISC) that aimed to support the small businesses in the community. But she was dismayed and criticized the project when too many large corporations arrived and defeated the program. “Some are convinced that empowering large corporations to provide low paying jobs for our residents will bring economic empowerment to the community…[But] without African American ownership, there is ultimately no local empowerment,” she complained, believing BRISC’s resources were being unevenly distributed among small businesses in Harlem. Subsequently she wrote “Just Saying... It Looks Like Ethnic Cleansing (The Gentrification of Harlem)” that provided advice to African American business owners who might want to utilize similar government programs such as President Obama’s Jobs Act. In 2008, Dorothy and Steinem were once again united at Eckerd College where they recreated their famous fist to the air pose. On several occasions Steinem has been a visitor and speaker at Dorothy’s center in Jacksonville, where she has lived since leaving Harlem.
ACTIVITIES FIND OUT MORE Much more on Dorothy’s personal and professional life is contained in her books and articles, and I have a chapter on her in my book “The Harlem Reader.” DISCUSSION How the two women shared the podium might give us a greater understanding of their camaraderie. PLACE IN CONTEXT Born before World War II, Dorothy is still continuing the various initiatives that consumed her adult years from her base in Florida.
THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY May 8, 1858: The author and abolitionist William Wells Brown published the first play by an African American. May 8, 1925: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was founded by A. Philip Randolph. May 9, 1952: Canada Lee, the versatile actor, died in New York City. He was 45.
