1970's
Marian Wright Edelman
I believe that there are many qualities a person must
have in order to be considered a representative American during
a certain period of time. There were many people that could have
been thought of as important during the 1970s, but only one of
them stood out the most to me. In my opinion, a representative
American must of course have a good heart, be certain of what
they want during their life, be determined and motivated to do
what they choose and to seriously have a care for their profession.
Marian Wright Edelman carries all of these qualities with her.
After proving that women are just as smart as men by
graduating from Spelman College and later going to Yale Law School,
she became the first African American woman to be admitted to
the Mississippi State Bar. Edelman was a very generous and kind
woman, working hard to make conditions better for poor children
and their education. In 1973, she began the Children's Defense
Fund (CDF), which today is the country's leading advocacy group
for children. Edelman's main focus in life was to take care of
the people around her and she worked very hard to be able to do
so.
Edelman joined many different groups and did many different
projects to try and help the poor children. The different projects
she worked on focused on pushing the congress for child and family
nutrition programs, trying to decrease teenage pregnancy, increasing
medical care for poor children and getting the government to pay
for more programs that would help poor people. She helped many
children and families across the US during the 1970s and even
got more programs to emerge. Many people tried to make life better
during the '70s, but Edelman really went above and beyond to do
her job.
Marian Wright Edelman represents what a true human
being should be. She always has her passion be her first priority
and is always willing to do something about her concerns with
how the people of the US are living. If she doesn't like what
she sees, she will go out of her way to fix it and make life better
for everyone. Without Edelman's work in the 1970s, there would
be a lot more poor children and families living without any food
on the streets. Edelman contributed a lot and devoted all her
time to the well-being of others, which proves to the world that
she is undoubtedly a true representative American of the 1970s.
"All those children whom
we've neglected are going to be people that we are also going
to have to deal with."
Marian Wright Edelman
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Works Cited
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Marian Wright
Edelman". Available http://womenshistory.about.com/library/qu/blquedel.htm.
21 March 2003
Unknown. "Marian Wright Edelman
Biography". Available
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=127&category=civicMakers.
21 March 2003
Unknown. "Marian Wright Edelman's
Public Life". Available
http://www.childrensdefense.org/marian.htm. 21 March 2003
http://www.black-collegian.com/issues/1stsem00/images/ph_marianwright2000-1st.jpg
http://www.pcusa.org/ga214/news/photos/edelman.jpg
http://www.arusa.com/gifs/sect3_5_photo1.jpg