Commission on Human Rights
State Human Rights Commission statement on death of Dorothy Height

While attending the funeral in Memphis, Tenn., on Tuesday, of Civil Rights champion Benjamin Hooks, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Executive Director John J. Johnson learned of the death of Dorothy Height.

The following is a statement from Executive Director Johnson:

“The nation now mourns the loss of two great giants of the American Civil Rights Movement. While working at the NAACP for 20 years, I had many occasions to work with the wonderful Dr. Height. She was a legendary member of the ‘Big Six of Civil Rights. ‘Along with the other members Roy Wilkins, John Lewis, Whitney Young, James Farmer, and Martin Luther King, she led the classical movement of the sixties to reach for a life of freedom and equality that African Americans had not been afforded since the formation of America. Of those six, only John Lewis now survives.

Dr. Height played a unique role in terms of helping to merge the Women’s Movement with the traditional black civil rights movement. In her later life, Dorothy Height remained committed to equality and the interests of all human beings. She participated in activities and hosted demonstrations throughout the nation, and even in failing health, would make herself available and would try to attend. She was faithful soldier of justice.”

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