Marian Wright Edelman 774729 213126440 2008-05-17T22:17:22Z 201.231.122.212 [[Image:Marian Wright Edelman 01.jpg|right|thumb|Marian Wright Edelman (1994)]] '''Marian Wright Edelman''' (born [[June 6]], [[1939]], in [[Bennettsville, South Carolina]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[activist]] for [[children's rights|the rights of children]]. She is president and founder of the [[Children's Defense Fund]]. Edelman's thinking was influenced by her father, Arthur Wright, a [[Baptist]] preacher who taught that [[Christianity]] required service in this world, and [[civil rights]] leader [[A. Philip Randolph]]. Her father died when Marian was only fourteen, urging in his last words to her, "Don't let anything get in the way of your education." <ref>http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm</ref> ==Early life and education== Marian Wright Edelman was born in and grew up in [[Bennettsville, South Carolina]], one of five children. She attended [[Spelman College]] and, while there, became involved in the [[US Civil Rights Movement | Civil Rights Movement]], spending time in [[Mississippi]] working on voter registration drives. She then entered [[Yale Law School]] and graduated in [[1963]], joining the [[NAACP Legal Defense Fund]]. ==Activism== She worked out of the LDF's Mississippi office and became the first [[African American]] woman to practice law. During her time in Mississippi, she worked on racial justice issues connected with the civil rights movement and represented activists throughout the [[Mississippi Freedom Summer]] of [[1964]]. She also helped get a [[Head Start | Head Start program]] established in her community. She was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar. In [[1967]], during a tour by [[Robert Kennedy]] and [[Joseph Clark]] of Mississippi's poverty-ridden [[Mississippi Delta|Delta]] slums, Marian met [[Peter Edelman]], an assistant to Kennedy, and the next year she moved to [[Washington, D.C.]], to marry him. In Washington, Marian Wright Edelman continued her work, helping to organize [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]'s [[Poor People's Campaign]]. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and also became interested in issues related to childhood development and [[poverty|poverty-stricken]] children. In [[1973]], she founded the Children's Defense Fund as a voice for poor, minority and handicapped children. The organization has served as an advocacy and research center for children's issues, documenting the problems and possible solutions to children in need. To keep the agency independent, she saw that it was financed entirely with private funds.<ref>http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm</ref> As founder, leader and principal spokesperson for the CDF, Mrs. Edelman worked to persuade Congress to overhaul foster care, support adoption, improve child care and protect children who are handicapped, homeless, abused or neglected. A philosophy of service absorbed during her childhood undergirds all her efforts. As she expresses it, “If you don’t like the way the world is, you have an obligation to change it. Just do it one step at a time.” <ref>http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Marian_Wright_Edelman.html</ref> She is the author of seven books, including: * Families in Peril: An agenda for Social Change * The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours * I’m Your Child, God: Prayers for Our Children. She continues to advocate youth pregnancy prevention, child-care funding, prenatal care, greater parental responsibility in teaching values and curtailing children’s exposure to the barrage of violent images transmitted by mass media. <ref>http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Marian_Wright_Edelman.html</ref> ==Honors== [[Barnard College]], at its [[1985]] commencement ceremonies, awarded Edelman its highest honor, the [[List of Barnard College people#Recipients of the Medal of Distinction|Barnard Medal of Distinction]]. She was awarded an honorary LL.D. from [[Bates College]] in [[1986]]. She is a recipient of the [[1995]] [[Community of Christ International Peace Award]]; of the [[Silver Buffalo Award]], the highest adult award given by the [[Boy Scouts of America]]; and of the [[Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism]]. In an interview with [[Shelly R. Fredman]] on [[AlterNet]], [[Howard Zinn]] suggested that Edelman would make a better [[Potential Democratic candidates in the 2008 U.S. presidential election|Democratic Presidential Candidate]] than either [[Hillary Clinton]] or [[Barack Obama]].[http://www.alternet.org/story/36330/] Edelman serves on the board of the [[Robin Hood Foundation]], a charitable organization that attempts to alleviate poverty-related problems in [[New York City]], [[New York]]. Among the many awards to Marian Wright Edelman: <ref>http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm</ref> * 1991 - ABC's Person of the Week - "The Children's Champion" * MacArthur "genius" award * More than 65 honorary degrees ==Private life== She is married to [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]] law professor, author, and policy maker [[Peter Edelman]]. Peter Edelman and Marian Wright Edelman have three sons. ==See also== *[[Children's Defense Fund]] *[[Robin Hood Foundation]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageNavigator/People_MWE Biography page at CDF] * http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_marian_wright_edelman.htm * [http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/02/22/midday2/ Presentation given at Westminister Town Hall Forum discussing "weasels" in American democracy] {{DEFAULTSORT: Edelman, Marian Wright}} [[Category:1939 births]] [[Category:Nonprofit executives]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:African Americans]] [[Category:African Americans' rights activists]] [[Category:American civil rights activists]] [[Category:Children's rights activists]] [[Category:American humanitarians]] [[Category:MacArthur Fellows]] [[Category:Recipients of the Thomas Merton Award]] [[Category:Alumnae of women's universities and colleges]] [[Category:Spelman College alumni]] [[Category:Yale Law School alumni]] {{US-law-bio-stub}}