We look at the life and legacy of Black feminist, legal scholar, civil rights activist, lesbian and Episcopal priest Pauli Murray. Murray cofounded the National Organization for Women and the Congress on Racial Equality and her research was credited by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a groundbreaking sex discrimination case. She was gender nonconforming and had long-term same-sex relationships, and was the first African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. Why is so little known about her? We talk with Barbara Lau, director of the Pauli Murray Project at the Duke Human Rights Center of the Franklin Humanities Institute.
We’ll also listen to part of a talk by internationally renowned feminist activist Selma James entitled “Caregiving: An Anti-Capitalist Perspective.” James is the author of Sex, Race and Class: The Perspective of Winning and founder of the international Wages for Housework campaign.