Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist and has been a pioneering force in civil and children’s rights. She believes that, “If you don’t like the way the world is, you have an obligation to change it.” She has embodied this belief throughout her life and activism. After attending Yale Law School, she became the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar. She represented activists during Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964 & then helped Martin Luther King organizing the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. Then, in 1973, she founded Children’s Defense Fund, an organization dedicated to being a voice for poor children, children of color, and disabled children.

Marian is inspiring to me, because she had to gain and maintain support across the political spectrum over several decades to achieve these milestones for childen. I hope that, like her, I can be a pioneering force to bring people together to make positive change.