delta sigma theta sorry sadr ready. [applause] do you ever sit and wonder what the world would be like if there were not a dorothy height? who would marry have mentored an agreement to lead the national council of negro women? who would have seen the need and taken the lead on civil rights matters many times being a lone woman? who would have been one of eleanor roosevelt's most trusted and confident members? who would have president and head of states have relied on to make life changing decisions? and who would have worked tirelessly for black domestic workers through her work at the ywca? and who would have served the sisterhood of delta sigma theta for nearly a decade as the national president? [applause]

i stand before you today, representing women everywhere but especially the women who wear the delta symbol. we are the recipients of her foresight and fortitude, her dedication and determination and of the unselfish commitment of this giant and a great soldier. the national president of delta sigma theta from 1947 to 1956 gave cause hour very first headquarters, gave our very first director, the honorable patricia roberts. [applause] ..

>> i know the joy that awaits me when i have gone the last mile. if i sing, for she gone astray, i know there's joy awaits me when i've gone the last mile of the way. dr. height has gone her last mile. but the members of delta sigma theta, we promise to keep dr. height we have the promises to keep, and as her sisters of delta sigma tet -- theta, your legacy, so many miles to go

before we can sleep. god bless. [applause] >> a passage from her book, dr. height loved delta, and in her words, from open wide the freedom gates i've been asked to read this from her book. look back on my life in delta segue theta, is signifies your your sister's keeper. you sister pledged you or made you, a woman who cannot adequately feed her children because of insufficient income. a woman of africa, asia, and america, trike to earn a living for herself and her family. all over the world. so as long as i live, she writes, pride and sisterhood will sustain my active concern wherever women are striving for equality in justice. that, she said, is the legacy that delta segue ma theta has

left me. got applaud. [applause] >> from the beginning, dorothy height understood, supported and championed the modern women's movement, and i rise tonight to make sure that everyone here in the world knows that the woman's movement and feminists everywhere are celebrating her life and thanking her for everything she did to make women's rights a movement that started with the eleanor roosevelt, and she worked every day, day in and day out, for it, from then until now. she was a bridge between the women's mom and the civil rights movement, and she made sure that all of us stood hand in hand,

and she made sure, and made sure that -- she insisted that we never let either one of us forget the other. every cause, she intertwined. and that was her most -- it was a foremost contribution she made, that she made everybody know that these two great movements were intertwined, and that you couldn't split one from the other. and she not only marched with us for the great causes like the equal rights amendment, and title ix, and atermtive action, and she stood there also for causes that may not yet be a majority cause, like the gay and lesbian movement, and the right to choose. she food for all the great social movements. she never let us be divided.

and right until in her 90s, she wouldn't let anything go unchallenged. i will never forget in a small meeting, she rallied the women's movement to make sure we stood up for the rutgers women's basketball team, and we take on don imus. that's right. and we did. this is a woman who could stand there with president kennedy when they passed the equal pay act for women, and yet lived to see and stand there with president obama signing the fair pay act, and the hate crimes act bill. [applause] >> she kept on keeping on, and i can tell you, we will also keep on keeping on in her memory. the women's movement, the civil rights movement, the social justice movement, you bet,ow stand hand in hand. [applause]

>> women leadership in the house. thank you so much. i want anyone who leaves early, there's a ticket to get out, and it's filling this envelope. anyone who doesn't have one should raise his or her hand and we'll make sure the ushers pass them out. this is critical. it's a contribution to the national council of negro women so we can continue the work that dr. dorothy lived and gave her life for. and the obama team is in the house tonight. valerie jarrett, counselor to the president. please stand and let people see you. so wonderful to see you. michael -- there you are. and tina chin. where is tina? hello, tina. >> and william. william here? and i know i saw joshua dubois. where is josh? is he here?

he might have had to go. all righty. the next person does not need -- raise your hands -- the envelopes are coming around. anyone who doesn't have one. the next person needs no introduction. [applause] [applause]

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ ♪

♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause]

>> give our praise to god for the opportunity. [applause] >> you know, i think about how good god is. when you know that we have been promised three scores and ten, and yet god blessed us to have 28 more years beyond that. >> amen. >> have her in our lives. they say many times how is it that a name fakes -- affects how a person lives their life. god knew with her having the last name, she would take us to the greatest and highest

heights, lifting us up, encouraging us to have an appreciation, for we as african-american people, as well for all people. fighting for the rights of humankind. humankind nation. all people caring about all people. you know the song i wrote, we are in need of remembering the spirit of dorothy height. today, and for as long as we live, and encouraging those coming up to celebrate the life, the spirit of this wonderful woman. because behind anything we do as men, great things, there is an even greater woman. [applause]

♪ ♪ people hand in hand ♪ ♪ have i lived to see the milk and honeyland ♪ ♪ where hate and dream and love

forever stand ♪ ♪ or is this a vision in my mind ♪ ♪ the law was never passed ♪ but somehow all men breathe feel they're truly free at last ♪ ♪ have we really gone this far through space and time ♪ ♪ a vision in my mind ♪ i'm not one to make believe ♪ i know that leaves are green

♪ they only turn to brown ♪ when autumn comes around you see i know just what i say ♪ ♪ today's not yesterday ♪ in all things happening ♪ but what i'd like to know ♪ is could a place like this exist so beautiful ♪ ♪ or do we have to find a point inside to the visions in our minds ♪ ♪ to the visions in our mind

♪ oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, ♪ visions in our mind ♪ a vision of positivity ♪ gave us something to look forward to ♪ ♪ and to challenge our humanity ♪ ♪ the question is, are we committed ♪ ♪ because we cannot let his vision fade away, because god has taken you to wherever the place, a reality ♪ ♪ mmm. ♪ the sun and earth keep

revolving, and the flowers bloom in early may ♪ ♪ because if hate knows love is the cure, you can rest your mind assure, that we will be loving you always ♪ ♪ until the rainbow shines in the sky, ♪ ♪ until the ocean covers every mountain high ♪ ♪ until the dumb and blind and babies live in peace ♪ ♪ until we dream of life, and life becomes a dream ♪ ♪ until the day that it's time ♪ until the day, that every day that i'm here, we will be loving

you, always ♪ ♪ always, always ♪ ♪ >> praise god. [applause] >> thank you so much for adding your passion and power to the sound tracks of thesive rights movement, bringing spirit. and now we welcome two phenomenal men who were on the front lines with dr. dorothy height. vernon jordan and ambassador andrew young. [applause]

>> i never had to follow stevie wonder before. [laughter] >> to members of the family, secretary clinton, secretary herman, reverend smith, america has lost a great leader, and i have lost a great friend, a partner in the freedom struggle, a role model, and a mentor. i always knew who dorothy height was and what she did. but did not get to meet and know her until i became wiley branton's deputy at the board of education project of the southern regional council.

and i remember vividly the atlanta b.e.p. meetings, when martin luther king, jr., whitney m. young, jr., roy wilkins, wiley branton, leslie dunbar, and dorothy height, sat around the conference table and engaged in heated discussions about voter registration and citizenship education in the 11 states of the old confederacy. during the most hotly debated moments of the meeting, dorothy height sat with her knitting needles, knitting away, until overcome with impatience and could not take the dictum any

longer. dorothy would methodically place the needles on the table, noticing it, the room would get exceedingly quiet. [laughter] >> and then the only woman in the established civil rights leadership group of that era, would have her say, and in doing so, restore unity and purpose to the discourse. not only -- [applause] >> -- not only did her male colleagues stop arguing, they hunted. and listened with an attentive ear. when i succeeded wiley brandons a the head of the w. e. p.,

dorothy height was my mentor and my friend. during my stewardship at uncf and the national urban league, dorothy height went with me, stood by me, and propped me up on every week i would lean aside. she put her long arms of protection around me and kept me on the straight and narrow as best she could. [applause] >> there is one unforgettable moment with dorothy height and myself. and a few others. in january of 1967, dorothy height, walter roy and i and several others, went to israel for a two-week study mission.

six months before the six-day war. dorothy was the only one in the group who had traveled abroad. it was the first time for the rest of us. she was always on time, properly dressed, and willingly paid her share for every night out on the town. she was our leader, and she taught us, in israel, the ins and outs of international travel. in the town of shiba, in the south, wheelaged -- we lodged at the desert inn. in the middle of dinner, the lights win out. the management found a few candles to light the room, and the band resumed playing.

walter roy and another minister, jim hargan, entertained us every night with their delightful melody. but this night in the dark for the most part, dorothy height, dr. dorothy height, went to the stage, consulted with the bandleader, and then she gave an unforgettable rendition of "summertime." dorothy height lit up the room with her melodious voice. so, we come tonight to thank dorothy height for lighting up the lives of black women in america, for lighting up the lives of black men and black families in america. to thank her for using her

intellect. her strength, love, courage, faith to light up our lives, to justice, fairness, and equality. i believe that in the annals of immortality and eternity, i can here dorothy singing to us in shiloh, this little light of mine, i'm going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine everywhere i go. i'm going to let it shine. all in my work, i'm going to let it shine. i'm going to let it shine. [applause] >> the most eloquent vernon jordan, and clearly this is not ambassador young, but it's

another noble man, who has been fighting for us since he was a boy, and who has taken blows to the body and soul, and thank god, john bois, our representative from atlanta, georgia, that you survived and you're here. [applause] >> my beloved bauers brothers ad sisters. i feel more than lucky, but very blessed, that i have had an opportunity to live in the age of dorothy height. this woman, this blessed woman,

never, ever lost a common touch. she was so beautiful. inside and out. i first met dorothy height more than 50 years ago. then she was so pure. she pure as gold and sweet as honey. the last time i saw this woman, this beautiful sister, my friend, at my birthday party on march 3rd. she was looking so beautiful. hair -- beautiful hat, you know, alexis, i would see her at the black caucus prayer breakfast

every september. we were seated at the same table, and i would try to give her a lug -- a hug and kiss, and sometimes it was very hard to get under that hat. [laughter] >> i know, i know you have heard during the height of the civil rights movements, and meeting with martin luther king, jr., whitney young and others, she was the only woman in the room. i was there. i saw it with my own eyes. some of us were not -- will not admitted today, but early days of the civil rights movement were mail chauvinist.

women like dorothy height and others did all the work. they did. [laughter] >> but they were never made heads of national civil rights organizations. i saw her. she never became bitter. she never became a hostage. she never gave up. she never gave in. she kept her faith. and she kept her eyes on the prize. in all of my years of knowing this woman, i never heard her say a mean or unkind word about anyone. not a soul. tonight, we should take a lesson, a page, from the life and book of dorothy height.

my friend, we're going to miss you. we will see you one day on the other side. [applause] >> thank you, john lewis, and vernon jordan. so many have come to pay tribute tonight so many are tributaries of that great work, the work of justice that rolled down like waters. the reverend bernice king, and our beloved coretta scott king, who i miss so much, younger bernice king is the first woman president of the southern leadership council, embodying the work of her father, and we welcome you hear tonight, madam president. [applause] >> pray for us, sister.

two minutes is short for a preacher. so welcome to the audible audubon. i'm going to do this real quick. if you miss something, blame it on that. to the height family, and to all of you, my brothers and sisters, it's my great honor to stand before you today as a daughter of the civil rights movement and on behalf of the king family. to pay tribute to the light on the hill a that was dorothy irene height. a woman loved and respects for her leadership of women, people of color and beyond. both my mother and father had a great love and a deep respect for dr. height, and she for them. they were friends and confidents. comrades in the cause, children of the most high god whose inters intertwined with the progress of our people. four years ago dr. height rid tribute to my mother by saying coretta scott king is a woman

who taught us how to level, would not be dominated by fear. this is an appropriate description of the quiet storm that was dorothy height. she was a magnificent woman overgot god, financially rooted in spirit, love, and dignity. upon encounters dr. heightor, knew she lived with a sense of purpose. she was called to greatness. as a leader in the civil and human rights struggle, she embodied what my father described as the strength to love. some would consider her to be doubly disadvantaged as an african-american and woman in leadership. yet she had a voice which refused to be sidelined or downsized. a woman of dignified grace who woke with a resounding echo. while dr. height was tall in stature, see was never too high to neglects the enurement and enrich. out the next generation. when she had call to sit, she stood. like my patients she heard the

cry of the oprocessed and refused to turn a deaf ear. my father once said, never -- use the weapon of love. dr. height lived this philosophy heart, mind and deed, never allowing the bitterness of racial injustice and gender inequity to infuse betterness in her spirit. embodying the very spirit of choice in her essence, character and persona, she never stooped so low as to allow anger, hostility, hurt or hate to poison her soul or enter her heart. despite being often you're looked, denied, rejected, excluded, crossed out and sidelined simply because she was a woman. instead, she forged ahead with the strength of love and an amazing faith and fortitude to ensure that a woman's voice was heard and women's presence was felt.

dr. height for her stature with great humanity. a candle in the dark who never forced herself in the limelight, she never postured or positioned herself to move to the forefront of the movement. yet she ended up with the singular distinction i dare to say of being the only person to counsel with almost a dozen u.s. presidents. [applause] >> dr. height found herself anchored between what my father described as the forces of history and the forces of destiny. i can reef late to the experience as i prepare for my installation later this summer as the first female president and ceo of the southern christian leadership conference. [applause] >> in preparation for my new role, i went to visit dr. height for months ago at the national council for negro women. i was seeking her advice and

counsel and to have recollection of her time with my parents. she reminded me we have a history to build upon and the most important thing is what we do today. and we are makers of where the history will take abuse the future. with that glow in her eye, she encouraged he to press on with courage and dignity, leading with love. dr. height was encouraged to see so many women rise to leadership roles and held great home for a future where our impact is felt in undeniable ways. i believe as one of the youngest on the program tonight that dr. height held on though age of 98 because she wanted to ensure that the generation that fold halt -- followed had the capacity and opportunity to carry on. i believe she held on to 98 because shes a seeds to sow, fires to light, lessons to teach, and, yes, william, she

had strength to impart, and so she did. i stand before you today knowing full well dr. height is saying to us, let us not rest on our laurels a, let produce on to social justice and equality knowing we will make a difference in the world. he must press forward knowing that the death of people of great there -- there is a shift in consciousness marching a defining moment which served as a catalyst for massive change, including and expressly for women in critical areas of leadership. i believe that day is today and the time is now. as i reflect on these times, with the passing of dr. height, the scripture reminds me that unless a seed fall on to the ground and die, i abides the lord. if it ties, it produces much true. well no doubt seeds of

dr. height has produced much fruit. and some of that fruit is here today. so i charge you to make the commitment be the fruit that is desperately needed in our world today because there's a generation that has been feasting off the fruited of selfishness, the fueled of greet, the fruit of corruption, the fruit of injustice, the fruit of racism, and the fruit of hostility, and -- but we need the fruit of unconditional love, the fruit of courage, the fruit of forgiveness, the fruit of freedom, in the truth of faith, hope, love, kindness to be prevalent so our young people can begin to lead a healthy and vibrant life and live out the destiny that god has given to them. as i take my. seat... [laughter] >> i'm just asking for a little equality tonight as the only woman preacher on the program. [laughter]

>> but as i take my seat, i end with the question that jesus asked peter three times. peter, do youoff love me? feet my sheep? peter responded three times, yes, i love you, you know i do. christ was asking peter, if you love me unconditionally, feed my sheep. well, i leave you with this call to action because dr. height's life and death were not in vain. her light calls us out today saying, if you love dr. dorothy irene height and her legacy, if you love and respect she struggle, feed the sheep. if you love dr. height, feed the youth of this world. feed the people who are blinded by deception, field the people who are crippled by economic disparities and racism.

feed the world of this world with true liberation, power and respect. if you love dr. height, feed others with the fruit of unconditional love. the fruited that comes out of your life. and dr. height,s a you have joined tható[ great cloud of witness, please let my mama and my daddy low, that in spite of the naysayers who say the movement is dead. in spite of the articles that pronounce death on the southern christian leadership conference that, the movement lives and we will continue the movement. [applause] >> my, my. my, my. well, rid say that sclc has the right leadership. god bless you. my, my. elder bernice king. look out for the s.c.l.c.

indeed. and now, we continue tributes from our civil rights leaders. please, i beg you all to hold your remarks to two minutes. i don't want to embarrass you i'm going to even step forward a little further and stand next to you. so, begin doing your editing now. please welcome, wade henderson, president and ceo, who is laughing behind me but i'm not kidding -- of the leadership conference on civil and human rights, along with one of the finest minds of the planet, ambassador andrew young. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. good evening, brothers and sisters. i turned to ambassador young a moment ago and said, i know you're up next. so you need to get prepared. but i obviously was wrong.

this is an extraordinary privilege, because dr. dorothy irene height was without question the grand dame of the civil rights movement. but she was so much more than that. was we have heard tonight, she was unquestionably a founding mother of the new american republic. now, for the past 15 years, i have had the privilege of serving dr. height in her capacity as the chairperson of what is now the leadership conference on civil and human rights. the nation's premiere civil and human rights coalition. now, dr. height imparted many lessons, and we have heard that

she had many gifts. her oratorical skill, her intellectual brilliance, her activism, her organizing ability, her inspirational quality, they were all there. but i learned many lessons from dr. height about leadership, and i learned leadership skills from her insight, from her mentorship, from all that she did, both great and small, to help impart the talent of one leader to another. i learned from dr. height the power of quiet dignity. i learned from dr. height the art of listening. i learned from dr. height that arrogance without substance is a mortal sin. i learned from dr. height that

transparency is important. but that every leader keeps a little artful manipulation in his back pocket or in her purse as the case of dr. height. i learned all those things from her. but i got a chance to see them in action when she first became chair of the leadership conference. because in order to become the chair, she pulled a coup d'etat on a young brother, newly minuted in the civil rights movement, and she taught this young brother a hardball lesson in the politics of civil rights organization, and she taught him the folly of his personal hubris, and imparted upon him the fact that the audacity of his chauvinistism had a price.

we heard about her -- we have seen her at her utmost bet, but in the vernacular of my generation, dr. height could hang. she was an extraordinary woman who had the ability to run with the foxes and to run with the hounds. i saw her once lead a demonstration, a spirited demonstration, in the streets of durban in south africa, and she led a coalition of trade unionists, marching for better jobs and equal pay in south africa, and here she was in her wheelchair with her gloves and hat and impeccable tailoring.

she is an extraordinary woman. she will be remembered for many things, but she will be perhaps most remembered for her contribution in bringing women's issues and women's rights to the table of civil rights. so it's only fitting that two weeks before her death, she -- rather, two weeks before her hospitalization, she was in the office of the leadership conference, chairing a meeting on the ratification of the convention of the elimination of discrimination against women, and we hope that will be a testament to her legacy when the senate ratifies that treaty this year. so, thank you. it's been an honor and a blessing to have known her. [applause] >> i come here in behalf of the men who owe all women, and especially dorothy heights, an

apology. we would not have had march on washington had it not been for dorothy height. those were some strong egos in this the room. [applause] >> i don't need you to clap, just listen. those were strong egos in the room, each one with a different view about how to gain freedom and those rascals, my friends and brothers, had the audacity to get up there and fight over who was going to speak and not let dorothy height speak at the march on washington. that was typical. you don't hear much about amelia boynton. yes, john got beat up. jose got beat up. but right behind john was ameala. you don't hear enough about diane nash in the sitin movements. you don't hear about the women who make us whoever we are. [applause]

>> i met our secretary of state before i met our former president, with the children's defense fund, and when i met him, i said you might get to be president because you had sense enough to marry a woman smarter than you. [laughter] >> there would not have been a martin luther king without a coretta scott. there would not have been me without a jean. there would not have been me without andrew ya, -- andrea, lisa and paula, my granddaughters. we are who we are because of our wives. i worried about the administration nil remembered that the president goes home to sleep with sister michelle. [laughter] >> and i don't care what he has heard all day.

i know what he is from that on, is god's truth, because god's truth comes out of the suffering and agony that we as a people experience, and that is most often experienced by our women. dorothy height also told me one time about being a basketball player. and a state tournament somewhere in pennsylvania that she won even though they were making all kinds of bad calls against her. and i think she is the testimony for the need for title ix because her team building experience is what it took to bring these male egos to together, to produce a march on washington, a civil rights bill in 1964, '65, presidential

elections, but never, never claiming the spotlight. all of you women treat us that way, and we don't deserve it. so, assert yourselves even more. you don't even have to be as quiet and as dignified as dorothy height. as my present wife is not. she knows how to get me straight when it's necessary. and i think that where we are now is a celebration of a continuing life. the spirits don't leave us. just ascened. -- ascended. then they saw him a few days later on the road. and they didn't see it but he never left.

i don't think our spiritual ancestors have left. i don't go a day without hearing something from martin luther king tell me i'm doing wrong. i don't know what my grand-mama is doing, but she is with me. dorothy height is not going anywhere. dorothy height will be amongst us, reminding us of all of the lessons of our life. listen. [applause] >> andrew young. and we accept the apology on behalf of dr. irene height. and now we welcome the reverend, the right reverend jesse jackson, who loved dr. dorothy so much, and who we loved so much. i'm going to ask you, too if you can remind people to fill those envelopees. you know how to get the money. so do that big favor for the

national council, will you, please? [applause] >> secretary clinton, distinguished members of president obama's administration, valerie jarrett, members of the family. tonight we celebrate the life and legacy of dorothy height, and our hearts do rejoice. i believe in short wed examination long funerals. if the funeral is worth the subject matter. i have been in the alter position -- position of having to eulogize someone who i did not know just for the sake of a friend or for some political

occasion, and the most awkward position a minister can be in is to deal with some one who you did not know, kind of lying about it. but we don't have to make up no special stories for dr. dorothy height. all of us have something to say, want to sing a song, give a poem, and read when we cannot contain ourselves tonight, because come pressing 100 years in a minute or two is a hard thing to do. i know all of you want to say something but couldn't be on the program, but you have been faked by dorothy's light. stand on your feet, p your hands together, express your love, your appreciation, express your thanks, express your thanks. [applause] >> for a -- for her living, for her work, for her service, for

her caring, for her sharing, for enduring, for example. put your hands together, like in a real big way. let the heavens declare the glory of god. put your hands together like you really, really mean it. [applause] >> say, thank you dorothy. [applause] >> members of the gospel were here tonight, so many friends, and young chairwoman of the naacp was in the room tonight, legacy merging, female leadership, and you, bernice, and all of you who are here tonight. i talked with the minority a month or so good, and still had this extra recall. her body did not outlast her

mind. she remained vigilant and coherent to the very end. dr. height at 98, dr. king left us at 39. malcom x at 39. jesus at 33. 98. and dorothy height closed her eyes for rest a few days ago, the vault to our memory bank was closed, and she was our living, walking library. 98 years, nearly a hundred years, a century of living, serving, leading, and learning. she was a moral authority. lighting the darkness with endurance. she came out of the fire. without the stench of smoke. she crossed the river but was

not muddy. she came out of hate and hurt but without bitterness. above all, her sense of god left her here as a witness, a witness. she worked with marie mccloud. we read about marie mccloud. she worked with her. she saw marcus. she worked with w. e. b. dubois, she heard and talked with paul robeson, andded a powell, sr. and adam powell, jr. i knew that adam would be something because his daddy fed the hungry in harlem. he comes out of his daddy's roots. he knew she knew martin luther king, sr. we were in selma. she commented that it was predestined for martin, dr. king, if i might say she said -- because his daddy was leading voter registration

drives in georgia in 1935. 30 years before 1965. she knew malcom x. she knew a. phillip randolph, and marion anderson, and roy wilson, price, and whitney youn, and walter price. and davis bates and delores tucker. she was our witness. she was the bridge for our century. she communicated with presidents roosevelt and truman and eisenhower and kennedy and lyndon baines johnson and nixon and president ford and carter and bush, sr. and, jr. and reagan and clinton, and then, god, moses -- because people were rebellious, saw the promisedan