One of the world's tireless advocates for justice turned 98 this past week and has been hospitalized. Dr. Dorothy Irene Height has spent most of her life fighting for the rights of children, women and African-Americans.
In all her years, she has never slowed down and has never failed to go when and where called. Having never married or had children, she has been nicknamed "secular nun" because despite not being part of a religious order, her service has been as selfless and dedicated to the public good as that of a nun.
I wish I could say I'd had the pleasure, to date, to meet Dr. Height. There are so many questions I would have asked her. Blessedly her life is available as an example.
Despite the hurdles and roadblocks placed in her way, she didn't pity herself and stop, she didn't become bitter and destructive. She got angry and used it to find creative ways around or to remove the roadblock. She used it to see the problem – not just the surface issue but its underlying motivations and causes – and identify potential solutions and implement them.