Marian Wright Edelman: Children’s Advocate
By Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

Growing up in a family of 12 foster children tended to by her nurturing mother and minister father, Marian had to care about children. Her role as child advocate par excellence for the past 25 years has finally culminated in the landmark comprehensive legislation Leave No Child Behind. Both New York senators are behind it as are 80 House co-sponsors. There is still much work to be done before passage. The bill focuses on childcare and health care. “There are 12 million children living in poverty and 80 percent live with working parents that have no child care. There is no reason for that in the richest nation in the world,” Wright avers forcefully. She adds, “Bush is using words but not putting the dollars behind the words.”

The Children’s Defense Fund, which Edelman founded and runs in Washington D.C., has several branches in key cities that concentrate on state and local work, including lobbying for new laws and helping to implement those that have been passed.

Edelman was attracted to legal work after being part of the civil rights movement in the South. When she saw the great need of the poor people she “followed the need and decided she could help best by becoming an attorney.” After Yale law school, she went to Mississippi as a civil rights lawyer interested in school desegregation, Head Start and the broader social and economic needs of the community. In the public arena, Edelman soon realized that passing a law was one step, making the law work was another, and that “all adults have to stand up and speak for children who have no voice.” In that process, they affirm the struggle for social justice and enable the children to stand up for their own rights as well. “We adults must leave no child behind.”

In discussing difficulties in her life, Edelman cited the balance between work and family. Her own family in the South stressed that she could be and do whatever she wanted. Russian history beckoned but the pivotal point was the civil rights movement, which gave her an outlet for her anger.

Her mentors were those who fought for social justice: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr. Benjamin Mayes, former President of Morehouse College.

Edelman grew up with the clarity and cohesiveness of the family and community in the South. Religion was a strong force and the belief that “every child is sacred.” That has been her credo and inspiration for her life’s work.#

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