Civil rights queen : Constance Baker Motley and the struggle for equality
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Provides an eye-opening account of the twin struggles for gender equality and civil rights in the 20th Century. Born to a blue-collar family during the Great Depression, Constance Baker Motley became the first black woman to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court, the first of ten she would eventually argue. She defended Martin Luther King in Birmingham, helped to argue in Brown vs. The Board of Education, and played a critical role in vanquishing Jim Crow laws throughout the South. She was the first black woman elected to the state Senate in New York, the first woman elected Manhattan Borough President, and the first black woman appointed to the federal judiciary. Civil Rights Queen captures the story of a remarkable American life, a figure who remade law and inspired the imaginations of African Americans across the country.