Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a Black History Month event and honored women who contributed to the civil rights movement. Panelists included Carlotta Walls Lanier and Charlayne Hunter Gault. Hunter Gault received a top honor? earlier this month from the Washington Press Club Foundation as well as a 2014 Freedom Award. Walls Lanier was a member of the Little Rock Nine.
?These women represent many different facets and eras of the movement,? the first lady said. ?But there is something that connects each of their stories, a common thread that animates their lives, and that is their hunger for and belief in the power of education.?
Sherrillyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Chanelle Hardy, National Urban League senior vice president for policy and executive director of the National Urban League Washington Bureau; and Janaye Ingram, national executive director of the National Action Network were also on the panel.
The panel discussion was moderated by Essence Editor-in-Chief Vanessa K. De Luca.
