Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was a feminist, civil rights activist, lawyer, poet, and priest best known for her co-authored book “Jane Crow and The Law: Sex Discrimination and Title VII”.  Murray worked to advance the standing of Black Americans, especially women, through her radical literary works and work as a lawyer. By establishing her own law firm after others refused to hire her, attainment of degrees of higher learning after denial from prestigious Universities such as Harvard who did not permit women, and standing with first-lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Murray quickly gained long-standing prominence as a figure in the movement.

The pictured passage, found in Murray’s diary entry from April of 1968, details an encounter with a man who could not “tolerate [her] independence...and warmth of personality” [Figure 1].  She explains the way in which her interpretation of a “spirited discussion” at dinner “was to him a threatening situation” for which she “received some flak” [Figure 2]. Murray expresses the urgency with which she feels the need to leave “as quickly and smoothly as possible” [Figure 1], and continues to refer to her relationship (unclear if platonic or sexual) with the man (“BP”) as a “situation” in need of addressing [Figure 1,2].

Murray represents the feared strength of Black women that was realized during her time.  Her radical and independent thoughts, inner motivation to act on her intuitions to advance her education and social standing, and refusal to conform to gender norms (seen in her same-sex relationships as well as her stereotypically male style of dress) all categorize her as one of many “radical” Black women in the 20th century.