Florynce Kennedy

Florynce Rae Kennedy (1916-200) was an American lawyer, activist and a pioneer in the second-wave of feminism. Wearing her cowboy hat and pink sunglasses, Kennedy gained a reputation of a fearless and flamboyant activist.

Early Life
Kennedy was born on February 11, 1916 in Kansas City, Missouri. Kennedy was the second child of five daughter to her parents Wiley and Zella Kennedy. Kennedy's childhood though uneventful and not always prosperous was happy and stable. Kennedy graduated at the top of her class in high school in 1934 but delayed going to college since higher education for Black people was seen as unrealistic. Kennedy instead went into business with her sister in their hometown. When Kennedy's mother died in 1942 her and her sister moved to New York City where Florynce began to attend Columbia University in 1944. In 1948, Kennedy applied to Columbia Law School but was denied access because she was a woman. Comlumbia eventually changed their decision and admitted Kennedy where she then became the second African-American woman to graduate from Columbia Law School. In 1952 Kennedy passed the New York bar exam and two years later opened up her own private practice.

Life as a lawyer
Becoming more determined to fight civil rights Kennedy, took on high profile cases. Some high-profile cases that Kennedy worked with was civil rights activist, H.Rap Brown and a female member of the Black Liberation Front. Kennedy also worked with the members of the Black Panther Party when they were charged with conspiracy to blow up a New York store. As a lawyer Kennedy was also interested in corporate accountability. Kennedy represented the estates of jazz musicians Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker. With the intense racism that Kennedy was facing in the courts, she questioned whether practicing law was her calling. Kennedy decided to bring social change another way by taking a more active approach in the movement.

Activism
In the 1960s Kennedy worked to include political involvement while battling the oppression of various arenas like homophobia, racism and sexism. Kennedy led boycotts against massive corporations, including Colgate-Palmolive, CBS headquarters and participating in anti Vietnam War and pro-liberation initiatives. Kennedy created the Media Workshop, an organization that worked to fight racism and discrimination in the media, in 1966. The organization led boycotts of advertisers that did not include African Americans in their ads. After one of the boycotts they led, Kennedy and the organization was invited inside one of the buildings they were protesting at to share their grievances with the advertisers. A few years later is when Kennedy career as a lecturer began. Kennedy attended a anti Vietnam War in Montreal and was furious when they didn't let Bobby Seale speak on the platform. Kennedy took over the platform and started yelling and protesting. After the speech she gave in Montreal, she was invited to Washington D.C.

Women's liberation
Kennedy focused on women's liberation for all women and encouraged the two races to work together. In fighting for women's rights, Kennedy helped found the Women Political Caucus and the National Black Feminist Party. Kennedy was an original member of the National Organization for Women and helped the group Radical Women to protest the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Also Kennedy founded the National Feminist Party, which in 1971 nominated Shirley Chisolm, the first African-American woman who was elected Congress for President. Kennedy even led a mass urination on Harvard University's campus grounds when she found out there was a shortage of female bathrooms. In 1969 Kennedy organized feminist lawyers New York's anti abortion laws. The following year the laws were overturned. In 1971 Kennedy teamed up with Diane Schulder and to write a book on the class action suit called Abortion Rap, the first book about abortion. Kennedy even went against the Roman Catholic church by filing a tax evasion. It was said that the church's vocal and financial against abortion breeched the tax-exempt status.

Later life
In 1976 Kennedy wrote her autobiography Color Me Flo: My hard life and good times, where she goes into extensive details about her life. Later in life Kennedy's health begins to decline she was unable to travel and lecture but she still continued her activism and even produced a weekly interview cable show. Kennedy spent most of her later life in a wheelchair. On December 21, 2000, Kennedy died at the age of 84.

Sources

Davis, Sue, "Florynce Kennedy: An Irreverent, Outspoken Activist", Workers World, 7 Dec.2006

"Florynce Kennedy Biography", Notable Biographies, Dec. 2006

"Florynce Kennedy Biography", Womens Rights Movement, Mar.2013

Garcia, Saudi, "Black History Month: 4 Famous Black Feminists You Never Learned About In School", MIC, 21 Feb.2013

Joyner, Marsha, "Florynce Kennedy", Civil Rights Movement Veterans, 7 Dec.2006

"Kennedy, Florynce 1916-2000", Contemporary Black Biography Encyclopedia, 30 Jan.2018