Margaret Sloan-Hunter, a feminist leader and civil rights advocate, died September 23 at the age of 57 in Oakland, California after suffering from a long illness. Sloan-Hunter was a former editor of Ms. magazine, as well as founder and first chairwoman of the National Black Feminist Organization. Gloria Steinem lauded Sloan-Hunter for uniting both feminist and black identities in her activist work. Steinem said in regard to Sloan-Hunter, “She used to say, ÔI’m not black Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and a woman Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,'” reports the Associated Press. “She really made clear that the black woman could be, and had to be, loyal to both her race and her gender.” Sloan-Hunter had been an activist from a very early age. At age 14, she joined the Chicago chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality. She was involved with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, participating in marches with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After moving to California in 1975, Sloan-Hunter helped organize the Berkeley Women’s Center and the Feminist School for Girls, according to the Oakland Tribune. She co-founded the Women’s Foundation, and worked with the Women’s Alcoholism Center as a member of its board of directors in San Francisco. BECOME A MEMBER of the Ms. magazine community.
Uncategorized
