This year Black History Month celebrates African American women in American culture and history – something Miami Congresswoman Frederica Wilson knows a lot about.
“I'm a proud black woman,” she said.
Wilson, a longtime Miami activist who is now in Congress, told NBC Miami that strong black women deserve an entire month of recognition.
“We have always been there in the trenches, supporting the men but working twice as hard, raising the children and raising other people’s children,” Wilson said. “Black women hold such an honorable place in black history.”
Wilson feels young black women have made tremendous progress over the years, with advances in education and in the workforce.
And she says those ladies have older black women to thank.
“They've had strong mothers and strong grandmothers, but when that black male was absent, that black boy did not have that strong role model – but the black women had those,” she said.
Wilson represents some of the poorest people in Florida, as the 17th District includes Liberty City, Little Haiti and Overtown.
She is very proud of the ladies. But young black men need to step it up, she says.
“That’s why we try to bring so many role models so they can see black men who have surpassed and have come from the same humble beginnings that they came from, who didn't have a father, but in spite of it they were able to make it,” she said.
Wilson, who has quite a colorful collection of hats, may be most noted for establishing the "5000 Role Models of Excellence" program, a high school dropout prevention initiative that has been instrumental in keeping at-risk kids in school.
The African American news website theGrio recently singled her out as having a voice for the voiceless, and Congresswoman Wilson likes her company.
“Jason Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, the new mayor of Jacksonville … I was just astonished. I said, ‘You mean they see me in the same light?’" she said. "So it’s gonna be a win-win for my district.”
