At the 36th Annual Pauli Murray Awards in Orange County, NC in support of, and to heckle, my friend/committed frienemy/former 5th grade assistant teacher Anissa McLendon, whose
@e3.camp , now in its 9th year(!), picked up a well-deserved award for its work offering free arts and sciences summer camp to Black and brown students in
@chapelhillcarrboroschools .
—
About Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray/Murray’s ties to Orange County and Senate District 23–in brief because tomes can and have been written:
A genius, Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was a human rights activist, legal scholar, author, labor organizer, poet, Episcopal priest, multiracial Black and LGBTQ+ North Carolinian. Murray was the first Black person to earn a JSD (Doctor of the Science of Law) degree from Yale Law School, a founder of the National Organization for Women and the first Black person perceived as a woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest.
Murray’s ties to Orange County run deep. Murray’s grandmother was a slave in Orange County, and Murray’s great-grandfather was a slave owner. In 1938, Murray fought for admission into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—13 years before our University would admit its first Black students—where Murray was rejected because of race, and then to Harvard, where Murray was rejected because of gender.
Ultimately graduating from Yale, Murray became a civil rights lawyer, professor and university vice president. S/he came up with the legal theory, as a law student, that underpinned Brown v Board (this is a fascinating story in itself) that brought down segregation in schools. In 1966, Murray became a founding member of the National Organization for Women.
In 1977, Murray became the first Black person perceived as a woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. Murray gave their first Eucharist at The Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, the same chapel where their grandmother had been baptized as an enslaved person in 1854.
A great North Carolinian; I am proud to represent a district that has honored Murray’s legacy for decades.
—
credit to
@paulimurraycenter of Durham for some of the historical details. ♥️
![“Lux Libertas and Renovate Greenlaw” Snaps with some good Tar Heels supporting the alma mater at the southern end of Senate District 23 at Carolina’s 35th Annual Legislative Reception, including fellow ‘09 alum @mg1nyard, to whom I admitted today giving up Phase 1 Duke-UNC tickets our senior year because I thought I had a non-basketball game date [I did not in fact have a date, period]. A burden has been lifted.#unc #tarheels #uncchapelhill #goheels](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6727205636462849455167_0_8eef72ef43675dfaefccb09f6a5dd4b7.jpg?o=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&h=1c076a3c32a28be3cf030852922702d0)
