Marian Wright Edelman
LDF Attorney
Marian Wright Edelman is a prominent civil rights advocate and the founder of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). Marian Wright Edelman's connection to LDF is significant. She served as the director of LDF's office in Jackson, Mississippi, from 1964 to 1968. Mrs. Edelman, a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, began her career in the mid-60s and was the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar. Edelman's leadership and dedication have significantly influenced the fight for equality and the protection of vulnerable youth, inspiring generations to address the challenges faced by disadvantaged children and families.
Transcript
We're beginning to start a new welfare litigation program, because welfare, we find, is the central issue in the state, because it means for many, many Negro citizens, the difference between eating and not eating at all. And while the welfare payments in the state are woefully inadequate, even the 26% of need that the state determines that it's necessary for a family to live decently, we find that even with this inadequate provision of the welfare program of the state of Mississippi, that many of the people who are still entitled to this are not getting it because of racial discrimination or because of maladministration by welfare officials. There are many practices welfare department have shown clear violation of state and federal law, and I think we've begun last week by filing our first suit against the welfare department to require, under the due process clause, a prior hearing before termination of welfare benefits, the first of an attack on unconstitutional, in our estimation, and illegal welfare practices.
Transcript
Even though we're trying as hard as we can our resources are limited. And there's great need for at least 15 or 20 Legal Defense Funds. We're spending a huge amount of our time, I think, in the community aspect of law, because I think over the years, we've learned that lawyers arguing cases in court really bring about very little change. Unless you can begin to deal with the problems of law and its applicability to communities and how people live, we aren't going to make very much progress.
