I get excited about any chance to dress up, and it’s a good thing I did. When I walked into the Halton theater at CPCC, everyone was decked out in gorgeous dresses and suits. The wife of U.S. Representative Mel Watt spoke, as did Mecklenburg County Commission chair Jennifer Roberts and many others. They all spoke about the honor of knowing Dorothy Height. It wasn’t until the lights dimmed that I realized how little I knew about this great woman.

The musical talks about her work with the YWCA. How she tried to make sure women had a voice during the civil rights movement. Her decades of work with the National Council of Negro Women. Her close relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Her trips down into Mississippi, risking her life to get blacks registered to vote.

I watched with pride and on the brink of tears as the musical took me through the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s through pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr., the murdered Emmett Till, the four girls killed in the Alabama church bombing and the assassination of John F Kennedy, Jr. Reality sunk in. This part of our history is only decades removed.

When it was all over, a clip from Dorothy Height was played. At 95-years-old, she is still sharp, with a purple suit and matching hat. In her video address, Height charged that we must remember the past and study it, so we know what to strive for in the future.

I walked out feeling empowered and challenged. I am thankful about the fight others fought so that I might have a sound future. In fact, if it weren’t for women like Dorothy Height, my life could be very different right now. Even still, there are young people, the poor, and many others looking for people to speak for them. If a young Dorothy Height could make a difference for so many, I understand now that I have a voice that can make a difference, too. We all do.

If This Hat Could Talk continues to play this week at the Halton Theater on the CPCC campus. It is worth it if you have time to see it.