UWCA is celebrating Black History Month with brief stories from our own staff and community volunteers. We asked them one question: Who is your Black History Superhero? Today’s respondent is Jasmine Wright, one of UWCA’s 2019 Loaned Executives from Protective Life Corporation and a strong advocate for United Way, having served on our Visiting Allocation Teams and preparing to chair this year’s internal campaign at Protective.
“I have so many superheroes from Black History,” said Jasmine, “but if I had to choose just one, and assuming it couldn’t be my mother, I would choose Coretta Scott King. I am told that she is a distant cousin of mine as my paternal grandfather’s mother was a Scott. She is a hero to me because it takes a great woman to support and sacrifice her husband in the fight toward equal and fair treatment for everyone, not just her own household. Even after his death, she continued the movement in so many ways. She pushed and successfully fought to get her husband’s birthday established as a national holiday, which has since been considered a national day of service. She not only advocated for the African American race but also fought for the rights of the LGBTQ community. She also worked to build and establish the King Center in Atlanta, where she continued the great work of Dr. King. What an inspiration!”