E. Faye Williams is the chair of the National Congress of Black Women, a nonprofit group founded in 1984. It claims 20,000 members nationwide, mostly professional black women. Williams, a law school graduate who also has a doctorate and serves as a health care company executive, is leading her group in a campaign to have a statue of famed abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth placed in the U.S. Capitol.
Why do we need another statue on Capitol Hill?
We need role models for our young children. We try to raise their horizons.
Is there such a thing as the “black community” anymore?
Well, there are many black communities. Many of the young people who are growing up today have no way of knowing how they got to be what they are. That’s the responsibility of adults.
Why do you think so many young African-Americans are unaware of their history?
We’ve not done a good enough job. We have so much contradiction in our society. In many ways, things have gotten much worse in our community. Just look at the misogyny in the “gangsta rap.” But as the result of the [Don] Imus incident, people are a lot more aware that we’re facing real problems. We’re doing better than we were 15 years ago, when we were the only ones talking about those lyrics.
Census trends show that D.C. is losing its African-American majority. What do you think that’s going to mean culturally and politically?
I think it just means that all of us are going to have to face the fact that we live in a diverse world. Not just black people, either. We’re going to have to learn to get along with one another. Maybe this is the opportunity.
