She was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties.
Participou activamente no movemento polos dereitos civís, traballando con Martin Luther King, Jr. e Malcolm X. A mediados da década de 1990 realizou arredor de oitenta aparicións ao ano no circuíto de discursos, o que continuou a facer ata os oitenta anos.