Florynce Rae Kennedy (February 11, 1916 – December 21, 2000) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

radical feminist Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

advocate,

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

, and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

Early life

Kennedy was born in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, to Wiley Kennedy and Zella Rae Jackman Kennedy, an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

family. Her father Wiley Kennedy was a

Pullman porter Pullman porters were men hired to work for the railroads as Porter (railroad), porters on sleeping cars. Starting shortly after the American Civil War, George Pullman sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry ...

, and later had a taxi business. The second of her parents' five daughters, she had a happy childhood, full of support from her parents, despite experiencing poverty in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and racism in her mostly white neighborhood. Kennedy remembered a time when her father had to be armed with a shotgun in order to ward off the strong neighborhood

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

presence that was trying to drive her family out."Florynce R. Kennedy 1916–2000", '' The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education'' (30): 57, December 1, 2000. She later commented: "My parents gave us a fantastic sense of security and worth. By the time the bigots got around to telling us that we were nobody, we already knew we were somebody."

Steinem, Gloria Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

"The Verbal Karate of Florynce R. Kennedy, Esq."
"Ms.blog" on the ''

Ms. Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine ...

'' website (August 19, 2011). Accessed June 15, 2012. Kennedy graduated at the top of her class at Lincoln High School, after which she worked many jobs including owning a hat shop and operating elevators. After the death of her mother Zella in 1942, Kennedy left Missouri for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, moving to an apartment in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

with her sister Grayce. Of the move to New York she commented, "I really didn't come here to go to school, but the schools were here, so I went." In 1944 she began classes at

Columbia University School of General Studies The School of General Studies (GS) is a liberal arts college and one of the undergraduate colleges of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights, Borough (New York City), New York City. GS is known prima ...

, majoring in

pre-law In the United States and Canada, pre-law (or prelaw) refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association (ABA) requires law schools to admit only students with an accredi ...

and graduated in 1949. However, when she applied to the university's law school, she was refused admission. In her autobiography Kennedy wrote,

The Associate Dean, Willis Reese, told me I had been rejected not because I was a Black but because I was a woman. So I wrote him a letter saying that whatever the reason was, it felt the same to me, and some of my more cynical friends thought I had been discriminated against because I was Black.

Kennedy met with the dean and threatened to sue the school. They admitted her. She was the only black person among eight women in her class. In a 1946 sociology class at Columbia University Kennedy wrote a paper that analogized the discourses of race and sex. "Kennedy hoped that comparing 'women' and 'Negroes' would hasten the formation of alliances". Kennedy aimed to make white people nervous by wearing her typical cowboy hat and pink sunglasses.

Career and acting

Kennedy graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1951. By 1954, she had opened her own office, doing matrimonial work, and some assigned criminal cases. She was a member of the Young Democrats. In 1956, she formed a legal partnership with the lawyer who had represented

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

in regards to drug charges. Kennedy then came to represent Holiday's estate, and also that of

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

. Kennedy acted in the films '' The Landlord'' (1970), adapted from Kristin Hunter's 1966 novel, in which she played "Enid", and the independent political drama '' Born In Flames'' (1983), directed by

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman who was Trial, tried and Acquittal, acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her Patricide, father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was c ...

, in which she played "Zella". Kennedy also acted in '' Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow'' alongside

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

and directed by Edward Mann) and was seen on the TV series '' Some of My Best Friends are Men'' (1973). Kennedy was one of many narrators in the second volume of a film entitled '' Come Back, Africa: The Films of Lionel Rogosin'', which discussed African-American history as well as

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. This film was created to "serve as a unique piece of African American oral history". In 1997, Kennedy received a Lifetime Courageous Activist Award, and the following year was honored by

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with their Owl Award for outstanding graduates. In 1999, the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

awarded her the Century Award.

Activism

Kennedy used

Intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

as her approach to activism. Sherie Randolph, in her book ''Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Radical Black Feminist'', quotes Flo saying: "My main message is that we have a pathologically, institutionally racist, sexist, classist society. And that niggerizing techniques that are used don't only damage black people, but they also damage women, gay people, ex-prison inmates, prostitutes, children, old people, handicapped people, native Americans. And that if we can begin to analyze the pathology of oppression… we would learn a lot about how to deal with it."Randolph, Sherie (2015). ''Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical'', USA: University of North Carolina Press, pp. 1, 157, 158. Kennedy kept revisiting the same aim: "urging women to examine the sources of their oppression. She spoke of day to day acts of resistance that we can all take and hold her own arrests and political actions."lipton, carol (1974-08-01). "'balancing the scales' women and justice". ''Off Our Backs'' 4 (9): 16. Kennedy summed up her protest strategy as "Mak ngwhite people nervous". Kennedy often dressed in a

cowboy hat The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, C ...

and pink

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...

."Feminist Flo Kennedy, Civil Rights Lawyer, Dies"
''The Washington Post'', December 24, 2000. Another trademark in public appearances were false eyelashes, which she referred to as her "

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

" lashes, and which she used to great effect. Kennedy had a summer home on

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy once again divided Fire Island into two islands. Together, these two isl ...

, and was a popular fixture on the social scene there, entertaining many activists whom she invited to visit her. Kennedy held regular salons in her apartment on East 48th Street, off Fifth Avenue, in New York City. She would preside over networking and facilitate people meeting each other, sharing ideas, and was always coming up with projects. She would give tours of her apartment, directing guests to the "filthy room" and the "dirty room".

Early activism

Her activism began early. According to Jason Chambers in his book ''Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry'', "After graduating high school, ennedyorganized a successful boycott against a Coca-Cola bottler who refused to hire black truck drivers." "Kennedy recalled being arrested for the first time in 1965 when she attempted to reach her home on East 48th Street and police refused to believe she lived in the neighborhood. From that point on, she focused her attention on combatting racism and discrimination."Kennedy, Florynce
Papers of Florynce Kennedy, 1915-2004 (inclusive), 1947-1993 (bulk)
. Schlesinger Library: Kennedy, 2004. She worked as an activist for

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

, and the cases she took on increasingly tended to be related to these causes. She was close friends with fellow Columbia law graduate Morton Birnbaum MD, whose concept of

sanism Sanism, saneism, mentalism, or psychophobia refers to the discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong ...

she influenced during the 1960s.Burnbaum, Rebecca
"My Father's Advocacy for a Right to Treatment"
''Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law'' 38:1:115–123 (March 2010). Kennedy established the Media Workshop in 1966, "

sing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

these sessions to discuss strategies for challenging the media and to stress the importance of sharing tactical information across movement lines." She and others would picket and lobby the media over their representation of Black people. She stated that she would lead boycotts of major advertisers if they did not feature black people in their ads. She attended all three

Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...

conferences and represented H. Rap Brown,

Assata Shakur Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947), also known as Joanne Chesimard, is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the murder of state troope ...

and the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

. Kennedy also represented prominent radical feminist

Valerie Solanas Valerie Jean Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988) was an American radical feminist known for her attempt to murder the artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas appeared in the Warhol film '' I, a Man'' (1967) and self-published the '' SCU ...

, who was on trial for the 1968 attempted murder of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

. Kennedy played a significant role in formulating the

Miss America protest The Miss America protest was a demonstration held at the Miss America 1969 contest on September 7, 1968, attended by about 200 feminists and civil rights advocates. The feminist protest was organized by New York Radical Women and included put ...

of 1968. The Miss America protest was used as a tool to demonstrate the "exploitation of women". Randolph noted in her book, ''Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical'', that the responsibility lay with Kennedy to recruit other black feminists to this protest. During the protest multiple women were arrested and Kennedy took on their cases as their attorney. In the 1970s Kennedy traveled the lecture circuit with writer

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

. If a man asked the pair if they were lesbians – a stereotype of feminists at the time – Kennedy would quote Ti-Grace Atkinson and answer, "Are you my alternative?" She was an early member of the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

, but left them in 1970, dissatisfied with their approach to change. In 1971 she founded the Feminist Party, which nominated

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional dist ...

for president. She also helped found the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) is an organization which was founded in 1971 by leaders of the women's liberation movement to promote women's participation in government. The group describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots or ...

. Beginning in 1972 she served on the advisory board of the

Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective The Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective was a group of professional women playwrights in New York active from 1971 to 1975. They wrote and produced feminist plays and were one of the first feminist theatre groups in the United States to do so ...

, a New York City theatre group that produced plays on feminist issues. Kennedy's "position on the role of black feminists was diplomatic without being evasive." Kennedy supported abortion rights and co-authored the book ''Abortion Rap'' with Diane Schulder. The phrase "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament" is sometimes attributed to Kennedy, although

attributed it to "an old Irish woman taxi driver in Boston" whom she said she and Kennedy met. In 1972, Kennedy filed tax evasion charges with the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

against the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, saying that their campaign against abortion rights violated the separation of church and state. Sherie Randolph outlines in her article "Not to Rely Completely on the Courts" that Kennedy was one of the lawyers in the ''Abramowicz v. Lefkowitz'' case, the class action suit that wanted to repeal New York's strict abortion laws.Randolph, Sherie (2015). "Not to Rely Completely on the Courts: Florynce 'Flo' Kennedy and Black Feminist Leadership in the Reproductive Rights Battle, 1969–1971". ''Journal of Women's History'': p. 137. Randolph stated: "This case was one of the first to use women who suffered from illegal abortions as expert witnesses instead of relying on physicians." "These tactics were eventually used in the ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

'' case, in 1973, which overturned restrictive abortion laws." Kennedy was a lawyer for the Women's Health Collective and 350 plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit about abortion in New York.Price, Kimala (2010), "What is Reproductive Justice? How Women of Color Activists Are Redefining The Pro-Choice Paradigm", ''Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism'', p. 45.

Later activism

After the 1971 rebellion at Attica Prison in New York State arose as a result of human rights abuse, the issue of solidarity arose between the black power movement and the feminist movement, often forcing activists to choose between the two. Kennedy addressed the discord that feminists had against those who supported both the black power movement and feminism by saying: "We do not support Attica. We ARE Attica. We are Attica or we are nothing." In 1973 Kennedy co-founded with

Margaret Sloan-Hunter Margaret Sloan-Hunter (May 31, 1947 – September 23, 2004) was a Black feminist, lesbian, civil rights advocate, and one of the early editors of ''Ms.'' magazine. Early life Margaret Sloan-Hunter was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on May 31, ...

the

National Black Feminist Organization The National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) was founded in 1973. The group worked to address the unique issues affecting black women in America.Wilma Pearl Mankiller. The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History, Houghton Mifflin Books, 1998 ...

(NBFO), which also dealt with race and gender issues such as reproductive rights and sterilization campaigns that were aimed at specific races. In 1973, to protest the lack of female bathrooms at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, women poured jars of fake urine on the steps of the university's Lowell Hall, a protest Kennedy thought of and participated in. When asked about this, she said:

I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady with a fused spine and three feet of intestines missing and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me.

In 1974, ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine wrote that she was "The biggest, loudest and, indisputably, the rudest mouth on the battleground." In 1977, Kennedy became an associate of the

Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) is an American nonprofit publishing organization that was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1972. The organization works to increase media democracy and strengthen independent media. Basic informati ...

(WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. A strong opponent of military and interventionist wars, especially the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Kennedy coined the term "

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

orrhea".

Personal life

In 1946, Kennedy wrote a monograph called "The Case Against Marriage", which she later summarized in her autobiography:

...the idea being that marriage is a crock. Why should you lock yourself in the bathroom just because you have to go three times a day?

In 1957 Kennedy married science fiction author Charles Dye, who was previously married to fellow science fiction author Katherine MacLean. Dye suffered from

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

and died , in his mid-30s. Kennedy never remarried or had children. In 1986 on her 70th birthday, Kennedy had a birthday gala at the New York City

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club ...

, sponsored by

Christie Hefner Christie Ann Hefner (born November 8, 1952) is an American businesswoman. She was chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises from 1988 to 2009, and is the daughter of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Early life Hefner was born in Chicago, ...

—daughter of

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

and former CEO of Playboy Enterprises. Kennedy contributed the piece "Institutionalized oppression vs. the female" to the 1970 anthology '' Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings From The Women's Liberation Movement'', edited by

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...

. In 1976, Kennedy wrote an autobiography, ''Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good Times'' (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall), in which she wrote about her life and career. She also collaborated with

William Francis Pepper William Francis Pepper (August 16, 1937 – April 7, 2024) was an American lawyer who was based in New York City and noted for his efforts to prove government culpability and the innocence of James Earl Ray in the assassination of Martin Luther ...

on the book ''Sex Discrimination in Employment: An Analysis and Guide for Practitioner and Student''. She died on December 21, 2000, at her home in New York, aged 84. Kennedy was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

who was once noted as saying: "It's interesting to speculate how it developed that in two of the most anti-feminist institutions, the church and the law court, the men are wearing the dresses".

In popular culture

Kennedy was featured twice in 2020 biopics of other women. In ''

Mrs. America Mrs. America may refer to; * ''Mrs. America'' (miniseries), a 2020 US television mini-series * Mrs. America (contest), a US national beauty pageant See also * '' Mr. and Mrs. America'', a 1945 film * Mr. America (disambiguation) * Miss America ...

'', an FX limited series about

Phyllis Schlafly Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (; born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart; August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was an American attorney, conservative activist, and anti-feminist, who was nationally prominent in conservatism. She held paleoconservative soc ...

Niecy Nash Carol Denise Betts (previously Nash, née Ensley; born February 23, 1970) (), known professionally as Niecy Nash, is an American actress. Her career began in the late 1990s, with appearances in the films '' Boys on the Side'' (1995) and '' Cooki ...

portrayed her, while in the 2020

biopic ''

The Glorias ''The Glorias'' is a 2020 American biographical drama film directed and produced by Julie Taymor, from a screenplay by Taymor and Sarah Ruhl. The film is based upon ''My Life on the Road'' by Gloria Steinem who is played by 4 actresses, represent ...

'', she was played by

Lorraine Toussaint Lorraine Toussaint ( born April 4, 1960) is a Trinidadian–born actress based in the United States. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Black Reel Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. To ...

. In

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

' 2023 sketch comedy limited series ''

History of the World, Part II ''History of the World, Part II'' is an American sketch comedy limited television series written and produced by Mel Brooks, Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen. The series serves as a sequel to the 1981 film written and ...

'', Kennedy is portrayed by

Kym Whitley Kym Whitley (born July 21, 1962) is an American comedian, actress and podcaster. She is known for her roles on television sitcoms, such as ''My Brother and Me'', '' Sparks'', ''Animal Practice'', ''The Boondocks'', ''Young & Hungry'', ''The Park ...

References

External links

Florynce Kennedy (1916 — 2000)
As remembered by Marsha Joyner
Civil Rights Movement Archive
website.
Papers of Florynce Kennedy, 1915-2004 (inclusive), 1947-1993 (bulk)Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Florynce Kennedy
fro
"Tenacious Women: Activists in a Democratic Society"
, exhibit at Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University
Florynce Kennedy
from the KC Black History website
2021 Kansas City Black History Booklet
created by the Black Archives of Mid-America, Local Investment Commission, and the

Kansas City Public Library The Kansas City Public Library is a public system headquartered in the Central Library (Kansas City, Missouri), Central Library in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri. The system operates its Central Library and neighborhood branches l ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Florynce 1916 births 2000 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights American civil rights lawyers American women's rights activists African-American feminists American feminists Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Lawyers from Kansas City, Missouri Activists from Kansas City, Missouri American autobiographers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers American women autobiographers 20th-century American lawyers American atheists Missouri Democrats New York (state) Democrats 20th-century American women lawyers American women civil rights activists 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American lawyers Second wave feminists