Suzy Post
Encyclopedia
Suzy Post, Louisville, Kentucky
(1933- ) is an award-winning civil rights activist in the struggle against discrimination
and social injustice
in Kentucky
. She joined a student branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
while a student at Indiana University
. She earned a degree in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley
in 1955, and returned to Kentucky in her late 20s to live near her extended family in Louisville.
was first organized in Louisville. Sit-in
s at segregated businesses were followed by the open housing
movement which challenged the cultural norms in real estate transactions that kept homeowners separated by race and religion.
In 1969 Post became president President of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union (later the American Civil Liberties Union
of Kentucky). The KCLU provided legal representation for those arrested at many open housing marches, and Post worked with others to raise bail before an open housing law was finally adopted.
While President of the KCLU, Post organized the first statewide women's conference and served as chair of the Kentucky Pro-Equal Rights Amendment
Alliance. Representatives came from a cross section of Louisville's social justice community, and Mayor Harvey I. Sloane
afterwards provided the Louisville-Jefferson County Human Relations Commission with funds to hire staff to monitor discrimination against women. Post worked for the local Commission for eight years. By 1972 the KCLU and the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights both filed a school desegregation
lawsuit against the Louisville-Jefferson County Board of Education which led finally to the development of a controversial busing
plan in 1975. As the mother of five children in public schools at that time, Post was seen by the group advised by Robert Settler (KCLU's volunteer general counsel and tenured law professor at the University of Kentucky
) to be the best candidate to serve as the plaintiff. By 1975 the court-ordered desegregation policy for the Jefferson County Public School system was one of the first in the country. Post also monitored the educational institutions' compliance with Title IX
prohibiting sex discrimination in education. When she was elected to the National American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) Board of Directors, she organized a women's caucus to improve the status of women on the national board, and directed the strategy planning in 1972 whereby the National ACLU made women's rights its top priority.
As part of the 1960s and '70s anti-war
movement in Louisville, made famous by the nation's best-known dissident Muhammed Ali, Suzy Post mentored and sheltered soldiers going AWOL, draft protesters and other youth who opposed the war in Vietnam.
As the chair of the KCLU she worked to protect the rights of the protesters, but also at times, along with other radicals like Anne and Carl Braden, broke the law personally by hiding soldiers fleeing from nearby Fort Knox. Providing space for meetings and access to printing machines, the Bradens and Post served as a sort of Underground Railroad for Kentuckians seeking to avoid military service in Vietnam.
After leaving the Human Relations Commission in 1982, Post became the Director of KCLU. She stayed there until 1990 when she accepted a job as founding Director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition (MHC) where she organized a Fair Housing Committee to monitor local compliance with fair housing
law. She resigned from MHC in 2006, and remains its Director Emeritus. She has received numerous awards from many state and local organizations, including the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Hall of Fame 2007. She remains a member of the NAACP, the ACLU of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Currently, Ms. Post is a "connector" in the Leadership Louisville Center's Connector Project, recognizing her success in the past "and has the ability to create and influence change in the Louisville and Southern Indiana region."
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
(1933- ) is an award-winning civil rights activist in the struggle against discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
and social injustice
Social injustice
Social injustice is a concept relating to the claimed unfairness or injustice of a society in its divisions of rewards and burdens and other incidental inequalities...
in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. She joined a student branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
while a student at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. She earned a degree in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1955, and returned to Kentucky in her late 20s to live near her extended family in Louisville.
Civil Rights Leadership
Ms. Post has been a social justice advocate since the 1950s when the Civil Rights MovementCivil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
was first organized in Louisville. Sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
s at segregated businesses were followed by the open housing
Fair housing
In the United States, the fair housing policies date largely from the 1960s. Originally, the terms fair housing and open housing came from a political movement of the time to outlaw discrimination in the rental or purchase of homes and a broad range of other housing-related transactions, such as...
movement which challenged the cultural norms in real estate transactions that kept homeowners separated by race and religion.
In 1969 Post became president President of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union (later the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
of Kentucky). The KCLU provided legal representation for those arrested at many open housing marches, and Post worked with others to raise bail before an open housing law was finally adopted.
While President of the KCLU, Post organized the first statewide women's conference and served as chair of the Kentucky Pro-Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
Alliance. Representatives came from a cross section of Louisville's social justice community, and Mayor Harvey I. Sloane
Harvey I. Sloane
Harvey I. Sloane , a physician and Democrat, served two terms as Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky and also a term as county judge-executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky...
afterwards provided the Louisville-Jefferson County Human Relations Commission with funds to hire staff to monitor discrimination against women. Post worked for the local Commission for eight years. By 1972 the KCLU and the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights both filed a school desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
lawsuit against the Louisville-Jefferson County Board of Education which led finally to the development of a controversial busing
Busing
Busing may refer to:* Busing, the use of road vehicle designed to carry passengers* Desegregation busing in the United States* John Busing , American football strong safety...
plan in 1975. As the mother of five children in public schools at that time, Post was seen by the group advised by Robert Settler (KCLU's volunteer general counsel and tenured law professor at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
) to be the best candidate to serve as the plaintiff. By 1975 the court-ordered desegregation policy for the Jefferson County Public School system was one of the first in the country. Post also monitored the educational institutions' compliance with Title IX
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...
prohibiting sex discrimination in education. When she was elected to the National American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
(ACLU) Board of Directors, she organized a women's caucus to improve the status of women on the national board, and directed the strategy planning in 1972 whereby the National ACLU made women's rights its top priority.
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
movement in Louisville, made famous by the nation's best-known dissident Muhammed Ali, Suzy Post mentored and sheltered soldiers going AWOL, draft protesters and other youth who opposed the war in Vietnam.
As the chair of the KCLU she worked to protect the rights of the protesters, but also at times, along with other radicals like Anne and Carl Braden, broke the law personally by hiding soldiers fleeing from nearby Fort Knox. Providing space for meetings and access to printing machines, the Bradens and Post served as a sort of Underground Railroad for Kentuckians seeking to avoid military service in Vietnam.
After leaving the Human Relations Commission in 1982, Post became the Director of KCLU. She stayed there until 1990 when she accepted a job as founding Director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition (MHC) where she organized a Fair Housing Committee to monitor local compliance with fair housing
Fair housing
In the United States, the fair housing policies date largely from the 1960s. Originally, the terms fair housing and open housing came from a political movement of the time to outlaw discrimination in the rental or purchase of homes and a broad range of other housing-related transactions, such as...
law. She resigned from MHC in 2006, and remains its Director Emeritus. She has received numerous awards from many state and local organizations, including the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Hall of Fame 2007. She remains a member of the NAACP, the ACLU of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Currently, Ms. Post is a "connector" in the Leadership Louisville Center's Connector Project, recognizing her success in the past "and has the ability to create and influence change in the Louisville and Southern Indiana region."
External links
- Leadership Louisville's Connectors, Leadership Louisville Center
- "Suzy Post, Louisville, Ky. (1933-)" Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Hall of Fame 2007
- Suzy Post entries, Kentucky Women in the Civil Rights Era, University of Kentucky