Roy Wilkins

Roy Wilkins had to be sold on Sarah Miller before he recruited her. It was not a hard sell. "With one save, I said, 'This could be the greatest goalie - ever,' " Wilkins said. Miller certainly is one of the best soccer goalkeepers in NCAA Division III. The Richard Stockton sophomore has registered six shutouts and allowed three goals in the Ospreys' 7-2 start. She is supported by a veteran defense, but Wilkins said: "When shots come at her, she's ready for them. " Which is the first thing Wilkins discovered about the Highland graduate - and the last thing he needed to know.

Dorothy I. Height was often inaccurately described as a leading lady in the civil rights movement, or some similar gender-specific appellation. In truth, she was as important as any man to the herculean effort to turn this nation away from its long history of racial discrimination and oppression. Height died Tuesday at age 98. She should be remembered for her tireless work to try to make America live up to the ideal of liberty and justice for all. For 40 years until 1997, Height ran the National Council of Negro Women, which had been founded in 1935 by her mentor, noted educator Mary McLeod Bethune.

In the years that followed the publication of The Philadelphia Negro, W.E.B. Du Bois would emerge as one of the nation's most influential - if not well-known - leaders. Du Bois had left Philadelphia disappointed that the progressive, white community did not take up his suggestions to pursue racial equality. He worked briefly for the U.S. Department of Labor, but never again associated himself with a white educational institution. (During his lifetime, though, students at such institutions would study his work.

OWEN GOWANS was only 4-years-old when Cecil B. Moore, the fiery-tongued, flamboyant lawyer and civil-rights leader, led picketing for seven months and 17 days in 1965 outside the 10-foot stone wall that surrounded fortresslike Girard College. Day after day, from May 1 to Dec. 17, marchers demanded that the North Philadelphia school - founded in 1848 for "poor, white, orphan boys" - open its gates to black boys. Stephen Girard, a wealthy merchant and banker, died in 1831. He left millions to the city to establish the school.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington, one of the 20th century's most pivotal moments. A quarter of a million black and white people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on that hot summer day to demonstrate their support for civil rights legislation, jobs and freedom for blacks. The march, probably more than any other demonstration he had been involved in, made the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the single most influential civil rights leader in the nation.

Cecil B. Moore was flamboyant, loud and often profane. But as one of Philadelphia's pioneering civil rights leaders, he got the job done. The fiery and controversial president of the Philadelphia NAACP took on a wide array of issues: The ban against blacks at Girard College. The Mummers' use of blackface. Trade-union bans against black workers. The tough tactics of Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo. When Moore died in 1979, his legacy was profound but simple: advancing the cause of blacks throughout the city he deeply loved.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will be 100 years old next year, and judging from the 3,000 or so folks who showed up for the organization's convention in Cincinnati recently, so will many of its members. Though the nation's largest and most important civil-rights organization boasts about 35,000 members under 21 out of a total of roughly 300,000, it comes across as "a geriatric club," in the wry evaluation of a former staff member. That unkind observation stems in part from the N-Double-A's habit of harping on the civil-rights victories of yesteryear, ancient history to younger blacks who weren't born when Brown v. Board outlawed segregation and Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed his dream.

Recently a friend offered me a list of top American leaders. It included former Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, entertainers Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey, Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons, evangelist T.D. Jakes, and golfer Tiger Woods. What is striking about the list is that all of the above are black Americans. Equally striking is that none of the names on the list belongs to anyone whose title is "civil rights leader. " A generation ago any list of top black leaders would have been dominated by civil rights leaders.

The firing of Benjamin Franklin Chavis from his post as executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People this past weekend was hardly a surprise among those familiar with the history of the organization. Many veteran observers were well aware that Chavis did not possess the reasoned, contemplative personality usually associated with the NAACP, but he had the support of the powerful board president, William Gibson. Chavis was considered by those who knew him to be an impatient radical, not given to responding to a board of directors.

Blistering words, demonstrations and lawsuits failed to unite the splinter groups that once made up the city's most influential civil rights organization. But efficiency will. Twenty-three years ago the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People broke apart amid a rancorous debate about the power and dominance of then president Cecil B. Moore. The five weakened and divided neighborhood chapters finally came together yesterday as one to elect a new leader and to forge a new order that will start with the new year.

Dorothy I. Height was often inaccurately described as a leading lady in the civil rights movement, or some similar gender-specific appellation. In truth, she was as important as any man to the herculean effort to turn this nation away from its long history of racial discrimination and oppression. Height died Tuesday at age 98. She should be remembered for her tireless work to try to make America live up to the ideal of liberty and justice for all. For 40 years until 1997, Height ran the National Council of Negro Women, which had been founded in 1935 by her mentor, noted educator Mary McLeod Bethune.

OWEN GOWANS was only 4-years-old when Cecil B. Moore, the fiery-tongued, flamboyant lawyer and civil-rights leader, led picketing for seven months and 17 days in 1965 outside the 10-foot stone wall that surrounded fortresslike Girard College. Day after day, from May 1 to Dec. 17, marchers demanded that the North Philadelphia school - founded in 1848 for "poor, white, orphan boys" - open its gates to black boys. Stephen Girard, a wealthy merchant and banker, died in 1831. He left millions to the city to establish the school.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will be 100 years old next year, and judging from the 3,000 or so folks who showed up for the organization's convention in Cincinnati recently, so will many of its members. Though the nation's largest and most important civil-rights organization boasts about 35,000 members under 21 out of a total of roughly 300,000, it comes across as "a geriatric club," in the wry evaluation of a former staff member. That unkind observation stems in part from the N-Double-A's habit of harping on the civil-rights victories of yesteryear, ancient history to younger blacks who weren't born when Brown v. Board outlawed segregation and Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed his dream.

Recently a friend offered me a list of top American leaders. It included former Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, entertainers Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey, Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons, evangelist T.D. Jakes, and golfer Tiger Woods. What is striking about the list is that all of the above are black Americans. Equally striking is that none of the names on the list belongs to anyone whose title is "civil rights leader. " A generation ago any list of top black leaders would have been dominated by civil rights leaders.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington, one of the 20th century's most pivotal moments. A quarter of a million black and white people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on that hot summer day to demonstrate their support for civil rights legislation, jobs and freedom for blacks. The march, probably more than any other demonstration he had been involved in, made the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the single most influential civil rights leader in the nation.

Cecil B. Moore was flamboyant, loud and often profane. But as one of Philadelphia's pioneering civil rights leaders, he got the job done. The fiery and controversial president of the Philadelphia NAACP took on a wide array of issues: The ban against blacks at Girard College. The Mummers' use of blackface. Trade-union bans against black workers. The tough tactics of Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo. When Moore died in 1979, his legacy was profound but simple: advancing the cause of blacks throughout the city he deeply loved.

Roy Wilkins had to be sold on Sarah Miller before he recruited her. It was not a hard sell. "With one save, I said, 'This could be the greatest goalie - ever,' " Wilkins said. Miller certainly is one of the best soccer goalkeepers in NCAA Division III. The Richard Stockton sophomore has registered six shutouts and allowed three goals in the Ospreys' 7-2 start. She is supported by a veteran defense, but Wilkins said: "When shots come at her, she's ready for them. " Which is the first thing Wilkins discovered about the Highland graduate - and the last thing he needed to know.

Of the many special moments, and there were several, in Black Philadelphia Memories, a documentary aired last night on WHYY (Channel 12), the brief profile of Cecil B. Moore was, for me, the most captivating of the 90-minute program. This city has not seen in this century a more challenging agitator of the status quo than Moore, criminal lawyer, head of the Philadelphia NAACP, and city councilman who died 20 years ago last February. Last week at the National Bar Association's national convention, several black lawyers and judges from other cities remembered Moore and talked to me about him. (Although we share the same name, we are not related.

In the years that followed the publication of The Philadelphia Negro, W.E.B. Du Bois would emerge as one of the nation's most influential - if not well-known - leaders. Du Bois had left Philadelphia disappointed that the progressive, white community did not take up his suggestions to pursue racial equality. He worked briefly for the U.S. Department of Labor, but never again associated himself with a white educational institution. (During his lifetime, though, students at such institutions would study his work.

Chris Roeschke was an all-American at Toms River South High School, so it should come as no surprise that the sophomore striker is the second-leading scorer on this year's nationally ranked Richard Stockton women's soccer team. No surprise, that is, until you learn that Roeschke is also a 31-year-old mother of two. "In the beginning, nobody really knew how to . . . act around her," said junior Shannon Keelan, who leads the Ospreys with a school-record 21 goals. "At the same time, she was our teammate, so we didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.