"Florynce-Rae-"Flo"Kennedy(February 11,1916-December 21, 2000)

Born in Kansas City Missouri,she came to New York and began pre-law at

Columbia in 1942.When the dean told her that couldn't admit her to the law school not because was was black but because she was a woman,well she had a little sit down with the dean and she told him "either way it seems the same to me" and then threatened to sue.They admitted her.


Florynce graduated in 1951 and opened  her own law office.Along with her partner she managed Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker's estates.Florynce went on to be very active in feminist and civil right activism.She founded the feminist party (which ran Shirley Chisholm for president),helped the Women's Political Caucus and was an early member of the National Organization for Women.Florynce toured with Gloria Steinem doing speaking engagements and when the two encountered annoying reporters wanting to know if they were lesbians Flo would always respond "Are you my alternative?".


Pro Choice activism was a huge part of her work and at one point she even filed tax evasion charges with the IRS against the Catholic Church saying their pro-life campign went against church/state separation.


In 1966 Florynce founded the  Media Workshop to picket and lobby the media over the mis-representation of African Americans in the media.She attended all three Black Power conferences and represented the Black Panthers.


A favorite of Flo's political actions was to protest the lack of female bathrooms at Harvard. She lead a mass unination on the grounds.


Florynce also had occasional acting was appearances in the cult indie movie Born in Flames and  the 1970 movie The Landlord.


In Flo's own words "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 1946, Florynce wrote a monograph called "The Case  Against Marriage" which she later summarized in her autobiography as 




"... 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 she married science fiction author Charles Dye,who was previously married to fellow science fiction author Kathrine MacLean.Charles suffered from alcoholism and died circa 1960, in his mid-thirties.Florynce never remarried or had children.


In 1976,she wrote an autobiography called Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good times.