My Name is Pauli Murray is a documentary film on the life and accomplishments of Pauli Murray. The film takes you through her struggles of not only being a female but an African American female in the early part of the 20th century. He was a fierce advocate of equal rights for women, civil rights and equality for people of color. She often pushed back against Jim Crowe laws and refused to abide by unfair laws. Such as, being denied the right to attend the University of North Carolina due to her race. She was close friends with Elanor Roosevelt and other feminist at the time.
Throughout her life she has dealt with “othering” from racism, sexism and prejudice due to her sexual orientation. From her time being jailed for not moving to the back of the Greyhound before Rosa Parks to being denied the right to attend the University of North Carolina and Columbia University because of her race and gender. Othering experienced by Pauli Murray can be explained by Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of othering. In which the power of one controls the other. In the case of Pauli Murray it was both the power wield by white men over African Americans and men over women.
The creator of My Name is Pauli Murray wanted to give credit to those who paved the way for future generations. Pauli Murray was not only a strong advocate of equal right for women and civil rights but also paved the way for those involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Also, she is an unknown pioneer that gave inspirations to the likes of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and campaigned with and close friend of Elanor Roosevelt. She may have been an unknown pioneer because of her race, gender or because of her sexual orientation. 