Answer:
The author's purpose is to recognize the women who participated during the Civil Rights Movement fighting for the rights of African Americans in the United States, alongside men like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and many others.
The women, who had already fought and won their right to vote, believed that the situation of Afro-American people in the country was a total injustice, and they supported their claim. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Mildred Bond Roxborough and Doris Derby, among many others, also waged a fight against discrimination and racism in America alongside these well-known men.