More about Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink

In Preparation for the documentary we’ll be watching next class about Patsy

Matsu Takemoto Mink tomorrow titled Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority (dir. Kimberlee Bassford, 2008), I wanted to learn more about her perspective, goals, and legacy as the first woman of color (as well as the first woman from the state of Hawaii) elected to United States Congress in 1964.

Connecting the dots back to Shirley Chisholm (the first black major-party candidate to run for President of the United States in the 1972 election), apparently Patsy Mink also declared her candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination in 1972, thus making her the first asian-american woman to seek the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party (and Shirley Chisolm the first black woman to seek this position ). Here is a link to a transcript of an interview given by Mink about her presidential run published in an article from 1971: https://judyflander.org/patsy-mink-heads-for-the-presidential-primaries-205f8e6bc89a

In addition, we’ve had the opportunity to engage with a variety of primary sources throughout this course, and in the spirit of continuing that type of research and historical engagement, I wanted to see if I could find some primary sources to better inform me about Mink’s position around women’s issues as a female politician during this time. While I was not able to find a plethora of resources, I did find several transcripts from an interview with her daughter Gwendolyn Mink from 2016 talking about her mother’s perspective on her responsibilities as a woman in Congress (https://history.house.gov/Oral-History/Women/Women-Media/mink-women/) as well as her mother’s feelings about the Congressional Women’s Caucus (https://history.house.gov/Media?mediaID=15032436438).

Barbara Jordan

Hi everyone, 

I hoped you all enjoyed learning about Barbara Jordan in today's class. Here are a few things I forget to mention about this trailblazing, historical political figure: 

• In 1993, Barbara was the first recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, given by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• In 1999, the Kaiser Family Foundation created the Barabar Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program in order to honor her and expand the potential pool of young leaders of color interested in the field of health policy and public service
• Barbara received nearly over two dozen honorary degrees
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gym57FYSqsM (Barbara Jordan on the Impeachment of Richard Nixon)

Here are some other links I found with information on Barbara Jordan:

• https://www.biography.com/law-figure/barbara-jordan

• https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/16031

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barbara-Jordan

• https://www.kff.org/about-barbara-jordanhttps://www.womenon20s.org/barbara_jordan

Dolores Huerta on Apathy and Feminism

Dolores Huerta is an activist, a labor leader, a civil rights activist, and a feminist.

Huerta has been working actively to improve California politics, specifically working conditions for women and farm workers, since 1955. Here is a brief overview of some of her major accomplishments:

• 1955: Joined Stockton Chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO), fighting for economic improvements for Latino farm workers
• 1960: Co-founded, with César Chávez, the National Farm Workers Association,
• Later became the United Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee
• Goal: helping improve the lives and wages of farm workers
• 1965: Delano Grape Strike - demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage

She has also been honored by awards from both Presidents' Nixon & Obama.

In recent years, Huerta has been working to advance immigrants rights, and has been especially active in the feminist movement. Her website describes her recent engagements and movements in detail, but I wanted to share an interesting Ted Talk that I came across from just 1 year ago.

In her talk, Huerta opens quoting Hellen Keller: “Science has been able to find cures for many evils, but never the greatest evil of all: inhuman beings. and that evil is apathy”. She goes on to discuss the pressures facing women and preventing from entering the activists landscape. Most interestingly, she tells the story of how she "found her voice" at the age of 25.

It's about a 10 minute talk, but I would recommend for anyone looking to hear a well developed and poignant view on modern feminism, women in leadership, and the importance of letting go of apathy.

Ted Talk Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/dolores_huerta_how_to_overcome_apathy_and_find_your_power?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare 

New Activity on the ERA

As we've mentioned in class, the ERA has failed to pass since it was first introduced after the success of the suffrage movement. In (surprising) recent new, there has been new activity on the behalf of the ERA as of this month, when the Democratic Party recently gained control of the Virginia legislature. As one of the states that failed to ratify the amendment by 1982, Virginia would be the 38th state (last one needed) to ratify (with Nevada and Illinois having done so in the time since). However, any action on this front would require Congress to void the ratification deadline. Do you think this will become a topic of conversation in the coming year? What are your thoughts on the potential implications if the ERA is finally passed after nearly a century?

Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/us/politics/virginia-ratify-equal-rights-amendment.html

Veep!

As an historic number of women are running for US president, and spooky rumor has it that Hillary Clinton may join the race , I was reminded that America already has a female president on HBO's Veep. In fact, in the show, Selina Meyer (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Seinfeld) would head the third female presidential administration in a role in 2020. Although during the show's 8-year run, Meyer gradually becomes a soulless opportunistic career politician, she remains fascinating, and one finds oneself rooting for this amoral cynic to win the presidency.

Here is a Vulture article about the show analyzing her role as a female politician. She (perhaps like Thatcher) broke many glass ceilings but did not actively fight for "women's agenda." Nonetheless, it was still satisfying to see Meyer bullying predominantly male advisors and politicians, and calling them insulting names usually reserved only for women. Veep is a great show - you should watch it! 

My favorite quotes from the show: "if men got pregnant, you could get an abortion at an ATM."

"The Book of Gutsy Women"

Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, co-wrote a book called "The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience," which tells the stories of more than 100 important women in history. It features many of the women we have encountered in our class! What I find particularly interesting is that they tell the story of both Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin.

You can read more about the book here:
https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/book-of-gutsy-women-hillary-chelsea-clinton-review-638845

Yuri Kochiyama

Summarizing again the achievements of Yuri Kochiyama:

-She fought for justice for all marginalized groups; though her focus later on drifted toward advocating for Asian Americans of all ethnicities, she continued to take part in and support causes that she saw as combating the American empire and imperialism for the acts of racism and oppression it placed on minority groups.

-Kochiyama's close relationship with Malcolm X fostered a great friendship, but also a path for her imminent advocacy. In a sense, her listing him as one of her biggest political influences carries on his legacy, as if life was cut short when he was assassinated during a speech. Kochiyama was present that day, and held him in her arms as he passed away.

-Kochiyama founded Asian Americans for Action, a big part of the Asian American movement; "its founding principle of coalition politics emphasized solidarity among Asians of all ethnicities, multiracial solidarity among Asian Americans as well as with African, Latino, and Native Americans in the United States..." Their main goal was to raise racial awareness, and erase the label of foreign, and alien (that was seen as a threat to US society) often assigned to Asian Americans. Kochimyama wanted to integrate them into a space in which they should have belonged, and in doing so, put an end to racial discrimination.

An interesting article about the Asian American movement and its effects can be found here.