Does this description define anyone you know?  Perhaps it describes more than a few people you know or whom you see regularly on TV.

What are you going to do about it?

A bit of wit and wisdom from Ann Richards.  It is a statement that should make you understand how important it is to vote.

Boy! Wish we had someone like her in power in Texas right now.

She would be kicking ass and taking names later.

SENATOR TAMMY DUCKWORTH  (1968 - )

Serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois since 2017, Tammy Duckworth has made a name for herself with a number of firsts: She was the first female helicopter pilot to lead a combat mission and the first female double amputee of the Iraq war.  The first Thai-American woman and the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, she was also the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office.  She is currently running for reelection.

Lada Tammy Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, March 12, 1968, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin.   Although born outside the United States, Duckworth is a natural-born citizen because her father was an American citizen.  Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War.   Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Because her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, the family moved around Southeast Asia.  As a result Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.

Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School.  When Duckworth was 16, the family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, and participated in track and field, graduating in 1985.  She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award.

In 1989 she graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Bachelor of Arts in political science.  In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service   She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015

Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps  in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University.   She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time.   As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.

She was deployed to Iraq in 2004.  She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.  The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it.

Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal.  She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.

On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.

On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22.   As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans.   Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.

Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after representing Illinois’s Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms.

Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993 They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War and is now retired from the armed forces.  Senator Duckworth and her husband are the proud parents of two daughters, Abigail and Maile.

 

Editors Note:  REELECT SENATOR TAMMY DUCKWORTH

 

Josephine Baker   (1906-1975)

World renowned performer, World War II spy, and activist are few of the titles used to describe Josephine Baker. One of the most successful African American performers in French history, Baker’s career illustrates the ways entertainers can use their platforms to change the world.

On June 3, 1906, Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents, both entertainers, performed throughout the segregated Midwest often bringing her on stage during their shows. Unfortunately, their careers never took off, forcing the young Baker to look for odd jobs to survive. If she was unable to find work she would often dance on the streets, collecting money from onlookers. Eventually, her routine caught the attention of an African American theatre troupe. At the age of 15, Baker ran off and began to perform with the group. She also married during this time, taking her husband’s last name and dropping her first name, becoming Josephine Baker.

Baker flourished as a dancer in several Vaudeville shows, which was a popular theatre genre in the 20^th century. She eventually moved to New York City and participated in the celebration of black life and art now known as the Harlem Renaissance. A few years later her success took her to Paris. Baker became one of the most sought-after performers due to her distinct dancing style and unique costumes. Although her audiences were mostly white, Baker’s performances followed African themes and style. In her famed show Danse Sauvage she danced across stage in a banana skirt. Baker was multitalented, known for her dancing and singing she even played in several successful major motion pictures released in Europe. 

When Adolf Hitler and the German army invaded France during World War II, Baker joined the fight against the Nazi regime. She aided French military officials by passing on secrets she heard while performing in front of the enemy. She transported the confidential information by writing with invisible ink on music sheets. After many years of performing in Paris, Baker returned to the United States.

Her return home forced Baker to confront segregation and discrimination that she had not experienced since she was a child in St. Louis. She often refused to perform to segregated audiences, which usually forced club owners to integrate for her shows. Her opposition against segregation and discrimination was recognized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1963, she was one of the few women allowed to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Her speech detailed her life as a black woman in the United States and abroad:

"You know, friends, that I do not lie to you when I tell you I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad.”

Baker continued to fight racial injustices into the 1970s. Her personal life was a testament to her political agenda. Throughout her career, she adopted 13 children from various countries. She called her family “the rainbow tribe” and took her children on the road in an effort to show that racial and cultural harmony could exist. Baker remained on stage late into her life and in 1975 she performed for the last time. The show was sold out and she received a standing ovation. Baker passed away on April 12, 1975.

By Arlisha R. Norwood, NWHM Fellow | 2017

• MLA – Norwood, Arlisha. "Josephine Baker." National Women's History Museum. National Women's History Museum, 2017. Date accessed.

  Chicago- Norwood, Arlisha. "Josephine Baker." National Women's History Museum. 2017. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/josphine-baker.

Feminism and Intersectionality

The issues that divided early suffragettes still plague women today. For all the progress that has been made, women's rights activists have also taken steps backwards. Feminism, as a movement, has not done a good job at being inclusive of minorities. Women of color have been left on the peripheries while feminism largely caters to white viewpoints.

Feminism is discussed in terms of waves.  First wave feminism encompasses the nineteenth century and early twentieth century suffragettes who fought for the right to vote. Second wave feminism generally encapsulates the period from the 1960s to the 1990s. This period runs concurrent with anti-war and civil rights movements and the dominant issues for feminists in this time period revolved around sexuality and reproductive rights. Third wave feminism is generally seen as starting in the mid-1990s and is sometimes referred to as girlie-feminism or "grrrl" feminism. Its adherents often confounded followers of second wave feminism because many third wavers rejected the notion that lip-stick, high-heels, and cleavage proudly exposed by low cut necklines identified with male oppression. The third wave celebrated ambiguity and refused to adopt "us versus them" ideology.  As a result, most third-wavers rejected the word "feminists" because they found it limiting and exclusionary.

The fourth wave of feminism is still crystallizing. Feminism is now back in the realm of public discourse. Issues that were central to the earliest waves of the women’s movement are receiving national and international attention by mainstream press and politicians:  problems like sexual abuse, rape, violence against women, unequal pay, slut-shaming, the pressure to conform to an unrealistic body-type, and the fact that gains in female representation in politics and business are minimal. At the same time, reproductive rights that had been won by second wavers are now under attack. It is no longer considered “extreme" to talk about societal abuse of women, rape on college campus, unfair pay and work conditions, discrimination against LGBTQIA+ friends and colleagues, and the fact that the U.S. has one of the worst records for legally-mandated parental leave and maternity benefits in the world.

With the rise of fourth wave feminism, the concepts of privilege and intersectionality have gained widespread traction amongst younger feminists. The term intersectionality was first introduced in 1989 by critical race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw, who provided a framework that must be applied to all situations women face, recognizing that all the aspects of identity enrich women's lived experiences and compound and complicate the various oppressions and marginalizations women face. It means that women cannot separate out numerous injustices because women experience them intersectionally.

Intersectionality helps us to understand that while all women are subject to the wage gap, some women are affected even more harshly due to their race. Another instance where intersectionality applies is cases of LGBTQ murders - people of color and transgender people are more likely to be victims than cisgender people. These are just two examples of why intersectionality matters. To truly bring about change that is meaningful for all, everyone's voice needs to be at the table.

Selected Library Resources:

• Cynthia Grant Bowman et al., Feminist Jurisprudence: Cases and Materials, KE478.A4 B43 2011
• Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs et al., eds., Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia, LB2332.3 .P74 2012
• Women and the Law Collection - HeinOnline
• Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
• Lisa A. Crooms, Indivisible Rights and Intersectional Identities or, What Do Women's Human Rights Have to Do with the Race Convention, 40 Howard L.J. 619 (1997), available on HeinOnline
• Lisa A. Crooms, A Stone' Throw to Justice: Liberty, Equality, and Women's Rights in the Supreme Court Opinions of Justice Thurgood Marshall, 52 Howard L.J. 559 (2009), available on HeinOnline

 

Additional Resources:

• 10 Landmark Court Cases in Women's Rights
• Timeline of Major Supreme Court Decisions On Women's Rights
• Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
• Black Women and the Suffrage Movement: 1848-1923
• The Root: How Racism Tainted Women's Suffrage

Retrieved from https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/women/intersectionality
February 6, 2022