Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, bestselling novelist of The Dirty Girls Social Club, grew up in Albuquerque, NM and currently lives there, although her life travels have taken her far, far away from picturesque New Mexico in the intervening years.

Alisa has always written, and decided she was going to be a novelist when she was nine years old.

>> Join me as I ask her about her history of writing and what she enjoys best about the process.

Her father is a sociology professor who came to the U.S. from Cuba as a 15-year-old orphan, as part of Operation Pedro Pan in 1961. Her mother is a seventh-generation New Mexican of Irish, Native American, French Jew, English and Spanish extraction. Asked to describe her ethnicity, Alisa likes to say she’s a “citizen of the world, and a student of our global humanity.”

>> She’s referred to her dislike of ethnic labels, in spite of others’ insistence. I’ll be asking her to reveal to us her ideas about ethnicity, if she’s willing…

Although best known as a groundbreaking author, Alisa is also a professional jazz saxophonist, and holds a bachelor’s in music from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, and her deep understanding of music and journalism quickly put her at the top of the music writing field when she worked at the L.A. Times.

She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, where her Reporting and Writing professor David Krajicek described her as having a “mind that gives off sparks like flint on steel.” She began her professional writing career at 24, as one of the youngest staff writers ever hired at the Boston Globe. Her lyrical, witty prose soon landed her a Pulitzer nomination, and recognition as the best newspaper essayist in the nation by the SUNMAG organization.

After five years at the Globe, Alisa took a job as a staff writer at the LA Times, covering the pop music industry, melding her two lifelong passions — writing and music. While at the Times, she won an award for feature-writing from the American Society of Sunday Newspaper Editors.

In 2001, Alisa’s first novel, the landmark “The Dirty Girls Social Club,” was sold to St. Martin’s Press after a fierce bidding war. The book became a national bestseller, optioned for film by Columbia Pictures with Jennifer Lopez as a producer . . . and star. The rights eventually came back to Alisa when production on the movie failed to materialize; Alisa is in the process of turning the book into an independent film.

>> I’ll be speaking to Alisa about how her prior newspaper writing career influenced the stories in her novels, and with which of her characters (if any) she identifies with most.

Entertainment Weekly named her a breakout literary star. Latina magazine named her a Woman of the Year. Hispanic Business magazine has twice named her among the 100 most influential Hispanics in the nation. And now, Time magazine has named her one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in America, alongside George Lopez, Bill Richardson, Jennifer Lopez and others.

Time included Alisa because, they said, she is the “Godmother” of chica lit, a new and lucrative genre in U.S. publishing that tells mainstream, modern stories of professional, educated American women — many (but not all) of whom just happen to be of Latin descent. The genre marks a break with publishing’s traditional (wrongheaded) expectation that U.S. authors of Latin descent must somehow write in the magical realism style of many well-known authors from Latin America.

>> What does it feel like to be the founder and creator of a new genre of novel? How has this affected Alisa’s writing and her career, more generally?

“Make Him Look Good” is Alisa’s third novel. “After years of covering celebrities — and dealing with them now as a novelist and screenwriter — it was amazingly rewarding and cathartic to poke fun at the psychology and backstage machinations of fame,” she says. “I loved writing this book. It was way too much fun to qualify as work.”

Alisa’s first young adult novel, “Haters,” was released by Little Brown & Co.

>> What inspired Alisa to write a young adult novel, what did she like about it, and will she write more???

And…. Alisa’s sequel to Dirty Girls Social Club, Dirty Girls on Top will be released on July 8, 2008!!!

Alisa is a popular public speaker on American campuses. Her personal and occasionally controversial blog, “Queen Sucia,” has been highlighted in Vanity Fair as among the top writer’s blogs on the ‘net. She is the founder of the Chica Lit Club Fiesta, an annual literary conference.

Alisa has a son, Alexander, seven. They live in a lovely adobe house in New Mexico.

To find out more about Alisa, go to her website at: www.alisavaldesrodriguez.com.

Reading and Writing are Key…

Interestingly, many of our interviewees mentioned their love of reading and writing, even as a small child.

Is this indicative of tremendous success?  Who knows, but it can’t hurt to try.  So find something you enjoy reading and read it!  Or, try your hand at some writing.  Is there something you’ve been wanting to write?  Go for it!

Naomi Quiñonez, poet and professor, told us about her "obsession with language and how it worked and why it worked" from the time she was a child.

María Reinat-Pumarejo, long-time activist and community educator recalled growing up reading stories of saints and writing poetry.

Sylvia Mendoza, journalist, author and novelist, told us that because she moved around so much as a child, that her "constant was books."

Dr. Elma González, cell and molecular biologist, told us of reading all sorts of classic literature that whetted her interest for foreign lands.

Ramona Romero, Corporate Counsel for Logistics and Energy at Dupont told us that she spent a lot of time inside reading books as a child (even though she grew up for a large part of her childhood in the Dominican Republic!).

Rocío Cordoba, co-founder and Executive Director of California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, told us she’s always had a huge love of writing and reading.

The same holds true for Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Jeanette Cisneros and Raquel Aldana, among others.  They all mentioned this as a big part of their youth.

What is it about reading and writing that is tied to success?  Is it the sparking of one’s imagination, the opening of different worlds (either geographic or points of view) or simply the facility with language?

Whatever it is, find out for yourself if increasing your reading and writing can increase your success…

Our next lesson is next week.  Don’t miss it!

Historic moments…

Wow!  Well, every week is different and this week I interviewed a woman who’s been called the "Latina Forrest Gump."

She helped on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, she was present during Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech, she met and worked with Cesar Chavez, she was in the hotel when Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot, she was present at the riots in Mexico City in 1968, and she was part of the start of the National Council for La Raza (NCLR), among other historic events.

What’s so interesting about her story is that she did not know (as most of us don’t) that all of those moments would turn out to be so historic at the time. She just lived her life and did what she thought was best for her and what she was called to do.

We’re all living a part of history, and yet we don’t know in the present what will turn out to be the most and least important moments — all we can do is do our best and live our lives fully.

What would YOU do if you knew you’d be present at some of the most historic moments of your time? Would you do anything differently?  Would you take note and pay attention?  You ARE a part of history — as we all are.  Imagine the power of that. 

Have a great week!

Polly Baca

Former Colorado State Senator Polly Baca is the President and CEO of the Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA).  LARASA is a non-profit organization created in 1964 to lead and influence change to improve the quality of life for Latinos throughout Colorado with the belief that when you improve the lives of Latinos in Colorado, you improve the lives of all Coloradoans.  One of LARASA’s primary initiatives is the LARASA Learning Centers associated with Hope Online Learning Academy Co-Op, a tuition-free virtual charter school. These Learning Centers are structured to serve at-risk students in grades sixth through twelfth.  The Learning Centers are unique in that they provide online curriculum specifically designed to serve at-risk kids in a supportive environments equipped with mentors who facilitate students’ learning progress.

>>  What is it like for Polly to lead this non-profit given her previous experiences?

A small businesswoman for three years prior to joining LARASA, Ms. Baca was the Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Baca Services, a consulting firm specializing in multicultural leadership development, diversity training, motivational presentations, policy development, and governmental relations.

>>  Did Polly enjoy consulting?  What kinds of projects did she work on?

Prior to returning to the private sector, Ms. Baca served as the Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), Rocky Mountain Region VIII, with a staff of 476 employees.  As Regional Administrator, Ms. Baca supervised a six-state region that supported 48,000 government employees who worked for 43 federal agencies in 601 GSA owned and leased buildings.  The operating budget was $161 million with oversight of an additional $246 million in construction and repairs of Federal facilities.  The Region included the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

During 1994, Ms. Baca served as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Director of the United States Office of Consumer Affairs in Washington, D.C.  As the chief consumer advocate for the Clinton Administration, Ms. Baca served as the Chair of the Consumer Affairs Council that consisted of representatives of 41 different federal agencies, chaired the U.S. delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Committee on Consumer Policy, and represented consumers on the federal Information Infrastructure Task Force.

>>  What can Polly tell us about her years in federal government service?

Before joining the Clinton Administration, Ms. Baca was the Executive Director of the Colorado Hispanic Institute, a nonprofit institute whose mission was to promote multicultural leadership.  Among Ms. Baca’s primary responsibilities was the development of Visiones, a statewide multicultural leadership enhancement program aimed at assisting community leaders from different ethnic and racial groups to broaden their leadership potential by becoming skilled in cultural competence.

A member of the Colorado State Legislature for 12 years, Ms. Baca was first elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1974 and to the Colorado Senate in 1978.  She was the:

• first woman elected to chair the Democratic Caucus of the Colorado House of Representatives (1977),
• first minority woman and first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado State Senate (1978-1986),
• first Hispanic woman in the nation to serve in both the House and Senate of her state legislature (1975-86),
• first Hispanic woman to be nominated by a major political party for the United States Congress (1980 Democratic Party Congressional nominee),
• first Hispanic woman to co-chair a National Democratic Convention (1980 and 1984),
• first Hispanic woman to serve in leadership in a State Senate in the U.S. (Chair, Colorado Senate Democratic Caucus, 1985-1986),
• first woman and the first minority to serve as Rocky Mountain Region VIII Regional Administrator of the General Services Administration (1994-1999), and
• first Hispanic woman to head a 6-state federal agency in Rocky Mountain Region VIII (GSA 1994-1999).

>>  What kinds of initiatives was Polly involved in as a member of the State Legislature?  How did she get involved in this work?

Ms. Baca was born on a small farm in Weld County and grew up in Greeley, Colorado where she graduated from College High School with a joint honor scholarship.  She graduated from Colorado State University with a B.A. degree in political science and subsequently did graduate work at Colorado State University, the American University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Colorado at Denver.  She received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, in August 1992, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, in May 1989.

Ms. Baca served as Colorado Co-Chair of the 2007-08 Bill Richardson for President Campaign, served as Colorado Co-Chair of the Clinton/Gore Presidential Campaign in 1991 and 1992, as a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 1981 to 1989, and as a member of the DNC from 1973 to 1989.  Other national Democratic Party positions held by Ms. Baca include serving as a Vice President of the 1988 National Democratic Presidential Nominating Convention, Co-Chair of the 1985 National Democratic Fairness Commission, Co-Chair of the 1980 and 1984 National Democratic Presidential Nominating Conventions, and Chair of the Colorado Delegation to the 1978 National Democratic Mid-Term Conference.

>>  What did Polly learn from her involvement with the Democratic campaigns, conventions and committees?

Nationally known for her leadership skills and motivational presentations, Ms. Baca has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs including ABC’s Nightline and MacNeil/Lehrer News-Hour.  She has been interviewed and featured in the following books:  It’s All in the Frijoles by Yolanda Nava, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, 2000; True to Ourselves by Nancy M. Neuman, Jossey-Bass Inc., San Francisco, 1998; Breaking Ground and Barriers by Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, Ph.D., Marin Publications, San Diego, 1992; The Lives of Ethnic Americans by Juan L. Gonzales, Jr., Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1991; When Smart People Fail by Carole Hyatt and Linda Gottlieb, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1987; In the Running by Ruth B. Mandel, Ticknor & Fields, New Haven and New York, 1981; Politicians for the People by Elizabeth Levy and Mara Miller, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1979.  In addition, she has been interviewed in major newspapers and magazines across the country, including being featured in Outlook magazine and Intercambios Femeniles magazine, featured as a Hispanic Woman of the Year in Replica magazine, named one of “100 Influentials” in Hispanic Business (6 years), one of 20 “New Democratic Faces for the 80s” in Newsweek, one of “80 Women to Watch in the 80s” in MS magazine, and one of ten “Women of the Future” in Ladies Home Journal, 1979.

>>  What has Polly enjoyed about being featured in these books and articles?  What has she not enjoyed so much?

Recognition received by Ms. Baca includes being inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, named as one of the original 14 members to be inducted into the National Hispanic Hall of Fame and being listed in the World Who’s Who of Women, Who’s Who in American Politics, Who’s Who in the West, and the 1980 Mexican American History Calendar. In addition, Ms. Baca received the 2008 Passing the Torch Award from the Anti-Defamation League, the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Democratic Party, the 2006 “Scouting Vale La Pena!” Award from the Boy Scouts of America, the 2006 AARP Outstanding Community Partner Award, was named a 2004 Woman of Distinction by the Mile High Girl Scouts, received Regis University’s highest honor – the 2004 Civis Princeps Award, and received the 2003 Cesar Chavez Leadership Hall of Fame Award from the Denver Public Library; the 2002 Champion of Change Award in Politics from Escuela Tlatelolco, the Las Primeras 2000 Award from MANA – a National Latina Organization, the Hispanic Women 2000 Award from the National Society of Hispanic Genealogy, the Hispanic Pioneer 2000 Award from the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the 1998 Small Business Administrator’s Advocate of the Year Award for Colorado, the 1994 Maclovio Barraza Leadership Award from the National Council of La Raza, and the 1994 Leadership Award from the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  She has also received the 1993 Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award, was named the 1993 Colorado Hispanic League Leadership Honoree, and was recognized for outstanding humanitarian service in 1991 by the NAACP Denver Branch.

>>  Which of her awards was most personally meaningful to her and why?

A noted international speaker, Ms. Baca has extensive experience in foreign affairs.  As a participant in the U.S. Information Agency AmPart program, she lectured in Japan and the Philippines on the American political system and the role of racial and ethnic Americans and women in the American socio-political system and economic systems.  She was also a speaker and participant at the West Berlin, Germany seminar on “The Impact of the 1984 American Elections,” sponsored by the Aspen Institute Berlin.  In March 1979, Ms. Baca was a White House guest at the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty and in July 1979 participated in the Camp David Domestic Summit hosted by President Jimmy Carter.

>>  What kinds of things did her audiences ask her?  What did she learn from these speaking engagements?

Ms. Baca began her professional career as an editorial assistant for a labor union newspaper in Washington, D.C.  During President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, she served as a Public Information Officer for a White House Agency.  She then joined the national campaign staff of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy in his bid for President of the United States.  Later, she served as the Director of Research and Information for the National Council of La Raza and then as a Special Assistant to Lawrence F. O’Brien, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Ms. Baca has two children, Monica P. Barragan Perez and Miguel Baca Barragan, and two grandchildren: Eduardo Manuel Perez, Jr. and Elicia Monica Perez.

Join us for the interview with this incredible woman!

Find your passion…

It seems so trite, doesn’t it?  And yet, it was echoed over and over by each of our interviewees, almost without exception.

Why is this, do you suppose?  Dr. Elma González, cell and molecular biologist, reminded us to "go with your heart."  According to her, if you find you don’t like what you do, then you’ll always struggle. And on the other hand, if you love what you do, you’ll find the tenacity to be able to do it!

Ramona Romero agreed, saying that finding your passion is a great motivator.

Nancy Rodriguez explained how finding her passion allowed her to be more comfortable, more at peace, with herself, and allowed her to blossom and grow.

Sylvia Mendoza spoke about how finishing a project for which she had much passion just filled her up, and shifted her perspective on the world as a whole.  And ultimately, it reinforced the other work in her life.

For Dr. Naomi Quiñonez, she shared how living her passion is not just for herself, but actually contributes to those around her. It gave back in a tangible way to others, in measurable gifts.

Dr. Jeanette Cisneros told us that by having found her passion and really knowing what she wanted to do, it made it possible for her to keep going in her life, even through the tough times, and gave meaning and context to her work.  She said, "That
makes it not so much work — it makes it more a *life* and a calling, rather than just a ‘job."

According to Raquel Aldana, "the important thing is to have passion; that’s the number one thing you need to do in order to be successful."

And Rocio Córdoba agreed, saying, "it’s really important whatever your field happens to be [that] we all identify for ourselves what is it we feel very passionate about."

Maria Reinat-Pumarejo shared that finding her purpose, her passion, helped her recover from a very difficult childhood, and that it helped her make it through tough times later in life.

Eva Plaza told us that by finding your passion and sticking with it, it will keep you from being pulled off track in your life.

So, from our guests, we’ve heard that finding your passion is important because:

• It is a motivator
• It will allow you to have peace with yourself and be open to learning and growth
• It shifts your perspective and helps you to find the right tasks for your life.
• Pursuing it is actually a gift to those around you
• It gets you through the tough times
• It gives meaning to your life
•  It keeps you on the right path

Wow!  Well, those are some good reasons.  So, I encourage each of you to look deep inside.  What’s YOUR passion?  And how has it contributed to YOUR life?

Join us for our next lessons…

Hispanic Women of 2008…

This month’s Hispanic Business Magazine highlights their 2008 Women of the Year nominees and winning awardee.  These women are incredible and I would strongly encourage you to pick up this month’s issue (and, for that matter, get a subscription to the
magazine). 

And wish me luck as I’ll be trying to get some of these women to join us in the Interview Series.

However, what I’d like to discuss is some *very* interesting statistics included in this issue.

For one, in 2006, Hispanic women represent 6.7 of *all* women in management, professional and related occupations.  In real numbers this is 1,682 women!  This statistic comes from Hispanic Business Magazine’s research arm, HispanTelligence.

Although the numbers show growth from previous years, I was struck by the relatively low numbers overall, although I am surrounded by amazing, beautiful and accomplished women as friends and as part of my networking circle.

So, what’s going on?  Only 2.9% of all U.S. female Hispanics earned graduate degrees, according to the U.S. Census.  However, there is an increase in Hispanic women in the workforce overall, AND many of them are choosing to start their own businesses. Between 1997 and 2007, according to a study by the Center for Women’s Business Research, the number of Hispanic women-owned firms increased by 63.9% nationwide.

So perhaps many women are captured as part of the "Management or Professional" category, or maybe they’re starting their own businesses, or maybe they are in areas such as non-profits, academia or government.

And although women currently "at the top" haven’t had other Latinas as role-models in the positions they currently hold, they’ve still found women to emulate — such as mothers, grandmothers, mentors and friends.  And they have looked up to people
around them and found ways to accomplish and achieve what they wanted nonetheless.

I have been amazed and humbled by the trail blazing that my interviewees have done.  I encourage you to join us and learn their secrets. How do they come by the success they’ve found in their own lives?

Let’s learn from them.  And make sure to sign up for my email newsletter to receive the series of articles on "lessons learned."

A combination of excellence…

I’m going to be starting a retrospective and each week compiling sets of ideas from previous guests.  I’ll be covering their advice on career, family, civic and personal issues and the way they think about the world and society.

Please send me your questions, comments and ideas if you have input on what you’d like to hear.  Recall that so far in the interview series we’ve heard from…

A mid-career Cubana historian, a retired Chicana cell biologist, a Mexican-American Staff Director for a House Committee, a life-long Chicana artist and arts administrator, a Central-American human rights lawyer and law professor, an Ecuadorian founder and director of a non-profit, a Dominican lawyer and business- woman controlling billions of dollars a year for a Fortune 100 company, a Mexican-American doctor and director of a medical clinic, a Chicana poet and award-winning writer, a Mexican-American journalist and author, a Puerto Rican activist who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, a Mexican- American lawyer and former appointee under the Clinton administration, and a Mexican-American retired business-owner, former union activist and a woman who had a lifetime commitment to, and involvement in, politics.

And wait until you see who’s coming up!

Among our interviewees have been women who’ve combined career and family, women who’ve had children but delayed child-bearing until later in life, and women who have made a choice not to have children.

We have women who are immigrants and women who were born and raised in the U.S.

We’ve had women who are activists, business- owners, and artists — and sometimes all three!

We have spoken to women who are relatively early in their careers and women who have long since retired.

Join me this year for each interview and make sure to check out next week’s newsletter where I start combining and commenting on these women’s insights.

See you then!

Meeting your challenges head on…

One of the words of wisdom of this week’s guest, Hope Schechter, was to address problems immediately.

Take on what happens right away and don’t let it go.  She wasn’t suggesting to be difficult or looking for a fight, but rather to step up to a challenge and meet it head on.

I believe it’s important to know when to fight and when to let things go.  But when they are important, it’s important to address things in a timely manner.

How many times do we let things go because we did not pick them up and address them right away?

I know I’ve been guilty of that, and I’m going right now to take care of some things that I’ve been missing…  

Until next time!

Hope Mendoza Schechter

Hope Mendoza Schechter has a life-long commitment to, and involvement in, politics and the political arena.

Hope was born in Arizona, but grew up in Southern California. She worked as a young woman and had some interesting early work experiences. When Hope was 14, she said she was 16 so she could do cannery work one summer to obtain the incredible pay of $1.00 per hour, which was a huge amount, compared to the other work in the area, which paid $.25 per hour. This was Hope’s early exposure to working for a union.

> I’ll be speaking with Hope about her long time union involvement and how her early experiences influenced her views.

During World War II, Hope worked as a riveter (she refers to pictures of Rosie the riveter and regrets not having a picture taken of herself doing the work!) at Lockheed on the P-38’s and Ailerons wing. She was so skilled at this, they gave her “pick up work,” which meant she would check the quality of others’ work.

Hope dropped out of high school in 11th grade, but this in no way determined her future (and much later in life she went on to get her Bachelor’s Degree). As a young woman, Hope worked as a garment worker, and this is where her involvement in the unions really began. After working for years as an exploited, underpaid garment worker, she led the women in the shop to the office of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union which organized the shop and then hired Hope as an organizer/business agent.

After becoming involved with the ILGWU, hope really began her political work, as well. As a staff member and officer for the ILGWU (Pacific Coast Office), her work was so outstanding, she was sent to Harvard University for a three month course, graduating as a Harvard Trade Union Fellow.

In the community, Hope was a founding member of the Community Service Organization (CSO) in East Los Angeles, where she was involved in community organizing, fighting for street lights, sidewalks, and other basic neighborhood necessities. Additionally, she was part of establishing the first Head Start operation in Los Angeles County, and was an active participant of the Board of Directors of both the Council of Mexican American Affairs, and the Youth Opportunities Foundation which raised money so that deserving poor Mexican-American young people could attend college.

>> I’ll discuss with Hope how she got involved in these projects, and how she motivated others to work for change, also.

In the political arena, her work was noticed as well. Hope served for many years on the California Democratic State Central Committee, on the Executive Committee of the SDCC, and as Congressman Chet Holified’s liaison to the Mexican American community on immigration matters. Hope was also Vice-President of the Democratic Women’s Forum. Hope was instrumental in helping to elect the late Edward R. Roybal to the Los Angeles City Council and then to the U.S. Congress.

>> I’ll ask Hope what she’s seen and what she’s learned from her many, many years of political involvement.

After serving eleven years with the ILGWU, in March of 1955, Hope married Harvey Schechter, who was then the Anti-Defamation League’s Civil Rights Director in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, she resigned her union position, which required a lot of evening work, to commit time to her marriage.

However, Hope, not one to ever be idle, spent time learning how to operate a stenotype machine and became a California licensed Certified Shorthand Reporter, and established her own deposition reporting firm which she operated successfully for twenty-five years. She was the first woman elected president of the General Court Reporters Association

>> What did it mean to be a woman business owner at that time in history?

In April of 1964, Hope was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve on the 25 member National Advisory Council of the Peace Corps. She was sworn in at the White House.

After leaving the business world, Hope mapped out a ten-year, two course per semester plan to earn a Bachelor’s Degree, starting at Los Angeles Valley College, from which she graduated with honors. Transferring to California State-Northridge as a History major, she graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Hope has been featured in various articles, books, videos and reports, including:

Bancroft Library’s Oral History Office of the University of California at Berkeley which published, “Hope Mendoza Schechter – Activist in the Labor Movement, the Democratic Party, and the Mexican-American Community” with an introduction by Edward Roybal. This publication is part of the “Women in Politics Oral History Project,” which focused on women who were active before activism among women in the ‘60’s.

“Not June Cleaver – Women and Gender in Postwar America, 1945-1960,” edited by Joanne Meyerowitz, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1994.

“Building the House They Lived In,” a video produced by the California Federation of Teachers in which her participation in the campaigns to enact Fair Employment Practices in the 1950’s is highlighted. The FEP Act was passed in 1959.

Hope was active in politics until the 1990’s, when she decided that younger people should take their turn. She has in the past few years filled her life with studying art and world-wide travel.

Having no children of her own, Hope is “mother” to more than one hundred great young people she and Harvey have met on campus and in the community who they “adopted.”

All in all, Hope says she has had a very busy, gratifying, love-filled life, and recently celebrated 53 years of a great marriage to Harvey.

>> Join me as we learn from Hope some of her life lessons!!!

Just keep moving forward…

Getting out of a funk can be difficult at times.  Over the last several weeks, I’ve been very busy with a number of different commitments and have been feeling a bit overwhelmed.

There have been very good things that have happened — I got to visit with my son in DC! – and also some very tough things that have happened — I found out a close friend is going through some difficult family problems.

All in all, however, I know if I keep going, it will be OK and I will come out of the funk.  There may be things that I need to look at or think about or feel before I can move forward.  Or, it could be just the simple ebb and flow of emotions and moods.  So
I’m attending to my needs, as well as not letting myself get knocked off track.

I am reminded through all this of Dory in Finding Nemo when she says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…"  The little song is a good ditty (although it can get stuck in your head if you think about it too long!) and is a good life lesson as well.
(And if you haven’t seen this Disney movie, go rent it right now — it’s fabulous.)

So for those of you who can sometimes find your-self in a funk, just keep moving forward.  As one of our interviewees said a few weeks ago, things will ALWAYS get better.

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